Fiona

Director | Registered Psychologist | Board-Approved Supervisor

Fiona Chappell is the Director of Southern Psychologists and a Registered Psychologist with a background in education and extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and adults across the lifespan. She brings a strong developmental and systems-informed perspective to both assessment and therapy and is known for her warm, collaborative, and respectful approach.

Fiona has a particular interest in perinatal and early parenting support and works with parents and caregivers to support emotional wellbeing, bonding, and attachment in the transition to parenthood. She is trained in Circle of Security (COS) and integrates attachment-based, trauma-informed approaches to strengthen caregiver–child relationships, parental reflective capacity, and relational safety.

Areas of Clinical Interest and Experience

Fiona works with a wide range of psychological and developmental presentations, including:

• Perinatal mental health and early parenting support (including Circle of Security, COS)

• Attachment and relational difficulties

• Trauma and post-traumatic stress

• Emotional dysregulation and distress tolerance

• Anxiety and mood disorders

• Obsessive-compulsive presentations

• Personality vulnerabilities and longstanding relational patterns

• Grief and loss

• Addiction and substance-related concerns

• Interpersonal and relationship difficulties

• Adjustment to major life stressors

She also has a particular interest in neurodivergence and works extensively with:

• Autism and ADHD

• Demand-avoidant profiles (including Pervasive Demand for Autonomy)

• Complex behavioural and emotional presentations

• Functional and regulatory challenges

Fiona holds a Master of Clinical Psychology and practices within a formulation-driven, evidence-based framework.

As Director and a Board-Approved Supervisor, Fiona provides clinical supervision to provisional and registered psychologists and is committed to high-quality, ethical, and evidence-based practice. She works collaboratively with clients, families, and clinicians to support meaningful improvements in functioning and wellbeing.

Therapeutic Approaches

Fiona’s work draws on:

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

• Schema Therapy

• Motivational Interviewing

• Mindfulness-based approaches

• Solution-focused strategies

• Developmentally appropriate and play-based interventions

• EMDR (appointments available from late March)

Psychological Assessments

Fiona provides comprehensive psychological assessments, including:

• Psychoeducational (cognitive and academic) assessments

• Functional Capacity Assessments for NDIS

• Autism Spectrum Disorder assessments

• ADHD assessments

• Diagnostic clarification for complex presentations

• Assessment of giftedness and twice-exceptionality

• Assessment of learning disorders (including dyslexia and dyscalculia)

• Assessment of intellectual disability

• Assessment of neurodevelopmental differences