Clinical Psychology

The Clinic in Fremantle has been in operation since 1987 and has provided psychological services to a wide range of clients, in terms of symptoms, age, ethnic background, occupation, income and functioning.

Denis McCarthy, the clinic director, who has a broad background is committed to applying the best tools available to assist his clients more effectively. He therefore incorporates a wide variety of clinical approaches and wholistic health perspectives. This is why he is so innovative and ecclectic. For example, he is the first West Australian be certified in and to apply leading edge clinical tools like cranio-electrical stimulation, heartmath and neurotherapy.

Heartmath and neurotherapy exemplify his basic approach, which is one of integrating the wisdom of the heart with the latest scientific understandings of the brain. A scientific practitioner with heart

In the 1970s and 1980s Denis was an environmental and social change activist. He was actively engaged in the greens, men’s liberation, non-violence training, permaculture, radical psychiatry and wholistic health “movements”. The legacy of this period is his awareness of the eco-socio-political dimension of people’s lives, and its therapeutic implications. A “whole person” approach to therapy does not lose sight of these broader context and meanings in peoples lives. These dimensions may not be the foreground to the therapeutic task, however it is important that their impacts be understood and utilized in therapy as and when appropriate.

Denis’s earliest therapy training was in the area of group therapy and psychodrama. He began this training in 1974 and continued until reaching an advanced training level in 1989. In these youthful years while his peers played or watched football Denis participated in growth and therapy groups. It was his passion, and still is! … During 1990s he focused more on clinical work with individuals and couples, which he also enjoys. Nowadays he aims for a balance of individual, couple and group therapy.