About
About Amelia.
I'm a clinical psychologist and sleep researcher based in Sydney. I work across three connected worlds: treating clients, researching sleep, and helping the public make sense of it.
Much of my work pushes back on the modern anxiety around sleep. I believe that treating sleep as something to optimise and control tends to make it worse, not better.
Through my clinical practice at Circa Sleep, I support people experiencing insomnia, disrupted sleep and related concerns such as anxiety, stress and low mood. I have a particular interest in women's health. My therapeutic style is warm and collaborative, and my care is grounded in the best available evidence.
Alongside my clinical work, I'm a researcher and lecturer, contributing to the science of sleep and mental health and to the training of the next generation of psychologists. I write for national publications and am a regular voice on sleep in the media.
Credentials
| Qualifications: Master of Clinical Psychology (MClinPsy) & PhD | |
| Clinical focus: Insomnia, anxiety, depression, burnout and women's health | |
| Practice: Founder, Circa Sleep, Lindfield, Sydney & telehealth | |
| Research: Sleep and mental health; academic teaching and supervision | |
| Registration: Clinical Psychologist, AHPRA / Psychology Board of Australia | |
| Memberships: Australasian Sleep Association · Australian Psychological Society |
What I do.
Clinic
Sleep & mental health
Through my practice, Circa Sleep, I work with people experiencing sleep disorders, especially insomnia. I also have a strong interest in women's health and supporting people through burnout and periods of life change.
Explaining the science
I write and speak widely about sleep for print, radio and news media. My goal is to provide high-integrity, evidence-based information about sleep and mental health.
Keynotes & consulting
I deliver talks and workshops for organisations, clinicians and teams, and consult on sleep, wellbeing and performance.
Program
The Insomnia Program
I created a self-paced, CBT-i based program for people who want to work through insomnia in their own time, without needing a referral or a wait.
As Seen In
Beyond Sleep
General therapeutic approach.
Aside from more structured sleep support, I enjoy longer-term work with clients whose challenges are deeper and longer standing. I work in a way that's less about managing symptoms and more about understanding them.
Rather than a set of techniques or worksheets, my approach is relational and attachment-based, grounded in the idea that our difficulties take shape in relationships, and can be understood and eased within one. Together with my clients, I make room to explore the patterns beneath their day-to-day challenges, at a pace that lets sustainable change take hold. It's a slower, more curious kind of work than problem-solving therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy.
Hear Amelia in her own words
Amelia joined the Healthy Her podcast to talk about how to tell if you are genuinely sleep deprived, and which popular sleep supplements and gadgets are worth your time and money.
For Clinicians
Clinical supervision.
I maintain a small number of places for the ongoing supervision of early-career psychologists and clinical psychology registrars. My approach to supervision is developmental and reflective: I'm interested in helping clinicians grow into their own identity as therapists, and become more confident, grounded and self-aware.
Alongside a focus on formulation, thinking carefully about how we come to understand the people in front of us, I'm interested in the clinician's own experience: the pressures, uncertainties and stresses of the early years.
