Chris Hayes
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Board Member (2024- Current) International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST)
Perth, Western Australia
Chris is a Clinical Psychologist and Advanced Schema Therapist based in Perth, Western Australia. He has extensive experience in government and private settings working with clients with complex psychological presentations. Since 2005, he has been practicing as an advanced Schema Therapist, supervisor and trainer, having completed certification in Schema Therapy at the Schema Therapy Institute in New York City (USA) with Dr Jeffery Young. He has presented workshops throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia. He is the Director of Schema Therapy Training Australia.
In addition to the provision of Schema Therapy training and supervision, he was employed with the Health Department of Western Australia as a Senior Clinical Psychologist (within a specialist service working with those who have experienced recent or childhood sexual trauma). He now has a small private practice.
He has recently co-authored the textbook "The Cambridge Guide to Schema Therapy". And has co-produced 2 DVD/ video releases, "Fine Tuning Imagery Rescripting" and "Fine Tuning Chair Work in Schema Therapy", both of which are highly recommended (and the 1st of their kind internationally). He has previously served as Secretary of the Board for the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST).
Dr Robert Brockman
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
President- International Society of Schema Therapy (2024- Current)
Sydney, New South Wales
Robert is a clinical psychologist and researcher living and working out of sunny Sydney. From 2010-2017 Robert's work life consisted of supervising and lecturing on Clinical Psychology Masters programs (Western Sydney University; University of Technology) and running a small private practice. This practice has evolved into Schema Therapy Sydney the first schema therapy focused private practice to be established in Sydney. Rob has been affiliated with Schema Therapy Training Australia for the past 5 years and now regularly provides accredited schema trainings across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Just this year Rob co-authored a new schema therapy book Contextual Schema Therapy along with Eckhard Roediger and Bruce Stevens (published by New Harbinger in June 2018). His central contribution to this work has been on integrating 3rd wave techniques (e.g. Mindfulness, Self-compassion, Values) to explicitly build the healthy adult mode in schema therapy.
In 2016 in Vienna, Rob was honoured by ISST colleagues with the 'Young Investigator' award for his research on the application of schema therapy to GAD and pathological worry processes. Rob currently holds a senior research fellowship with Australian Catholic University where he currently engaged in clinical research focusing on extending the schema model into novel populations (e.g. GAD, Eating Disorders, HIV Sufferers, Problem Gamblers, Forensic Patients, and Psychosis), Schema Therapy Self-Reflection/Self-Practice (with Joan and Ida), and the cross-cultural application of schema therapy (with Malaysian and Singaporean colleagues). From 2015-current Rob has been consultant supervisor on a multi-site open trial of group schema therapy for eating disorders (with Susan Simpson & Evelyn Smith).
Dr Susan Simpson
Clinical Psychologist , Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Board Secretary international Society of Schema Therapy
Scottland/ UK, Adelaide Australia
Susan Simpson is a Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of experience using schema therapy with complex clinical problems and personality disorders. She has completed advanced certification as a trainer and supervisor both in Schema Therapy and Group Schema Therapy. In addition, she has completed training in chair-work; "shorter term" Schema Therapy; and couples’ schema work. Susan completed her advanced schema therapy training with Dr. Jeffrey Young, Dr. Gunilla Fosse (Norway) and Dutch Schema therapy trainers (including A. Arntz, M. Nadort, H. van Genderen, M. van Vreeswijk).
She has extensive experience in the application of the schema therapy model with complex adult difficulties, eating disorders and personality disorders. She has provided schema therapy workshops and supervision for psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals for over 10 years both within the public and private health settings. Susan runs schema therapy training workshops for ISST accreditation, as well as specialist workshops on schema therapy for eating disorders, and a schema therapy approach to preventing burnout in mental health professionals. Susan has published several research papers on schema therapy for complex eating disorders, and has presented her findings at numerous international conferences. Her current research projects are investigating the effectiveness of Group Schema Therapy for complex eating disorders; and the link between early maladaptive schemas and burnout amongst therapists.
Susan has practiced as a psychologist for over 16 years in the UK, mostly within NHS Scotland in Adult Mental Health, Liaison Psychiatry and Eating Disorder services. Following this, she spent 6 years as Senior Lecturer and Psychology Clinic Director at the University of South Australia, where she lectured on the postgraduate clinical psychology training program and provided schema therapy training across Australia for Schema Therapy Training Australia. She currently works in the field of Eating Disorders both in private practice and NHS Scotland, and continues to provide teaching and supervision in Schema Therapy across several countries. She continues as Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of South Australia. She is currently Board Secretary of of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST).
Claudia Mendez
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Sydney, Australia
Claudia is a clinical psychologist with experience working in both the government and private settings. Claudia has worked in public mental health settings across the Hunter New England and South West Sydney Local Health Districts providing psychological interventions for complex mental health presentations. Claudia currently works for the Liverpool and Fairfield Mental Health Service working with adults who experience complex mental health, trauma and personality disorders and in the provision of supervision to clinicians. Recently,Claudia has been collaborating with Western Sydney University, on the Sydney site, of a multi-site trial of Group Schema Therapy for Eating Disorders.
Sally Skewes
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Adelaide, Australia
Sally Skewes is a Clinical Psychologist who shares her time working in both government and private settings with complex cases. Sally is certified as a Schema Therapist and Supervisor with the International Society of Schema Therapy. She has co-authored book chapters and articles on Schema Therapy, and has presented workshops on Schema Therapy. Sally trains schema therapists in Australia. She co-founded Secure Nest which provides a set of online tools for Schema Therapy.
Chris Hepworth
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Perth, Australia
Chris is a Clinical Psychologist and Advanced level Schema Therapist, Trainer and Supervisor. He has mainly worked for the government specialising in treating personality disorders and trauma, in addition to other mental health problems. He also has a depth of experience in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and has coordinated DBT programs for government services for the past few years. He has a small private practice in Perth, where he provides therapy and supervision. He delivers training workshops in Australia and abroad.
Dr Andrew Phipps
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Sydney, Australia
Andrew has extensive experience in clinical practice, supervision and teaching. He holds an academic position within the Western Sydney University Clinical Psychology Training Program. He also runs his own private practice in the Inner-West of Sydney. Previous to this, he spent over 15-years in public mental-health settings. His former position was as Senior Clinical Psychologist within the mental health service in South Western Sydney, where his main role was to provide and develop psychological therapy services to clients with chronic and complex disorders. Andrew’s main clinical interests include the application of Schema Therapy to people with personality disorders, dissociative disorders, and chronic depression. Andrew is an accredited Schema Therapist, Trainer and Supervisor with the International Society for Schema Therapy (ISST).
Dr Lisa Chantler
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Adelaide, SA
Lisa is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years experience working in both government, university and private settings. She worked for 10 years in public mental health hospital and outpatient settings providing clinical services to people with complex and co-morbid psychological problems She is now the Director of Bridge Consulting Psychologists, a boutique clinical practice located in the heart of Adelaide. She also teaches Schema Therapy and CBT to clinical psychology students. Lisa’s particular clinical interest has always been in providing the best available clinical services to those with life patterns that seem unbreakable. She completed her training for accreditation with Chris Hayes and Susan Simpson and has also trained in Chairwork, EMDR and Voice Dialogue. Lisa enjoys using chairwork and Schema Informed therapy with routine clinical problems, and Schema Therapy with people who seem stuck in life’s problems.
Dr Vanda Brink
Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Advanced Schema Therapist
Dr. Vanda Brink is a Clinical Psychologist with 21 years experience in private practice and has completed advanced certification as a trainer and supervisor in Schema Therapy. Vanda enjoys engaging collaboratively with supervisees drawing on the evidence based therapeutic techniques of Schema Therapy to facilitate understanding and application of Schema Therapy that can add value for other professionals helping their clients be healthier to themselves, make healthy life choices when faced with challenges and live better lives. In working with her clients, Vanda aims to help clients develop a deeper understanding of themselves in terms of what may drive mood or behaviour, how to become unstuck in unhelpful patterns of behaviour, and how to connect more satisfyingly in relationships such that emotional needs get met for all parties. Vanda offers Clinical Supervision to psychologists and provisional psychologists, and has provided extensive organisational training and consultation to media and external agencies.
International Trainers
Remco van der Wijngaart
Psychotherapist, Advanced Schema Therapist
Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Remco is a leading Schema Therapy Therapist and trainer, regularly giving workshops, training courses and supervision in Schema Therapy both in the Netherlands, as well as other European countries such as Switzerland, Poland and the UK. He produced and directed the DVD series “Schema Therapy, Working with Modes”, which are generally regarded as the central learning resource for training programmes in Schema Therapy worldwide. He has collaborated with a number of leading Dutch researchers in the field to develop training workshops and programmes in Schema Therapy.
Initially trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, he was was trained and supervised in Schema Therapy personally by Dr Jeffrey Young from 1996 till 2000 as part of a multi-centre Dutch study on the effectiveness of Schema therapy in treating Borderline Personality Disorder. In 2006 Dr Jeffrey Young trained and supervised him in treating cluster C patients. He currently works within an outpatient clinic in Maastricht, the Netherlands.