Bernadette Cross
Bernadette is the founder and director of Therapeia. She is a senior Clinical Psychologist. Bernadette has been working in Psychology since 2003. She completed her psychology degree and Honours program at the University of Newcastle and her clinical postgraduate Masters degree at Charles Sturt University. She started her career in emotional intelligence research at the University of Newcastle, moving onto suicide prevention research at the Hunter Institute of Mental Health. Her clinical experience commenced at Lingard Private Hospital, at the time the only private inpatient and outpatient private facility available in the Hunter, where she was the first inpatient Psychologist appointed to the mental health team. She also co-lead and managed the group therapy programs in the day patient unit, moving the groups for depression and anxiety, into evidence based CBT and IPT programs, developing psychosis support and lifestyle programs, and designing and implementing the first adolescent CBT group program for depression and anxiety in the Hunter. Moving onto rehabilitation, she designed and developed an inhouse Psychological Service for Australia’s leading Workers Compensation rehabilitation service to roll out nationwide. This set her up for the embarkment into her own private practice in 2007.
In 2008 she pursued her dream of opening Therapeia, the Women’s Centre for Health and Wellbeing, and has continued her ongoing learning and specialisation in women’s mental health and their unique challenges across the lifespan. She continues to contribute to training in, lecturing and teaching, supervision, and mentoring. She is an AHPRA approved supervisor for both general and clinical registrar programs.
She has many years experience presenting at conferences, workshops, and training programs for a variety of areas in women’s health, as well as mental health in general, and the role of the therapist. She is an active member of the Australian Psychological society, a member of the Newcastle APS committee, holds an active role on the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Newcastle, and is a member of the Clinical College of Psychologists.
Her main areas of interest include mood and anxiety disorders, including the management of bipolar, and postpartum depression. She is experienced in trauma work, eating disorders and personality disorders. She has developed a specialisation in particular in the areas grief and loss, oncology and chronic illness support, sexuality and sexual disorder issues, and couples counselling. Bernadette dedicates extra sessional times and ongoing training in the area of couples counselling. She is aware that it is difficult to find a couples counsellor in the Hunter and remains passionate about this area of her work.
However, it is women’s health that has always been at the forefront of her training and specialisation. No matter the underlying clinical disorders or relationship aspects, she works on all the transitional issues of a woman’s life, from the teenage years, pregnancy and motherhood, to menopause and ageing.
Bernadette brings a level of seniority in her clinical work, vast experience, and yet a warmth and compassion to her therapy. She values the philosophy that the therapeutic relationship is the main agent to change, and that therapy is a collaborative process. She draws from a range of evidence based therapies such as CBT, IPT, and ACT. However she is fortunate to have received a rich education in her early career in the dynamic and existential modalities of gestalt therapy, psycho-somatics, schema therapy, transactional analysis and traditional mindfulness based therapies. Her integrative approach is considered one of her most sought after expertise set.
