About Colleen O'Connor - Registered Psychologist in Griffith

• Professional Background
• My Background
• Why Psychology
• Clinical Experience
• Neurodivergence & Late Diagnosis
• How I Work
• The Practice Environment
• Outside of Work 

Name: Colleen O’Connor
Pronouns: She/Her

Registered Psychologist – AHPRA
Registration Number: PSY0002799373

Qualifications

Master of Psychological Practice (with Distinction)
Graduate Diploma of Psychology

Master of Business Administration
Bachelor of Accounting

Professional Memberships 

MAPS — Member of the Australian Psychological Society
MAAPi — Member of the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc

Professional Profiles

You can also find information about my professional background and practice on the following directories:

• APS Find a Psychologist – Australian Psychological Society
• AAPi Find a Psychologist – Australian Association of Psychologists Inc
• Psychology Today Therapist Directory

My earlier career was in finance and management (and before that in childcare and disability support).

People often ask why I “abandoned” a successful finance career to start again in psychology.

The short answer is that I kept climbing the ladder hoping the next step would feel meaningful and fulfilling. It never quite did.

I often found myself uncomfortable with the expectation that organisational priorities should come before the needs of the vulnerable people relying on the services we provided.

During my MBA I became particularly interested in organisational psychology, which planted the seed for a career change.

The turning point came in 2018, a year marked by significant personal loss. Experiences like that tend to make you reflect on what matters. I realised the work I was doing no longer aligned with my values, and I decided to step away and reassess my direction.

During that time I volunteered with Intereach, which led to a role in aged-care support coordination. That experience helped clarify what had always been the most meaningful parts of my previous work: supporting people directly.

So I enrolled in psychology.

It was a long road (and an expensive one), but I’ve never regretted the decision.

While studying I worked in family preservation, supporting families at risk of child protection involvement.

I later joined Deniliquin Community Mental Health as a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinician, where I spent more than two years supporting young people and their families through significant distress including self-harm, eating disorders, psychosis, depression, PTSD, and suicidal ideation.

It was challenging work but incredibly valuable training. During this time I was also involved in the MLHD DBT program, providing individual support to a participant alongside their DBT group program.

In 2024 I moved to Griffith to continue expanding my experience in private practice settings and working with a broader range of mental health presentations.

Some people may know me from my time at Thrive Psychology, where I worked with many wonderful clients and colleagues.

But ultimately I realised that large corporate environments still weren’t the right fit for me.

Opening my own practice had always been the goal.

My experience across community mental health and private practice settings continues to inform the evidence-based and collaborative approach I bring to my work today.

I have a particular interest in autism and ADHD, especially in adults who are diagnosed later in life.

I recently joined that club myself.

Many people come to therapy wondering why life seems to take more effort than it appears to for everyone else. Why social events can be enjoyable but bone-crushingly exhausting. Why new situations require careful research beforehand (sometimes right down to the parking options). Why burnout seems to arrive every year or two. Why the mind feels like it’s running several tracks at once (sometimes including a song stuck on repeat).

Why people sometimes tell you that you’re “too direct”… or don’t tell you at all and simply disappear.

When people share these experiences with me, I don’t dismiss them or assume something is “wrong”.

Often they are experiences I recognise very well myself.

Many people I work with arrive in therapy feeling like they have spent most of their lives trying to understand why things seem harder for them than for everyone else.

Together, we can explore whether neurodivergence might be part of the picture. If it is, we can then look at how life can be structured in ways that actually work for your brain.

You won’t need to mask here.

While everyone is welcome, the practice was designed with neurodivergent clients particularly in mind.

You’ll find softer lighting, comfortable textures, fidgets, and a calm environment.

There’s no busy reception area and no constantly ringing phones. The practice runs primarily online through the client portal, email, and SMS. Many clients prefer being able to manage appointments in their own time, whether that’s during the day or at 2am.

If you need to move during session, that’s fine. If you want to bring a fidget (or use one of mine), that’s fine too. I’ll probably be using one myself.