About Monica Hadges

B.A., Grad. Dip. Psych, M.A., LMHC, MSW, AMHSW, PhD Candidate (Tele-Mental Health)

Monica has worked in the mental health sector for over 20 years in Australia and the United States.

I became a mental health clinician before researcher or clinical educator. Educated in Australia and the USA, I first trained to be a Licensed Mental Health Clinician (LMHC) in Seattle in 2000. This requiring two thousand hours of clinical practice and a national license exam to offer counselling and psychotherapy assessment and interventions with children, adolescents and families with the Seattle Children’s Hospital as a mental health clinician able to bill for insurance companies there. In Australia, I came home to work in mental health with adolescents and young people at Victoria’s Royal Children’s Hospital in 2004, commencing private practice in 2005. Since then, I have worked in senior clinical roles with Monash Health, headspace, Orygen’s National Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health, and The University of Melbourne. Now, I mostly see people privately and offer supervision and training.

Trained to include client-directed and person-centred approaches to therapy (Association, 2010; B. L. Duncan, Miller, & Sparks, 2004), I welcome and actively seek out the knowledge that my clients bring to sessions about what is working or not working for them in our dialogue. This stance of ‘doing with’ not ‘doing to’ continues to influence my  practice today. My chosen professional supervisors, CPE and mentors sharing similar approaches to mental health work across disciplines including psychiatry, psychology, AMHSW, Occupational Therapy, trauma social work, allied health, youth work, adolescent medicine or paediatrics. Collaboration is important in mental health care; I continually learn from other approaches to practice.

I offer:

• Practical supportive therapy- brief and longer term
• Tele-Mental Health (Non-Recorded videoconference at pre-booked times)
• Confidential services in person or online
• Supervision, Reflective Practice and Training Development for Workforces
• Collaborative Care / coordination with other specialists via E-Collaboration with Informed Consent

Evidence-based practices and interventions. Interests include:

• CBT for Depression & Anxiety
• ACT – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Trauma Informed Practice Skills
• Strength-Focused Interpersonal Counselling
• Solution-Focused Problem Solving
• Psychotherapy for Grief, loss and change
• Online / E-Mental Health Interventions (current PhD research)
• Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment and Clinical Formulation
• Cultural Diversity and LGBTIQQ
• Emotion Regulation / DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy)

A client-informed practitioner, my interests lie in helping individuals be an active part of their mental health service planning and recovery, with respect for diversity and human rights.