DR VANESSA SPILLAR

Dr Vanessa Spiller is a highly experienced Clinical Psychologist with over 28 years in clinical practice, university teaching, and supervision. Holding a PhD, Masters degree, and an Arts/Honours degree in Psychology, she integrates evidence-based therapies, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Solution-Focused approaches, with practice-based evidence and feedback-informed treatment approaches to support children, adolescents, adults, and families in therapy.

Working extensively with complex neurodivergence, Dr Spiller is passionate about supporting people with complex presentations, including FASD, Autism, ADHD, PTSD, and other co-occurring conditions. She employs a unique brain-based, neurodevelopmental, strengths-based approach to understanding and addressing highly complex behavioural symptoms and neurodevelopmental challenges, and she provides training on this approach nationally and internationally.

Dr Spiller regularly works with gender non-conforming and gender-questioning youth, young adults and their families, most of whom are also neurodivergent. Guided by the highest levels of evidence currently available, she employs standard therapeutic paradigms and "treatment-as-usual" approaches to address the complex issues that can arise at the intersection between core developmental tasks, neurodivergence, trauma, environmental and family factors and gender identity. Dr Spiller has long advocated for the Australian Psychological Society (APS) to develop up-to-date, evidence-driven guidelines for psychologists working in this evolving area.