Therapist

Ben was awarded his Doctor of Clinical Psychology and Master of Philosophy in Science from Macquarie University. He also holds bachelor degrees in Arts and Science as well as a Diploma of Secondary Education. He has completed two theses, one examining features of visual perception, the other exploring happiness and psychological well-being from an evolutionary perspective. He has been published in the Journal of Vision.

Ben’s interest in relationship therapy emerged from the observation, over 17 years of therapeutic work, that relationship issues are at the heart of many commonly experienced psychological difficulties. Unfortunately, approaches to therapy which favour a more individualistic emphasis often overlook the central role of relationships in creating the circumstances that can both cause, and heal, psychological distress. These concerns led Ben to explore various approaches to relationship therapy. He found that Emotionally Focussed Therapy (EFT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS) provided the most comprehensive frameworks for understanding and resolving the dysfunctional patterns that generate tension, frustration and despondency within significant attachment relationships. Today, Ben works with couples, families and individuals.

Ben prefers to take a non-pathologising approach, and operates from the basis that psychological experiences can not be understood in isolation, but only in the contexts in which they arise. For this reason, he tends to steer away from the use of diagnostic labels in formulating his understanding of the difficulties people are experiencing. Ben is among a small number of psychologists in Sydney with experience using both the EFT and IFS frameworks to address relationship issues, as well as individual difficulties.