Welcome to Ocean Blue Psychology

Ocean Blue Psychology is a boutique clinical psychology service with a special interest in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of trauma (including childhood & adulthood sexual assault), complex mental health (disorders of mood, personality, anxiety, eating and gender issues) and moderate risk (suicidal ideation/self-harm).

Therapy is a process of self-exploration and personal growth. We endeavour to provide our clients with the space to self-reflect, the strategies to cope and the insight to heal.

We support young people, adults and families.

How We Can Help

We all know that life has this way of throwing us challenges, challenges that can leave us shaken, feeling directionless, stuck, empty, on edge or frightened.

Sometimes, we don’t even realise that we have been traumatised, or are experiencing mental health issues. But what we do know is that something is not ok. We may feel overwhelmed with anxiety, irritable, disconnected, defective, terrified, lonely or unable to function properly. We may experience debilitating avoidance, intrusive thoughts, terrifying flashbacks, ‘shameful’ behaviours or negative patterns of interaction. Or we may notice we are holding ourselves back, judging and comparing, believing that we are not good enough, broken, ‘going crazy’, or may be self-harming or having suicidal thoughts.

Traumatic events and mental illness can affect any of us, at any time. Life doesn’t discriminate. Making sense of what is going on is paramount to recovery. We can help you with this. We can help you to understand what is going on and why, how to navigate your distress on a moment-to-moment basis, how to move through your trauma and how to face life head on.

We will work together with you to strengthen your sense of self, help you to reconnect with life and improve your functioning and overall wellbeing. We will bear witness to your deepest darkest and walk beside you as you connect with your wisdom, courage, strength and hope.

Clinical Psychologists

Samantha Bamforth

In-Person and Telehealth

Director, Clinical Psychologist MClinPsych

Ocean Blue was inspired by my passion to create a safe space for deep contemplation, insight and healing…and my love of the ocean! I aspire to journey alongside others’ as they navigate their distress, gain necessary insight and skills, and explore alternative ways of being in the world. My passion is backed up with evidenced based practice.

Across my career, I have worked predominantly with children, adolescents, adults, and families in the field of acute mental health (CAMHS). This has afforded me proficiency in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of complex mental health presentations, including mood disorders, complex trauma, PTSD, youth eating disorders, gender dysphoria, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, as well as suicide risk and deliberate self-harm.

Eliza Davis

After Hours Telehealth

Clinical Psychologist, MClinPsych (MAPS)

If you are feeling that your mental health is impacting on your ability to connect with others or be excited for your life then I would like to help. With 10 years clinical experience working with children, adolescents, and their families I see the significant impact that early life experiences and relationships have on wellbeing. Consequently, I value and practice a trauma-informed systemic approach to mental health treatment. It would be a privilege to hear your story. Once I understand your unique experience we can build on your existing strengths and overcome challenges together.

My areas of interest include relationship repair, burnout, overcoming addiction, anxiety related to body image concerns, social isolation, improving confidence when living with ADHD and ASD, parenting strategies, adolescent mental health, and building family connection.

Eve Pregal

In-Person and Telehealth
Clinical Psychologist MClinPsych

Nobody sees a psychologist because they are feeling amazing, loving themselves and loving their lives. It is an honour for me to meet people in this dark space to shine some light, create some hope and be part of wonderful change. I have 10 years clinical experience working with children, young people and their families in the diverse and complex areas of mental health, substance use/abuse, domestic violence, child protection and trauma. My clientele are culturally diverse and I have successfully supported many identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
I utilise evidence-based therapies within a trauma-informed framework, incorporating safety, trust, choice, collaboration and empowerment.

Emené Peyper

In-Person and Telehealth
Psychologist (Overseas Trained Clinical Psychologist)

It is a great privilege to be allowed to meet people where they find themselves vulnerable and in a difficult place on their journey. I believe there is healing in being heard without judgment and I strive to create a safe space where anyone can express their hurt and true self.

I have experience in working with people of all ages and a broad range of acute mental health issues. Anxiety and depression are often times overlooked and can make individuals feel inadequate. The experience of loss and grief are overwhelming and can make one feel lost. Traumatic experiences often leaves people vulnerable and confused. I would love to assist in understanding and dealing with these difficulties in life.

Alessandra Piano

In-Person and Telehealth
Psychologist

I grew up and studied in Italy, and upon graduating, I moved to Australia where I completed the post-graduate training program. I believe that the relationship between client and therapist is the heart of effective therapy, therefore I offer a warm and supportive environment and approach that depends on the needs of the person. I operate according to the belief that an individual can achieve meaningful changes in their lives through insight, understanding, and validation. I enjoy working with a wide array of people (adolescents, adults, and group settings) who live with problems associated with depression, anxiety, attachment/complex trauma, personality disorders, parenting, relationships, sexuality, intimacy, and gender issues. Furthermore, I strive to create a safe and empowering environment for people identifying with the LGBTQ+ community, individuals practicing polyamory/consensual non-monogamy, and culturally and linguistically diverse people (CALD community).

I draw my therapeutic approach from relational psychodynamic psychotherapy, interpersonal and narrative psychotherapy, yoga/mindfulness, and somatic therapies, as well as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). I also have a strong interest in psychedelic integration.

What We Treat

PTSD may develop following exposure to an extremely threatening or horrific event or series of events. It is characterised by the following:

  1. Re-experiencing the traumatic event/s (vivid intrusive memories, flashbacks, nightmares)
  2. Avoidance of trauma related thoughts, memories, activities, situations, or people
  3. Negative feelings and beliefs about themselves and the world
  4. Persistent perceptions of heightened current threat (hypervigilance, enhanced startle reaction).

Complex PTSD is a disorder that may develop following event/s of an extremely threatening or horrific nature, most commonly prolonged or repetitive events from which escape is difficult or impossible (e.g. torture, slavery, genocide campaigns, prolonged domestic violence, repeated childhood sexual or physical abuse).

Complex PTSD is characterised by severe and persistent:

  1. Problems in emotion regulation
  2. Beliefs about oneself as diminished, defeated or worthless, accompanied by feelings of shame, guilt or failure related to the traumatic event
  3. Difficulties in sustaining relationships and in feeling close to others. These symptoms cause significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning

Sexual assault occurs when a person is forced, coerced or tricked into sexual acts against their will or without their consent, or if a child or young person under 18 is exposed to sexual activities. Sexual assault is a crime. Sexual assault is never the victim’s fault. Sexual assault can happen to anyone of any age, gender, status or background. Most victims of sexual assault know the person who assaulted them, such as a family member or friend or someone from work, school, church or another social group. Male survivors face some unique impacts. Some of these arise from the expectations about men in our society.

For more information, please see:

No matter your size, shape, age, or background anyone can experience an eating disorder.

Anorexia Nervosa is characterised by:

  • Restricted energy intake, leading to lower than normal body weight and, often, the loss of a considerable amount of weight in a short period of time.
  • An intense fear of gaining weight, even when the individual is already underweight, starved or malnourished
  • Disturbed body image, including extreme emphasis on their appearance and the perception that they are overweight despite being considerably underweight.

The warning signs can be: Physical, Psychological and Behavioural. For more information see National Eating Disorders Collaboration:

‘Mood Disorders’ refers to a group of Bipolar and Depressive Disorders. Mood disorders are defined according to particular types of mood episodes and their pattern over time.

Depression: Depression is a common condition. It can cause a low mood that doesn’t go away and can make us feel very sad or withdrawn. It interferes with the way we go about our everyday lives and can make it hard to cope. Some people describe it as being in a really dark place that’s difficult to come back from. Others describe it as feeling numb. If you find yourself having intense, sad or depressed feelings for longer than two weeks, and they start to affect the way you’re living life, it’s important to find help.

For more information on Mood Disorders, see:

Anxiety and fear-related disorders are characterised by excessive fear and anxiety and related behavioural disturbances, with symptoms that are severe enough to result in significant distress or significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Fear and anxiety are closely related phenomena; fear represents a reaction to perceived imminent threat in the present, whereas anxiety is more future-oriented, referring to perceived anticipated threat. The clinical presentation of Anxiety and fear-related disorders typically includes specific associated cognitions that can assist in differentiating among the disorders by clarifying the focus of apprehension.

For more information see:

Transgender and gender- diverse people might experience gender dysphoria at some point in their lives. But not everyone is affected. Gender Dysphoria is characterised by a marked and persistent incongruence or ‘mis-match’ between an individual´s experienced gender and the assigned sex. It can cause significant distress. Gender Dysphoria often leads to a strong desire to ‘transition’, in order to experience one’s body as the desired gender and be accepted (‘pass’) as a person of the experienced gender. Social transition can include coming out/use of pronouns/name change/clothing/grooming). Medical transition can include hormonal treatment or surgery.

For more information, see:

If you are in an emergency, or at immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, please contact emergency services on 000 or get to your nearest Hospital Emergency Department

When people are thinking about ending their life, they may be feeling distraught and may not be able to see a way out of their problems. People usually don’t want to end their life. They want the pain to stop. There is a sense of isolation and hopelessness if they don’t think they have the support to get through it. When people express suicidal thoughts, these need to be taken seriously. Some people choose to talk about how they are feeling, however this does not apply to everyone. They might be feeling hopeless, depressed, angry and irritable, distressed, worthless, exhausted, like there’s no way out of their problems or no reason for living at all. Many people who take their own life give some kind of warning beforehand, and they might say things which suggest that: they may say or thinks things like, “You’d be better off without me, “I’ve had enough.” or “I’m over it, “There’s nothing to live for.” or “There’s no point.” For more information, please see:

Self-harm means any behaviour which involves the deliberate causing of pain or injury to oneself — usually as an extreme way of trying to cope with overwhelming psychological distress or emotional pain. Most common is cutting, scraping, burning, biting, hitting, overdosing or repeatedly putting oneself in dangerous situations. It may provide short-term relief from these feelings. It may be an attempt to express or even control emotions briefly. It does not resolve them, however, and can become a compulsive and dangerous activity.While people who self-harm may not intend to end their lives, the consequences of this risky behaviour can be fatal, and it needs careful assessment and care by a health professional.

For more information, please see:

Personality disorders are enduring and persistent styles of behavior and thought. They are characterised by the chronic use of mechanisms of coping in an inappropriate, stereotyped, and maladaptive manner. If someone has personality disorder, it is not their fault, and they did not cause it. For most people, symptoms begin during teenage years.

Borderline Personality Disorder

“a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity, beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

Patients with borderline personality disorder are typically terrified of abandonment, whether real or imagined. Experience intense interpersonal relationships; have unstable sense of self, impulsivity, unstable mood, feelings of emptiness, difficulty with anger and transient stress-related paranoid ideation.

For more information, see:

“On the difficult days, when the world’s on your shoulders, remember that diamonds are made under the weight of mountains”.

Contact Us

Ocean Blue Psychology

“Sometimes in the waves of change we find our true direction.”

  • Address : Suite 3, 179 Brunker Road Adamstown NSW 2289

  • Phone : (02) 4063 2075

  • Fax : (02) 8016 0849

  • Email : admin@oceanbluepsychology.com.au

  • Hours : Monday & Tuesday 9am – 6.30pm
    Thursday & Friday 9am – 3pm
    Closed Wednesday

    NB : Reception hours may differ

Enquiries & Feedback Form

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