Team

Professor Fitzgerald is a qualified psychiatrist, and has a Masters of Psychological Medicine and research PhD.Professor Fitzgerald was an elected board Member of the International Society for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (ISTS) and was an invited member of the World Federation of Biological Psychiatry Taskforce on Brain Stimulation (2006-2009).He is currently a committee member for the Electroconvulsive Therapy and Neurostimulation Special Interest Group with The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), and serves on the board of directors for Neurosciences Victoria. He is Psychiatric deputy editor for the journal ‘Brain Stimulation’ and is on the Editorial Boards of ‘Psychiatry Research’ and the ‘Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry’.As the head of the School of Medicine and Psychology at the Australian National University, Fitzgerald has conducted over 20 clinical trials of TMS and related methods and has published over 500 scientific papers and has personally treated over 1500 patients with TMS.

Dr Cassidy has worked extensively since 2014 in the field of developing next-step mental health treatments for patients with depression, anxiety and related mental health conditions. Dr Cassidy previously founded and owned The Hills Clinic group and hospital, the first purpose-built private mental health hospital in Australia. From 2004 to 2017 he was the Medical Director, during this time more than 10,000 patients with Mental Illness were assisted in the Northwest of Sydney.

Dr Lau is a medical doctor trained in addiction and adult psychiatry. His treatment services include inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care tailored to individual needs and cultural backgrounds. He has experience in managing addiction, mood disorders, OCD, PTSD, generalised anxiety disorders and psychosis including TMS and trauma-informed addiction services.

Dr Samir Ibrahim is a Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at The Monarch Clinic and is Director of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Program at Northpark Private Hospital. Dr Ibrahim is also an international member of the American Psychiatric Association and is the Co-Chair of the Family Research and Interventions Sections at the World Psychiatric Association. Dr Ibrahim is also an international member of the American Psychiatric Association and is the Co-Chair of the Family Research and Interventions Sections at the World Psychiatric Association. Dr Samir Ibrahim has been a psychiatrist for 39 years, and practices in Sydenham and Bundoora. He arrived in Australia from Egypt 25 years ago and has a passion for helping people who have mental health conditions find their voice.

She has previously held public appointments at Monash Health in the inpatient and community health settings in the area of Old Age Psychiatry and Chronic Pain management. Her clinical interests include both general adult and old age psychiatry. Dr Shankar's special interests are in addiction, pain medicine and neurostimulation. Qualifications BSc (Med) MBBS(UNSW) MPsych(Melb) FRANZCP.

She graduated in medicine from Monash University and completed specialty training in New South Wales. While Dr Cheah finds all aspects of psychiatry interesting and rewarding, she’s particularly interested in computational neuroscience, global mental health, and the intersection of psychiatry and emerging technologies on an academic level.

In addition, she has experience with inpatient and community settings in Monash and Frankston Health. Dr Das has a vast range of special interests including anxiety disorders, depression, drugs & alcohol and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as well as women’s mental health.

He completed his undergraduate medical degree and Master of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne.  He is a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, having completed his specialist psychiatry training at ACT Health in Canberra and  Alfred Health in Melbourne. Dr Modak's interests include mood disorders and ADHD.  His training has focused on general adult psychiatry but he also has experience working in a specialist youth mental health service. Dr Modak has experience with a range of treatment modalities, including neurostimulation, pharmacological interventions, and psychotherapy.  He has published research in the area of transcranial magnetic stimulation and has clinical expertise in this area.  Alongside biological interventions, he has interests in psychodynamic psychotherapy and mindfulness-based psychotherapy.  Finally, he has a strong interest in emerging and innovative treatments, including next-step medications.

Monica is also a mother, yoga teacher, gardening enthusiast and book nerd. Her clinical experience includes working with people who have experienced childhood and adult trauma, especially veterans, current and former serving defence personnel, First Nations peoples, domestic violence survivors, and victims of crime. She has worked within inpatient and outpatient psychiatric hospital settings, in private practice, and prisons. Monica has expertise in the field of substance use, having worked across opiate substitution clinics, community settings and residential rehabilitation services. Monica has been involved in the training, supervision, and well-being of other mental health professionals for the past decade. She provides clinical supervision to health professionals, counsellors and peer workers, provisional, registered, and clinical registrar psychologists, as well as professionals with conditions posed on their registration by AHPRA. Monica believes that the relationship between client and therapist is the heart of effective therapy and that the relationship between supervisee and supervisor is equally as important. She is a warm, insightful therapist whose approach depends on the needs of the person. Her therapeutic style draws on strengths-based approaches, relational and interpersonal psychotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), IFS, somatic psychotherapy, mindfulness and non-dual meditation practices. Monica is an Accredited EMDR Practitioner with EMDRAA, an Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level 1 Practitioner. She is a Certified iRest Yoga Nidra teacher and has co-authored research on yoga and mental health. She is also a non-executive committee member of a domestic violence charity in Newcastle.

Clara holds an honours degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Clinical Psychology, both from Macquarie University. She is in her final years of a PhD at the Matilda Centre, University of Sydney, with her thesis examining people’s experiences of therapy while engaged in the NSW Drug Court Program, using both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Clara is registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is a member of the Australian Clinical Psychology Association (ACPA). She is a registered supervisor with AHPRA and provides supervision to both provisional psychologists and clinical psychology registrars. Clara has a 20-year history of clinical work within the forensic, clinical and substance misuse fields of psychology, working in both public and private facilities. She has worked extensively with children and adults, specialising in the assessment and treatment of complex presentations where a person may have multiple comorbidities and have endured traumatic experiences. For the past 14 years, Clara has worked privately providing psychological therapies to adults experiencing clinical mental health disorders. She has also been providing psychological assessments and reports to the Courts specialising mainly in drug use disorders. For the past two years, she has been consulting with Ngaoara providing psychological interventions and support to Aboriginal children with a history of trauma and limited social support. Clara utilises several clinical interventions in her work, including Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO DBT), Schema Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. She is particularly interested in relational psychodynamic approaches to therapy.

During the final year of studies, Alessandra/Ali submitted her research thesis project on cognitive rehabilitation of individuals with schizophrenia, while also undertaking employment in a shelter for women and children escaping from domestically violent relationships. Upon graduation, Alessandra/Ali moved to Australia and worked in the mental health disability sector while waiting to obtain formal recognition of her overseas degree. Upon validation of her degree, Alessandra undertook 2 years of post-graduate training; this involved training in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental health and psychological across all age ranges and cultural backgrounds. Alessandra enjoys working with a wide array of people who live with problems associated with depression, anxiety, attachment/complex trauma, personality disorders, and parenting issues. Alessandra draws her therapeutic approach from relational psychodynamic psychotherapy, interpersonal and narrative psychotherapy, yoga and somatic therapies, as well as cognitive therapies like CBT and DBT. Alessandra has also a strong interest in psychedelic integration. Alessandra offers a warm supportive environment in which she operates according to the belief that an individual can achieve meaningful changes in their lives through insight, understanding and validation.

Angela graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and a Master of Professional Psychology both from Macquarie University. She is a provisionally registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia and has been counselling, assessing, and treating adults and young adults for 2 years. Angela is passionate about improving her client’s quality of life and is experienced with adults from late adolescence through to the very elderly. Angela is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and has experience working with a broad range of clinical presentations, including alcohol and other drugs, depression, anxiety, PTSD/C-PTSD and ADHD.

Bernadette has over a decade of experience in clinical research including pharmacological and device-based clinical trials. She has received >10 awards for her research including being invited to give the 2021 Tess Cramond Lecture at the Australasian Pain Society Meeting, the 2018 Australasian Brain Stimulation Society Early Career Award and was selected for the 2018 Veski Inspiring Women in STEM Sidebyside program. She is currently an executive member of the Australasian Brain Stimulation Society and was recently the founding Chair of the Australian Brain Alliance Early to Mid-Career Brain Science Network, an initiative of the Australian Academy of Science (2017-21).

Austin is part of The Monarch Clinic clinical team in the Newcastle region, administering TMS treatments to our patients. Having recently attained his Bachelor of Psychology, he has a keen interest in the fast-developing field of neuromodulation and psychedelic-assisted therapies in mental health. He is passionate about working under Monarch Mental Health in bringing these amazing treatments to the forefront of conversation and making them accessible to those who need them most.

Mardylet has completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (2010) and a Master's of Science in Nursing (2013) in the Philippines. She completed the Initial Registration Course for Overseas Registered Nurses in Sydney in 2017. In addition, she has worked as a RN and part time clinical instructor in the Philippines and an RN in aged care for almost 2 years. Mardylet has worked as a MMHG clinician at the Murrumbateman clinic since March 2022.

Eliza graduated with a Bachelor in Psychological Science and was recently commended for being a top achieving student during her studies. She has been working with the Monarch Mental Health Group for over 12 months as a clinician administering TMS treatments to patients.

Pratik is a Neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Canberra, researching the benefits of external and neural noise in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. He is an ambitious early-career researcher who is passionate about gaining knowledge and skills in neuroscientific and neuropsychological research. Pratik completed his Bachelor of Science in Psychology with first class Honours for which he was awarded the Dean’s Excellency Award at the University of Canberra. His interest in neurostimulation began during his undergraduate studies when he was first introduced to biological psychology. Upon completing his degree, he started working at the MMHG clinic in Murrumbateman as a part-time senior clinician. He is passionate about mental health research that inspires innovative treatments, and applying these in his clinical work to help more people on their recovery journey.

Simone has completed a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) at Western Sydney University (WSU), a Graduate Diploma in Psychology at Monash University, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Psychology at WSU and is currently completing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at WSU, looking at a form of non-conventional treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder. She was awarded a scholarship to complete her PhD. Simone has previously volunteered for Lifeline as a telephone crisis supporter and is passionate about helping those with depression, anxiety, and related disorders. She has been working at MMHG since 2017, working as a TMS clinician.

She is responsible for administering treatment and supporting patients through each step of their TMS journey. She also assists with the onboarding of new TMS clinicians and their client-facing training. Jacqueline is a provisional psychologist and Doctor of Clinical Psychology Candidate at Deakin University. She completed her Bachelor of Psychology with Honours at Deakin University. Jacqueline became interested in psychology during her time working on the Africa Mercy, a hospital ship delivering free medical care to communities in West Africa. She has worked as an ABA therapist, helpline support worker, refuge shift facilitator and casual academic. In addition, her doctoral research is in psycho-oncology, investigating mental health dynamics and functional brain connectivity in breast cancer survivors.

Eunice has graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) and a Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced). She has experience working with children in an early education setting in addition to research experience in psychometrics development in collaboration with the Australian Temperament Project. Eunice works as a TMS clinician administering treatment and performing mental health assessments.

Luke pursued an undergraduate and honours degree in Psychological Science at CQ University in Bundaberg. He has an interest in biopsychology which explores the relationship between innate biological influences on behaviour and wellbeing. He has worked with Monarch Mental Health Group since the opening of the Bundaberg clinic in 2020. Working as a clinician, Luke administers TMS treatments for patients. He provides critical care to patients in need at an affordable cost and accessibility to rural areas where our help is needed most.

Jess has been with Monarch Mental Health Group for 2 years and has worked across various Victorian clinics, though now works predominantly in the Geelong locations. After completing her thesis on predictors of TMS efficacy in 2019, she found a strong interest in emerging technologies for mental health treatments. Seeing such strong treatment outcomes in a relatively short time, Jess quickly became a strong advocate for TMS and has found significant satisfaction in guiding people to wellness. As a TMS clinician, having direct client contact has been massively rewarding. Seeing people's personalities reemerge and blossom after just a few months of treatment is incredibly powerful - particularly if they have struggled with treatment resistance for a long time.

From Deeba's love of the healthcare profession to her empathetic nature as a driving force, she remains steadfast in her capabilities and is passionate about being a part of a team that promotes healing and supporting patients who are suffering from mental health conditions. Deeba is proud to work with a variety of next-step treatment services such as neurostimulation, next-step medication and counselling.

Josh has a Bachelor of Psychology and a Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced) at Deakin University. He has experience working with patients with Depression, Anxiety, PTSD and OCD. In addition, Josh is currently working in MMHG’s Geelong and Belmont clinics administering Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to patients. He working towards general registration as a Psychologist.

She is responsible for administering treatments and supporting patients throughout their journey. Briella is a Provisional Psychologist and Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) candidate at Deakin University. She has special interests in cognitive neuroscience and providing support to individuals in need. She graduated from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) degree and was a recipient of Deakin’s Cognitive Neuroscience Award in 2020. She has worked with Lifeline Melbourne and Rehabilitation Services to deliver psychological assistance to individuals diagnosed with complex psychiatric conditions. In addition, she completed a fourth-year thesis on facial emotion recognition and the therapeutic applications of transcranial magnetic stimulation. Briella commenced working with TMS Clinics Australia in February 2022.

Gabriella is a Senior TMS clinician and trainer who graduated from university with a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours). She works as a Clinical Compliance Officer, providing support to clinicians and ensuring quality and governance measures are upheld. 

Teresia's experience in mental health started over 9 years ago and was initially trained in TMS administration in 2013. She attained TMS credentialing through MAPrC in 2014 and attended a TMS masters class through MAPrC in 2015. She has worked extensively in TMS with different presentations and mood disorders in an extremely busy inpatient TMS department under the leadership of Professor Fitzgerald. She is currently undertaking a Master of Healthcare Leadership Teresia is has worked at Monarch Mental Health Group since 2018 when the organisation first expanded its services to Victoria, where the first four TMS outpatient clinics were launched. She has since worked in different roles within the organisation, and currently, oversees clinical governance and quality initiatives within the organisation. "The company has significantly morphed since I first started and it is a privilege to be part of what has now become Monarch Mental Health Group. The expansion into different packages of care makes the treatment of mood disorders more accessible to those who need it the most."