Our Psychologists

Carmen Beaumont

Practice Director, Principal Psychologist (Registered) and Board Approved Supervisor – Adult Therapy

Carmen Beaumont is the Founder, Director and Principal Psychologist of Vida Psychology. Vida Psychology’s main focus is to help individuals make the most of life has to offer by giving them tools and strategies to address circumstances they are faced with.

Carmen brings vast counselling experience ranging from community, hospital to private practice work. Various roles have given Carmen the opportunity to supervise Masters Psychology students and other fully registered Psychologists. She has extensive experience developing and facilitating various groups such as Depression, Stress Management, Learning Relaxation Techniques, Anxiety, Women and Anger and How to overcome Postnatal Depression. Given she is fluent in Spanish she has also had the opportunity to offer group work to the Spanish speaking community.

Carmen speaks Spanish.

Ishma Alvi (She/Her)

Psychologist (Registered) and Board Approved Supervisor – Adults and Relationship Therapy

BA Psych., MA Clin.Psych., M.A Counselling Psych, Member AAPi, Member of Society of Australian Sexologists.

Ishma is a registered psychologist (AHPRA), Board Approved Supervisor (AHPRA) and on the Victorian Inclusive Practitioners and the Asian Australian Mental Health Practitioner lists. She is serving as the senior psychologist at Vida Psychology. With a deep understanding of the importance of building rapport and human connections, she brings not only her experience and training but also a gentle sense of humour into each session.

Ishma’s areas of interest include working with clients on relationships, whether individually or within different relationship structures, such as monogamous, polyamorous, and non-monogamous models. She provides support with transitions, such as conscious uncoupling, shifting from monogamy to non-monogamy, and negotiating polyamory and sexual play. Additionally, Ishma assists clients with a range of relationship issues, from conflict resolution to communication improvement and from intimacy to sexual health. She also offers individual counselling on intimacy, sex, and sexual wellbeing, addressing concerns such as kink and BDSM, Anorgasmia, Erectile Disorder, Premature Ejaculation, sexual arousal, and paraphilias.

She is currently working toward her accreditation as a Psychosexual Therapist with the Society of Australian Sexologists.

Furthermore, Ishma works with clients who are struggling with intimate partner/non-partner violence and abuse, addressing resulting traumas, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Trauma Reaction, and Complex PTSD.

In addition, Ishma works with clients who struggle with Anxiety Disorders such as Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Unspecified Anxiety Disorder. She is committed to facilitating positive change collaboratively to reduce the impact that anxiety can have on her clients’ everyday lives.

Ishma also works with those who have disordered eating and eating disorders, including Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, and Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders. She works collaboratively with clients and other clinicians on their health team to ensure consistent care.
Additionally, Ishma assists clients with concerns related to phase-of-life problems, loneliness, and acculturation challenges.

Her approach to therapy is informed by her training and experience, tailored to individual client needs, and conscious of systemic variables contributing to their concerns, employing an Anti-Oppression framework and a trauma-informed lens. She ensures that the work done in sessions allows clients space and ownership of the therapeutic process. The psychological interventions she employs include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Schema Therapy, and Gottman’s Couples Therapy.

In her free time, Ishma enjoys painting, drawing, and writing. And lifting heavy things. Just because.

Dr Ceylan Celen

Psychologist (Registered) – Adults and Relationship Therapy

Ceylan has a genuine interest in and warmth for her clients, which she believes enables her to understand them better. She uses that understanding to establish an engaged dynamic with her clients. This rapport, is then the essence of her therapeutic engagement, as it creates a collaborative and safe space to work on the presenting issues together, as a team.

Ceylan has considerable experience in multicultural issues and has worked with a wide range of clients from various racial, ethnical, and socio-economic backgrounds. Her specializations include, but are not limited to, chronic and acute depression, anxiety, personality disorders-in particular Borderline Personality Disorder, coping with chronic mental illness such as Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, trauma, relationship issues, and stress associated with acculturation.

Ceylan is primarily trained in psychodynamic approach, but also conducts short-term experiential psychotherapy, where she integrates Mindfulness and mind-body relaxation techniques.

If you ask family and childhood friends, Ceylan is not an outdoor person! However, since moving to Australia, she has started camping and loves it!

Ceylan speaks Turkish.

Fiona Thomson

Psychologist (Registered) – Adult Therapy

Fiona is a psychologist who is passionate about supporting people to overcome any barriers that are getting in the way of living a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Fiona uses a collaborative approach with an emphasis on building a strong therapeutic relationship. Fiona enjoys supporting people to overcome a variety of concerns including anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, interpersonal issues, as well as dissatisfaction and / or stress relating to any particular areas of life (e.g., career, relationships). Fiona’s approaches to therapy include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), as well as Mindfulness and Compassion based approaches. Fiona also has a strong interest in and draws from aspects of Yoga and Somatic therapies.

Fiona also has a particular passion for supporting parents with issues such as parenting-related stress and anxiety, strategies to manage behavioural issues, and understanding and accepting diagnoses of disabilities and developmental disorders, particularly Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Fiona enjoys dancing, yoga and bouldering as well as nurturing her ever increasing number of indoor plants!

Sabrina Brient

Psychologist (Registered) – Child, Adolescent and Adult Therapy

Sabrina is a warm and empathic psychologist who believes in the importance of providing a safe and welcoming therapeutic space. Her practice is centred on respect and acceptance and she encourages people to bring their entire selves to the therapeutic relationship.

Sabrina supports children, adolescents and adults, and approaches therapeutic interventions through an affirming and intersectional lens, understanding that people are unique and their lives are multi-dimensional and complex. She has a strong interest in identity, gender, sexuality, and sexual health/ function and is passionate about supporting people within the LGBTIQA+ community and other minority areas. She has also worked with children, young people and adults who are neurodiverse or have lived experience of a disability.

Sabrina’s approach in therapy is collaborative and client-led. She draws from her training in Psychodynamic Therapy (PDT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Single Session Therapy (SST), play-based therapies, somatic therapies, and trauma and attachment-focused interventions to provide tailored treatments to suit each individual. She also provides cognitive and behaviour assessments, including WISC-V, WIATT-III and adult ADHD assessments.

Sabrina is a massive animal lover who eventually wants to work with animal-assisted therapy.

Ben Lee-Bates

Psychologist (Provisional Registration) – Adult Therapy

Ben has a warm and open approach to therapy and is passionate about working with clients collaboratively. His aim is to help clients to understand themselves and their issues to foster insight and change.

Ben draws on a background of working with people with complex mental health issues, with a wide range of challenges. His areas of interest include trauma-informed practice, strength-based work, and psychodynamic approaches to therapy, which he adapts to the individual’s specific needs.

Ben believes in the importance of creating a safe and nurturing space where clients can feel heard, understood, and accepted. He is committed to helping clients to better understand their thoughts, feelings and behaviours and support them to work through their problems by leveraging on their strengths and values.

Outside of work, Ben enjoys getting out in nature, cooking, and doing anything creative. Ben has a one-year-old Japanese spitz named Jerry that he hopes to one day train to become a therapy dog!

Susan Withers

Psychologist (Provisional Registration) – Adolescent and Adult Therapy

Sue is committed to providing a warm therapeutic space, offering the opportunity for people to work on barriers to living a full and meaningful life. She understands careful listening and builds trusting connections with her clients.

Sue has worked with people experiencing a range of issues including depression, anxiety, relationship challenges, life transitions, bereavement, and grief. Her therapeutic experience has been across various settings, including schools, hospitals, and the wider community.

Sues approach to therapy is informed by understanding the individual’s needs and experience, and she is committed to providing a non-judgemental space, where the client is heard and respected. Sue’s therapeutic approach is led by Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance Commitment Therapy.

Sue loves to cook and read in her spare time, and will never say no to a spicy curry.

Kellie Dundon

Psychologist (Provisional Registration) – Adult Therapy

Kellie is a warm and open-minded provisional psychologist with a practical approach to helping her clients improve their wellbeing. She provides a safe, non-judgemental therapeutic space.

Kellie works with a range of people and issues. She has experience working with children and young people experiencing difficulties at school, as well as with culturally diverse clients, carers, and with women leaving situations of family violence.

Kellie uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help clients explore their feelings, thoughts, and behaviours, working with her clients in a collaborative way. She believes this empowers her clients to better understand themselves and their situations, and to reach places of self-compassion and acceptance.

Kellie is at her happiest on a walk or ride outdoors. If she’s indoors, she’ll be reading a great book!