Riverlands Therapy Services Pty Ltd

Riverlands Therapy Services is a team of dedicated professionals who are experienced in counselling people with a whole range of difficulties.

Team members have their own unique biographies. Why not peruse these to explore the options available to you?

Merilyn Ballantyne

Peter Logue

Peter is a Consultant Psychologist and has 25 years experience with counseling - children, teenagers, adults and families. He has been successfully established in the Penrith area for 15 years and enjoys a high rate of 'personal' referrals.

Peter helps clients identify and resolve the underlying core issues that contribute to their symptoms. He has experience in a diverse range of problem areas, including depression, anxiety, sexual/emotional/physical abuse, trauma, stress, pain management and low self-esteem.

Peter has conducted workshops (see Groups & Seminars) and training over the past 25 years in both Government and Private Practice contexts. He has also provided supervision to mental health professionals including psychologists, social workers, drug and alcohol counselors etc.

He is a member of the Australian Psychological Society and also of the Australian College of Counseling Psychologists.
Peter is EMDR trained.

Stephen Solomon

Clinical Psychologist in community Health Services 9 years, adult inpatient psychiatry 2 years, Juvenile Justine and DOCS 10 years. Individual adult, adolescents and couples.

Providing psychological services for anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, work and life stress, physical injury and pain management, rehabilitation, interpersonal conflicts and person trauma.

Stephen is EMDR trained.

Richard Elms

Richard enjoys a varied clinical caseload. He works with people suffering from depression; anxiety, relationship problems; emotional and behaviorial problems experienced by children and adolescents; drug and alcohol problems; obsessive thoughts and actions; sexual, physical or emotional abuse; problems with anger or abusive behavior; eating problems, bereavement etc.

Richard has been providing training to professionals working with children, adolescents, adults and families since 1985.
In addition to training groups drawn from a variety of organizations, Richard has conducted(tailor made) training for particular organizations.

Richard has also consulted to a range of organizations. These include a psychiatric hospital, youth services, child protection workers, residential care services, and drug & alcohol services.

Richard provides clinical supervision to Mental Health Workers, Welfare Workers, Psychologists, Social Workers, Residential Care
Workers, Teachers, Child Protection Workers, School Counselors, Sexual Assault Workers, Drug and Alcohol Workers etc.

Nesli Karadeniz

Nesli practices a cognitive behavioral approach called Reality Therapy when working with he clients. She believes that a caring, empathic relationship lies at the heart of any kind of therapy and works with clients to offer insights into how making rational, effective choices can heal the mind and soul.

She works from the premise that we contributes to our degree of happiness by how we think and act in our present day living.

Nesli believes that we get into emotional binds like depression not because our standards are too high, but because our performance has been and is too low. Her objective is not lower the aim but to support her clients and increase their accomplishments, by helping them fulfil their needs in the real world. Her method of strengthening her clients coping mechanisms involves honesty, concern, personal authenticity and confrontation.

Nesli has worked extensively in the Western Sydney Area Health Service dealing with addictions and in particular adolescent and family issues. She has had more than 10 years experience in providing therapy/counseling using a holistic approach.

Nesli provides counseling/psychotherapy to assist people from all walks of life to deal with a range of issues and personal and life stressors. She also offers counseling for chronic pain.

Nesli uses her multilingual language skills to work productively with people who cannot speak English. She is experienced in the use of English, Turkish, French, and has a working understanding of Italian.
She uses not only her multilingual skills to treat her patients, but also is qualified in the use of Cognitive Behavioural therapy, Reality Therapy, Dream Analysis, Hypnotherapy, EMDR.

Nicolina Rotundo

Nicolina Rotundo is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with 25 years experience working with both adults and children in a hospital environment, community health centre and in private practice. Her current ares of interest are treatment of depression, anxeity, panic attacks, adjustment disorders, bereavement, coping with acute and chronic illness, work related stress and coping with changes associated with again.

She is a full member of the Australian Psychological Society. She is trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, EMDR (Level 1) and Clinical Hypnosis.

Karen Haye

Karen is a Clinical Psychologist currently working part time at the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Team (Wentworth Area Health Services) and Riverlands Therapy Services in private practice.

She did her training at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Karen completed a B.Sc (Hons) in 1979 and M.Sc/Diploma in Clinical Psychology in 1984. She first worked for 2 years in an acute psychiatric unit, then moved to Australia where Karen worked for 18 months at the Western Area Adolescent Team. In 1986 Karen took up a position as Clinical Psychologist at Redbank House where she worked for 8 years ont he Adolescent and Family Unit. During this time Karen also did some work on a sessional basis for Commonwealth Rehabilitation Services.

She returned to work in New Zealand for 3 years as a Clinical Psychologist working at the Child and Family specialty Services. In 1997 she returned to Australia and has been employed in Private Practice and with Wentworth Area Health since then.

Karen has extensive experience in working with children, adolescents and their families, many of them have been victims of trauma. She keeps up to date with new information and intervention practices. Karen has regular supervision and have trained and supervised many clinicians herself.

Christine Prentice

Christine practices as a clinical social worker and has been counseling for the past 15 years.
She works in the Hawkesbury in Public Health and in the Penrith area in Private Practice.

Christine works with a model that seeks to explain and assist clients to understand the issues that block change and the developing of new ways. Her special interests are to assist clients in the areas of sexual abuse, grief, trauma, relationships, depression and domestic violence. She is a registered counselor with Victims of Crime and Vietnam Veterans Counseling.

Christine has facilitated workshops and groups covering such areas as sexual abuse, domestic violence stress management, healthy relationships and conflict resolution. She has also provided supervision to other health professionals covering these topics.

Christine is a member of AASW and is trained in Level 1 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing(EMDR).

Rosalind Dayman

Rosalind Dayman is a Consultant Psychologist who has had extensive experience in the Western Sydney Area Health Service where she worked with Alcohol and Other Addictions, with Adolescents and families; in schools; and in Community Health. Rosalind is now in Private Practice in Epping and Penrith.Rosalind assists clients to develop solutions to a wide range of challenges and stressor, and provides psychological treatment for depression; anxiety and panic attacks; stress management; trauma and sexual abuse; chronic pain management; and adjustment disorders.

Rosalind is an accredited counselor with the Victims of Crime Bureau; Access to Allied Health Program; and for the Department of Veterans Affairs. She uses a holistic approach to treatment including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Interpersonal therapy to assist Individuals, couples and families.

Rosalind is a full Member of the Australian Psychological Society.

Penrith - Tuesday, Wednesday

Back to top

Ann Morris

Ann is a clinical social worker who has worked in a range of therapeutic services over the past 30 years. Ann currently combines her work as a sexual health counsellor in public health with her independent practice with Riverlands Therapy Services.

Ann offers counselling to individuals - adults and young people - to couples and families, on a broad range of problems affecting their lives. She has particular experience in counselling people who have concerns about sexual issues and difficulties and has considerable experience in working with people effected by violence, abuse and sexual assault. Ann also works with people effected by anxiety, depression, grief, loss, ageing, illness and relationship difficulties.

Ann provides supervision and consultation to many helping professionals e.g. social workers, psychologists, NGO support workers. She maintains her own passion for her work with regular clinical supervision and professional development. She is a member of AASW, has a Diploma of Sexual Health counselling (ASSERT and Australian College of Venereologist), is EMDR (Level 1) trained and hypnotherapy trained (General Course, The College of Medical Hypnosis).

Penrith - Friday

Back to top

Renee Ferris

Renee Ferris is a Consultant Psychologist with a broad range of experience providing counselling for children, adolescents, adults and families. Renee�s therapeutic style incorporates cognitive-behavioural, positive psychology, solution focused, psychodynamic, family systems, psycho-education, narrative and play therapy approaches, depending on the needs of the client. She has a passion for her job as a psychologist, taking great joy from helping people reach a place of increased happiness, self-awareness or capability, and always enjoys building therapeutic relationships with each client she works with.

Renee has developed and facilitated a number of successfully Social Skills group programs for children. These run during school term and in school holidays in the local area. Please contact Renee to enquire about the next groups on offer.

Adrienne Powys

Adrienne has extensive experience working with adults and older adolescents using CBT and IPT. Her major areas of expertise are anxiety, depression, grief, relationships, workplace conflict, life stage transitions and post trauma reactions. She also has an interest in working with individuals with eating disorders.

Penrith - Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Blaxland - Thursday

Back to top

Larisa Konstantinoff

Larisa is a Clinical Psychologist who specialises in child and adolescent psychology. Larisa has worked extensively for the past 10 years in treating behavioural and emotional difficulties in children, adolescents and adults.

Larisa is a full member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and a member of the Australian Association of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (AACBT).

She is accredited under Medicare as a Clinical Psychologist, which means that clients receive the maximum benefits.
All treatments Larisa engages in are evidence based. Evidence based treatments are those that have been researched to be the most effective form of treatment for the particular problem or disorder.

Her areas of specialisation with children and adolescents include:

Barbara Majchrowska

Barbara has completed BSC Honours in psychology at the Metropolitan University London in 1989. She is a Consultant Psychologist with 19 years experience working with clients ranging from adults to adolescents and children. She uses CBT /Client Centred and Solution Oriented Therapy to address a diverse range of issues, such as: anxiety, panic attacks, depression, relationship problems, eating disorders, stress, bereavement and self esteem problems.

Barbara aims to restore client’s wellbeing through personalised/client cantered programmes that address the participant’s individual need, until such time where improvement is clearly evident and client is satisfied with the outcome of the therapy.

Karen Forrest

Karen Forrest is a Psychologist and Occupational Therapist who specialises in the comprehensive assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems and their family.

Karen has worked in a variety of settings including private practice for 12years; the Early Childhood Unit, Department of Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry, Westmead Hospital for 5years; and in a community health setting for 5years. Karen has also lectured at Macquarie University and Sydney University in the area of child mental health. She is a full member of the Australian Psychological Society and World Association for Infant Mental Health. Karen is registered with Medicare and is an accredited counsellor with the Victims of Crime Bureau.

Karen has extensive experience working with children and adolescents in the following areas;

Karen provides therapy based on what best fits the child/adolescent and family�s needs. Karen has experience providing individual play therapy, parent � child therapy, family therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and behaviour management counselling.

Ken Ferris

Ken is an Educational & Developmental Psychologist with a broad range of experience providing counselling & assessment for children, adolescents, adults & families. He has extensive experience in the Disability, Assessment and Behaviour Management fields. Ken’s therapeutic style incorporates cognitive-behavioural, solution focused, positive psychology, motivational interviewing, psycho-education, or play therapy approaches, depending on the needs of the client.

Ken is experienced in Intellectual, Achievement & Behavioural Assessment, as well as Autistic Spectrum Assessment, and offers report writing in these areas.

Ken is a member of the APS, and a registered Medicare provider. He is also an accredited TripleP provider. Ken has run training and educational sessions for numerous organisations around challenging behaviours in a disability context and can be contacted for workplace training services.

About Us