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christine deftereos

Dr Christine Deftereos

Clinical Psychotherapist, Psychoanalyst & Accredited Mental Health Social Worker.

Education:

2019 Masters of Social Work (with Distinction), RMIT University 2009 Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Melbourne 2002 Masters of Arts, The University of Melbourne 1997 Bachelor of Arts (Honours), The University of Melbourne

Working Days

Mondays and Tuesdays 8am to 2PM (Malvern)
Fridays 2:30PM to 8:30PM (Malvern)

Christine Deftereos is a Clinical Psychotherapist, Psychoanalyst & Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with specialized accreditations in Complex Trauma, Acute Stress, Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, Intergenerational Trauma, and EMDR. With extensive clinical experience, she has worked with individuals who have survived sexual assault, childhood abuse and neglect, family and domestic violence, dissociative states and disorders, substance misuse, disordered eating, depression, anxiety, and other clinical presentations.

Christine is deeply committed to offering trauma-informed care that adheres to best practices. She creates a confidential, sensitive, and validating therapeutic space, placing great emphasis on the concept of “learning to live with our stories.” Her primary ethical commitment is to provide a safe and non-judgmental environment for clients to bear witness to their truth and share their lived experiences through free association.

In therapy, Christine allows clients to explore various ways of being and living, including understanding their coping mechanisms. This may involve delving into how they process and manage psychosomatic responses to trauma and trauma triggers, as well as exploring body memories, nightmares, dreams, flashbacks, and defense mechanisms. She is knowledgeable about both strength-based and maladaptive defense mechanisms that have developed over time.

Christine devotes therapeutic space to helping clients understand their experiences and relationships with others, find meaning in those experiences, build self-knowledge, awareness, compassion, and self-acceptance. This includes exploring attachments and relationships with family of origin, relationships with others, identity formations, and, most importantly, the relationship individuals have with themselves. She believes that through sharing and giving voice to experiences, bearing witness, and engaging in a process of working through, meaningful processing, shifts, and changes can occur in how individuals experience themselves and others. For Christine, personally and professionally, this is what “learning to live with our stories” truly represents.

Before pursuing her clinical roles, Christine had a career as an Academic/Lecturer and Researcher in the fields of Social Theory and Sociology. She spent approximately 15 years at The University of Melbourne and held management roles at Monash University (Caulfield). She also served as the Head of Social Sciences for a Private University.

Clinical Interests:

  • ADD/ADHD
  • Anxiety 
  • Asperger Syndrome
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
  • BiPolar Disorder
  • Body Dismorphic Disorder
  • Childhood abuse and Neglect
  • Complex Trauma
  • Domestic Violence
  • Intergenerational Trauma
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Panic Disorders and Panic Attacks
  • Personality Disorders
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Substance misuse

Modalities:

  • Attachment based Therapy
  • Compassion focused therapy
  • Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • LGBTQIA+ Informed therapies
  • Mindfulness-based practices
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
  • Schema Therapy
  • Somatic Psychotherapy
  • Trauma Informed Recovery based practice.

Languages:

  •  English

Ages:

  •  10 years +

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