Andrea Davidoff
Child & Adolescent Clinical Psychologist
B.A. (Hons), M.Psych (Clin), MAPS
Member APS College of Clinical Psychologists
Andrea is an endorsed psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner’s Regulation Agency and a registered provider of Medicare clinical psychology services. She is a full member of the Australian Psychological Society and of the Clinical College of the Australian Psychological Society. She completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Psychology) and a Master of Clinical Psychology at the University of NSW.
Andrea began her career as a clinical psychologist working with children in residential care. Her caseload included children with behavioural and emotional difficulties from neglect and abuse backgrounds, children with learning and intellectual impairments and children referred by the Courts.
Andrea spent nine years in this role, and also held the position of senior Clinical Psychologist for the Northwest Division of the Department of Community Services which involved clinical supervision of psychologists in the region. She was also responsible for providing diagnostic assessment services, behavioural treatment programs and for transitioning children from specialist education facilities into community based schools.
In addition to a large caseload spread over three residential care establishments, Andrea was also involved in providing parent training programs and foster care support services. As part of her clinical caseload, Andrea conducted assessments for cases referred by the Children’s Court and District Offices of the Department of Family and Community Services.
Following this appointment, Andrea commenced her private practice in the Blue Mountains and continued to provide specialist consulting services to the Department of Community Services as well as expert clinical assessments for the Children’s Court Clinic in care and protection matters.
At the same time, she provided counselling services to war veterans as an Outreach Clinical Psychologist for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Her adult caseload was centered on cases of severe anxiety, PTSD and substance abuse amongst the veteran population. A passionate advocate for children’s mental health, Andrea saw a need for specialist counselling services for the children and families of war veterans and was subsequently appointed to provide specialist counselling services for the children of veterans with mental health issues for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in Sydney.
In her private practice spanning more than thirty years, Andrea has acquired a wealth of experience in conducting psychological assessments of children aged from pre-schoolers to young adults as well as providing individualised treatment interventions for a broad range of problems including behavioural difficulties, emotional regulation difficulties, anxiety disorders, OCD, ADHD and Autism spectrum disorders. Her treatment strategies are informed by evidence-based therapies including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and cognitive based Mindfulness.
Andrea prefers a collaborative approach to working with youth of all ages and is a firm advocate of early intervention to overcome emotional difficulties, promote resilience and enable children to lead happy and healthy lives. Andrea offers school visits and liaises closely with teachers and other health professionals when providing services to children and their families.
Andrea has presented at conferences, appeared on expert panels and has conducted workshops for health professionals in the course of her career. She has also appeared as an expert witness in the District Court, Children’s Court, Family Court and Supreme Court of NSW.
Andrea provides a range of services for ages from pre-school through to adolescents:
- Anxiety diagnosis and treatment
- OCD and Tic Disorders
- Depression
- ADHD diagnosis and support
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Self esteem
- Bullying
- Behaviour problems
- Parenting support
- PTSD and trauma counselling
- Support for children following family breakup
- IQ and academic assessment
- Assessment of learning difficulties
- Intellectual disability
- Executive Functioning
- Gifted and talented assessments
- School readiness assessments
- Social and behavioural problems in pre-schoolers
- Toilet training difficulties