Clinical Psychology

---

Clinical Psychology Services include clinical psychological assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues and psychological disorders for individual adult clients (aged 18+ years) seeking psychological therapy.

Dr Ninawa Butrus is a Clinical Psychologist who has significant experience in treating personality disorders, trauma, anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, avoidant behaviours, substance use issues, and addictive/impulsive/compulsive behaviour problems.

Clinical psychological assessments for adult clients (aged 18+ years) aimed at understanding the presenting problems and assessing psychopathology including:

• Diagnostic clinical assessments
• Personality assessments.

For therapy clients, the initial clinical psychology consultation involves an intake psychological assessment to better understand the presenting issues and your personal and mental health history, to perform a diagnostic assessment that may include completing some psychometric tests, and to formulate a treatment plan for therapy.

Please note: Dr Butrus does not perform assessments for ADHD, autism or intellectual disability.

Clinical psychology reports can also be provided for a fee and may be used as medical evidence to support a mental health diagnosis (e.g., to apply for a Disability Support Pension with Centrelink).

Evidence-based psychological therapy for individual adult clients (aged 18+ years). Clients referred under a Mental Health Care Plan from their GP or psychiatrist can access rebates from Medicare.

Dr Butrus is known for her experience in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of complex/severe personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder. She also has an interest in providing psychological therapy to support busy professionals, healthcare workers and university students.

Dr Butrus’ main areas of practice include providing psychological assessment and psychological therapy for the following issues:

• personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder (BPD)
• emptiness and identity/sense of self issues, notably the lack of a coherent or integrated sense of self (e.g., having an unstable sense of self or fluctuating self-image; not knowing who you really are or what you want from life; feeling disconnected from your sense of self; having different self-states or parts to you; feeling confused, alone, isolated and empty inside, etc)
• depression
• anxiety -- including: overthinking, worry, panic, avoidance, generalised anxiety, phobias and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• stress/coping issues, including maladaptive coping styles
• adjustment difficulties
• trauma, complex trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD
• substance use problems 
• addictive/impulsive/compulsive behaviours (e.g., pathological lying, skin-picking, gambling, emotional eating, etc)
• repeating patterns (e.g., similar things keep happening and you're not sure why)
• suicidal thoughts and self-harming behaviours
• dissociation and depersonalisation
• emotional dysregulation
• anger issues
• low self-esteem/assertiveness and people-pleasing behaviours
• fear of rejection/abandonment
• paranoid thinking and mistrust
• relationship difficulties
• workplace issues, including change management, bullying and burnout
• Centrelink and unemployment issues 
• some serious mental disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder) upon enquiry
• some forensic issues/offending behaviours upon enquiry (see Forensic Psychology). 

Please note: Dr Butrus does not provide therapy for ADHD, autism, intellectual disability or couples therapy; and she does not provide therapy services under WorkSafe or NDIS plans.

Dr Butrus strives to inform, motivate and empower her clients to be the best they can be. Her approach involves clinically assessing the client's presenting problems, providing feedback and recommendations for treatment, assisting clients with setting realistic treatment goals, and then accompanying clients on their unique journey towards meaningful change using psychological therapy.

Dr Butrus’ therapeutic style is warm, conversational and supportive yet appropriately challenging at times. She uses evidence-based therapeutic interventions drawn from an eclectic integration of the theoretical frameworks of cognitive-behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, schema therapy and psychodynamic therapy as appropriate to assist clients to address their presenting issues and achieve optimal outcomes within a safe and boundaried therapeutic space. This style and approach to psychological treatment is effective for a range of presenting issues and difficulties.

Dr Butrus uses an integrative blend of interventions from the following therapeutic approaches as appropriate and individually tailored to the client:

• Supportive Psychotherapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
• Schema Therapy 
• Psychodynamic Therapy
• Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT).

Psychological therapy also known as psychotherapy ("talking therapy") is a safe, professional and confidential relationship where clients can discuss, explore and work on their presenting issues with an objective and supportive psychologist and without judgement. The initial consultation involves a psychological assessment to better understand the presenting issues and your background and mental health history, to make a diagnosis, to create a formulation of the presenting problems and to develop a treatment plan for therapy. Subsequent sessions will involve working on the specific treatment goals through psychological therapy. 

In addition to providing some shorter-term interventions for specific problems, Dr Butrus predominantly provides longer-term psychological therapy to better identify, understand and change entrenched maladaptive patterns of thinking, feeling, behaving, coping and relating to people that may often have their origins in early childhood attachment and developmental experiences, trauma, maladaptive schemas and the unconscious mind. This type of treatment emphasises the importance of the therapeutic relationship as a key mechanism of change and takes time and effort to show results, but the positive effects are often substantial and long-lasting.

Psychological therapy can be difficult but is rewarding. Clients should be prepared to attend sessions with specific issues, problems, examples, scenarios, experiences and behaviours to discuss and be ready to work through them collaboratively with Dr Butrus. For any psychological therapy to be effective, clients should be willing to commit to attending regular sessions, be honest and actively engaged in their therapy sessions, be open to discuss their thoughts and feelings, be willing to tolerate some discomfort and be willing to do some work in-between sessions. 

All psychological therapy consultations will take place in sessional consulting rooms located in East Melbourne VIC 3002, which services the surrounding areas of Carlton, Melbourne CBD, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford, Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Hawthorn, South Yarra, and Kew. Consultations can be provided in-person or online/telehealth.

Dr Butrus currently does not have availability to accept new referrals for clinical psychological therapy.

Please use the Contact Form to submit your enquiry about Clinical Psychology Services.