Mel Campbell

My professional expertise

I am an endorsed Mental Health Occupational Therapist with more than two decades of clinical experience supporting women and families through some of the most difficult and vulnerable times in their lives.

I began my career working with mothers experiencing severe mental health difficulties in the postnatal period. I went on to work with parents and children experiencing attachment difficulties, moving from there into work with adolescents with severe mental health concerns. I then spent many years working in the field of child and adolescent mental health, supporting families facing complex emotional, relational and developmental challenges.

I have worked in the health and education sectors and volunteered in the community with new parents. After years working with babies, children, adolescents, parents and families, I came to understand the importance of supporting women as individuals, while also recognising the relationships, responsibilities and life experiences that shape their everyday lives. For the last five years I have run a small private practice focused on supporting women at all stages of adult life.

My work is informed by attachment and trauma research, neuroscience-informed understandings of safety, psychodynamic approaches, and occupational therapy’s focus on understanding the whole person and enabling meaningful change in everyday life. I am inspired by the work of Kent Hoffman, Winnie Dunn, Russ Harris, Kimberley Quinlan, Brené Brown, Lisa Damour and Aubrey Gordon, and most particularly by the largely invisible work of women in their everyday lives.