Life psychology’ is a coaching, training, and personal development group established by a team of psychologists. Our mission is to raise public awareness for positive mental health, and to make a difference for communities, families, schools, and individuals. We do this through a range of services and activities.
We provide
workplace training for emotionally intelligent organisations
Individual counselling, coaching and therapy services.
Pro-bono seminars for schools and parent groups
Our workshops ‘Psychology for the Seriously Curious!’ are attended by a wide range of individuals seeking advanced coaching and personal development.
The Team
Brad Desmond Director
Brad is an experienced psychologist with degrees from Monash University and The University of Melbourne. He founded ‘Life-psychology’ to improve community awareness of evidence-based principles for positive mental health and personal development.
Previously Brad spent a decade managing clinical psychology programs in the private hospital sector, maintaining a private practice, and providing workplace training programs for organisations, AFL clubs, corporations, and community health agencies.
He currently coordinates commonwealth and state government community health programs, and is director of Life Psychology. His clinical interests are in depression and anxiety, stress and anger management, addictions, and workplace training and coaching.
He is a member of the Australian Psychological Society, The Australian Society of Hypnosis, and the Case Management Society of Australia.
Anastasia Sagris-Desmond Business Manager
Anastasia graduated as a psychologist after completing a Masters degree in counselling in 1994 (Monash Uni). She has worked in hospital inpatient settings with people with serious mental health problems, and in community health settings helping people with addictions and everyday life challenges.
She is the co-author of the G-Map, a world first assessment treatment tool used to help people with gambling problems and has presented on her work at the International Conference of Applied Psychology in San Francisco. Her research into counseling effectiveness has been published in the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, and the Counselling Psychology Quarterly. She is also an experienced trainer and presenter.
Anastasia has an interest womens' psychological health and wellbeing, especially in the area of adjusting to parenthood. She is a mother of two boys herself and knows first hand the challenges of maintaining a career, a marriage and being a parent.
Dr Melissa O'Shea Clinical Psychologist
Dr Melissa O'Shea is a registered Clinical Psychologist, completing her Clinical PhD at Monash University in 2002, which investigated personality factors in the course of adolescent depression.
Dr O'Shea has a keen interest in a broad range of mental health problems occurring during adolescence. She has been involved in key research with the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Royal Children's Hospital and ORYGEN Youth Health aimed at increasing understanding around the development and treatment of teenage mental health problems. Her clinical work has focused on the treatment of mood and personality disorders in adults and young people and she has recently accepted an appointment to manage the JIGSAW Young Person's Health Service within Barwon Health. Her interests remain in the prevention and early intervention of youth mental health problems.
Dr Reenu Farrugia Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Reenu Farrugia is a registered Psychologist in Australia and in California, U.S.A. She is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT). After graduating with her Bachelors Degree in Psychology, she completed a Masters Degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from Alliant International University in California. She then completed her Doctorate in Psychology, specialising in Marriage Family Therapy.
Dr. Farrugia has worked in clinical hospital settings in Australia and the U.S.A. and is currently providing therapy for couples, families and individuals at her private practice in Sydenham and Prahran. Her areas of interest are premarital, marital, family therapy issues, depression, anxiety, life transitions, grief therapy issues.
