Dr Sonja Skocic

Founder and Director / Senior Clinical Psychologist
PhD., MPsych., GradDipPsych., GDMD., BSc.

I started the Centre as a safe space for women and girls to access quality healthcare and support within a feminist framework. In the seven years we have been open, we have routinely received positive feedback from clients and the community regarding our vision to empower women and girls in all aspects of life. There has been growth and change over the years as we pivot to adjust to the needs and concerns of our community. I have worked in the mental health field since 1995 in various roles and have seen much change over time in how women's mental health is understood. Our Centre is a part of that change and we continue to promote anti-oppressive practices and feminist principles in every aspect of our work for the benefit and wellbeing of all women and girls.

My responsibilities at the Centre are varied. I conduct the assessments for adults age 19+ years who are seeking clarity regarding ADHD and Autism. I also support clients at the Centre in my role as a psychotherapist and conduct research within our Department of Research and Publishing. I also enjoy creating spaces for women’s voices and collective learning. In 2025, I curated and hosted our inaugural Empowering Women Summit, bringing together remarkable speakers to explore themes of personal growth, professional power and shared purpose.

My psychotherapy practice is grounded in narrative, phenomenological, feminist and existential approaches. I focus on understanding women’s lives as stories shaped by experience, relationships, culture and social context, while also attending closely to the lived, felt experience of those stories. My work explores how expectations, gendered conditioning, trauma and self-beliefs can influence identity, agency and wellbeing. My approach is additionally informed by contemporary neuroscience, along with philosophical and metaphysical inquiry into consciousness and self-understanding. I intentionally maintain a very small caseload so that I can offer thoughtful, in-depth therapeutic care. The overarching intention of my work is to support women to reconnect with meaning, values and self-authorship, and to move toward greater psychological freedom and empowered living.

This same reflective, compassionate approach also guides my assessment work. When I conduct Autism and ADHD assessments, my focus is not only on accurate diagnosis, but on helping women understand their experiences in context with respect, clarity and care so that any outcome supports self-understanding rather than stigma or self-criticism. Whether in assessment or therapy, my aim is to create a space where women feel seen, respected and genuinely understood.

More about me here on Linkedin

Registered Psychologist - Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, Psychology Board of Australia

Member - Australian Psychological Society (APS)

Fellow - APS College of Clinical Psychologists

Fellow - APS College of Counselling Psychologists

Affiliate - APS College of Sport and Exercise Psychologists

Member - UN Women National Committee Australia

Member - International Association for Women's Mental Health

Member - Women’s Health Victoria