Meet Rae Starkey
Rae Starkey obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminology (with Honours), and Master of Science in Forensic Psychology in the UK, and completed a Master of Psychology (Clinical) in Australia. She started working as a psychologist within the Department for Correctional Services in South Australia providing assessments, reports, and psychological interventions. She then went on to work with children as a psychologist within the Department for Education and Child Development. Rae also worked with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services providing therapeutic interventions to young people and their families. Rae started working in private practice in 2012, providing evidence based psychological interventions to adults and adolescents in country SA and metro regions whilst also working as a psychologist within a secure SA Health inpatient unit. Rae currently provides consults face to face at Apple Tree Medical Centre in Smithfield, Cairns, and via Telehealth, and can provide services under Medicare, DVA, and the NDIS to people in all parts of Australia. Rae is also a board approved supervisor for Psychologists obtaining general registration and Clinical Endorsement.
Rae Starkey
Clinical Psychologist
BSc Psych and Crim (Hons), MSc Foren Psych, Mast Psych (Clin)
Rae's statement
"I have been practicing as a psychologist since 2010, and I am passionate about conducting evidence based Clinical Psychological interventions to address a wide variety of mental health diagnoses. I have extensive experience of providing evidence based therapeutic interventions with young people from the age of 11, adolescents, and adults. I love helping people with a wide range of mental health issues, and my particular areas of interest are anxiety disorders, chronic pain (especially persistent pelvic pain) couples therapy, and helping people who are in, or recovering from abusive or narcissistic relationships.
My therapeutic approach fosters an understanding, caring, warm, supportive, and non-judgmental environment for all patients. I take a trauma informed biopsychosocial-cultural approach to my practice, ensuring that the patient and their issues are understood and addressed in a holistic way.
I completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminology (with honours), Master of Science in Forensic Psychology in the UK, and a Master of Psychology (Clinical) through Charles Sturt University in Australia. My training has emphasized the importance of tailoring evidence based therapeutic interventions and using validated assessments for each individual patient.
I provide therapy for individual patients mainly from a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) paradigms, as these interventions have strongest basis of scientific evidence proving their effectiveness. In addition to CBT, I also use other evidence based approaches including Trauma Focussed CBT (including Graded Exposure Response Prevention Therapy), Gottman Therapy, Emotion Focussed Therapy, Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (for pain), Family Systems Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, tailoring the approach to best suit the needs of each individual patient.​​​
Couples therapy
Research clearly shows that happy healthy relationships are life enriching and are the main component of a happy life. My granddad always used to say (in his London cockney accent) ‘Ain't love grand’, is a philosophy I have carried with me throughout my life, and which has inspired me to help couples achieve happiness and fulfilment in their relationships. I truly believe that love can be grand, however this does take a bit of conscious effort by both partners to keep the relationship a happy and fulfilling one. To develop my practice in relationship therapy, I have completed training in level 1, 2, and 3 in Gottman Therapy and also Emotion Focussed Therapy for couples which are both gold standard evidence based therapeutic interventions for couples. All couples are welcome including those with diverse backgrounds and people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Abusive/Narcissistic relationships
Relationships can cause us the most joy we experience in our lives, but also the most pain and sadness too. As a Clinical Psychologist who is also a survivor of narcissistic abuse I also have a particular interest in providing trauma informed care to help people make sense of what is happening in their relationships and also to help them heal from their abusive/narcissistic relationship.
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Anxiety disorders
I also really enjoy treating all anxiety disorders, including OCD, GAD, death anxiety, health anxiety, social anxiety, and phobias using CBT.
Chronic pain
Additionally I have a particular interest treating patients with pelvic pain, having lived experience of pelvic pain myself. I have been a member of the Adelaide Pelvic Pain Network for a number of years, which is a multidisciplinary team of health professionals including doctors, surgeons, and Allied Health Professionals who all have a particular interest in treating patients with pelvic pain. I have completed additional training to treat patients with chronic pain including the NOI explain pain training, and training in Emotional Awareness and Expression therapy (EAET) for chronic pain.
As a Clinical Psychologist, I work collaboratively with my patients, engaging them in a joint process where they are active participants in both deciding what they would like to achieve from their time in therapy, and in implementing the therapeutic strategies. Within a healing and caring environment, I help patients to learn new skills and strategies to help them address mental health diagnoses, improve their daily functioning, and achieve happier interpersonal relationships. Additionally I help patients to gain a deeper understanding of their own personality and values, and enable patients to use this knowledge to make life decisions and set goals. My aim is to provide patients with skills and knowledge, which they can use for the rest of their lives. I genuinely care about all of my patients' wellbeing and happiness, and I feel grateful and honoured to have the opportunity as a psychologist to walk alongside my patients as they make positive life changes in order to lead a happier and more fulfilling life."