Fiona Smith: Psychologist & Practice Director

“There is no use trying” said Alice. “One can’t believe impossible things.” “I dare say you haven’t had much practice” said the Queen. “When i was your age, i always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes i’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast”. Lewis Carroll

Fiona Smith is the Director of the Gifted Minds practice.  She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honours in Psychology and a Masters Degree of Education, majoring in Gifted Education. She also has full registration with the Psychology Board of Australia and Full Membership of the Australian Psychological Society. Fiona's qualifications make her unique in the field, as she combines degrees in Psychology and Education, while specialising in gifted education.

Fiona has worked with gifted individuals for the last twenty-three years beginning at GERRIC (Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre), UNSW, in 1998 and commencing her private practise in 2004. She has had extensive experience using the Stanford Binet (Fifth Edition, Fourth Edition and SB-LM) and Wechsler tests (WISC-V, WISC-IV and WISC-III).  

Fiona is frequently invited around Australia to assess gifted children and adolescents, visiting Perth, Albany, the Gold Coast, Canberra, the Sunshine Coast, the Southern Highlands, Dubbo and other venues in rural NSW. Fiona was invited to assess in Beijing, in March, 2007 and travelled to Hong Kong in 2011 to assess over twenty children. Fiona often talks to parent groups and teachers.  She has also worked with the Sydney Catholic Education Office to help identify children for their SWAS (School Within A School) Program. 

Fiona has a special interest in working with gifted adolescent girls and women who are having difficulties with their intensities and sensitivities. Her other areas of interest include literature for gifted kids, using humour in counselling and parenting, and identifying creative-divergent (invisible) gifted children who do not learn in the conventional way.

Fiona has spoken at various conferences since 1998. She has a paper on the Mensa website: An Australian Mensa Initiative: Celebrating your gifted child's sensitivity. Fiona has been published in the NAGC Parenting for High Potential Fall 2015 Issue: Patrilineal Ability: Nurturing Giftedness in Grandfathers, Fathers and Sons. She has a talk on the APS website from the Inaugral Australian Psychological Society Congress held in Melbourne in 2016: Psychologists and gifted clients: When unusual is typical and atypical is usual. Fiona has also been published in the Advanced Development Journal: Walking in another's shoes and getting blisters: A personal account of the blessing and curse of intense empathy.

Fiona is an image-free thinker (Aphantasic) and is happy to talk about this with her clients.

Dominic Westbrook: Counsellor (face-to-face, by phone and on zoom) & Practice Manager

"People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner." I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds." ~ Carl Rogers

Dominic is the Counsellor/Therapist at Gifted Minds as well as the Practice Manager. Phone enquiries will be taken by Dominic and directed on as needed.

Dominic has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in English and Sociology and a Postgraduate Diploma of Counselling from ACAP. He is a registered Counsellor with PACFA. Dominic's role at Gifted Minds is to work with gifted children, adolescents and young adults in resilience based-training to help with any negative aspects of social or emotional overexcitabilities and sensitivities. Dominic is also available to counsel adults and parents about advocating for themselves and their children. He has completed the on-line course with Dr Michael Postma from Gifted and Thriving on parenting gifted children and has a thorough knowledge of  the needs of gifted and twice exceptional children and issues with misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. 

Growing up a gifted student himself, he has an understanding of the frustration and boredom that can be a factor in some academic situations and institutions and the social and emotional ramifications that can ensue.

Using Person-Centred and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with mindfulness and strength-based techniques, he works with the client to create balance between the intellectual and social spheres, to build resilience in the face of boredom, to understand sensitivity, over-excitability and frustration and to help build and strengthen social skills and adaptability.  Dominic’s sessions provide an emotionally safe and intellectually stimulating space that provides catharsis from any boredom and frustration at school, any inter-social issues and any sensitivities.

Dominic has spoken at conferences in the US including SENG and the WCGTC (World Council for Gifted and Talented Children)

Dominic’s services include:

1-1 counselling with Gifted kids

Counselling with Parents

In person Consultation

Phone Consultations

Phone Counselling

Enrichment sessions for subjects such as Creative Writing, Reading, Mathematics, Drama, Art

Workshops