Key Personnel

Simon d’Orsogna

Simon is a Psychotherapist with a Clinical Masters in Systemic Family Therapy, and training in Adult Developmental coaching with Harvard professors Bob Kegan and Lisa Lahey. Based in Melbourne Victoria, he is the IFS Institute’s Partner and the IFS training organiser in Australia and NZ.

Over the last fifteen years he has developed and led trainings in a variety of experiential and group learning approaches including; Coherence Therapy, and applied Polyvagal Theory and since 2015 has organised and run more than 350 days of IFS workshops and trainings. He completed his Level 3 IFS training in Sheffield, UK in 2019, and is a Certified IFS Therapist through the IFS Institute.

Simon has led the introduction of the IFS model to Australia, NZ and SE Asia offering workshops and training since 2015. Previously he was a member of Jay Earley’s online Advanced Practice Group before bringing US-based IFS therapist-teacher Bonnie Weiss to Australia for a series of workshops.

In 2017 the Center for Self Leadership/IFS Institute invited Simon to become their partner in running workshops and official IFS trainings in Australia and the region. Currently there are a series of official certification Level 1 trainings offered, as well as online IFS practitioners and in-person Introductory events. He organised the Level 2 Trauma and Neuroscience training (the first time offered outside of the USA) in December 2018 in Hoi An, Vietnam. Introductory lectures and workshops have been ongoing across Australia and New Zealand, as well as Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo since 2016.

In 2018 Simon completed the Level 2 ‘Intimacy from the Inside Out’ (IFIO – IFS informed couples work) training with Toni Herbine-Blank in the UK, as well as presenting on ‘Memory Reconsolidation and IFS’ at the International IFS Conference in Providence, Rhode Island in December. In 2019-20 he organised a second Level 2 training (and the first-ever hybrid-online IFSI training). Additionally he organised the inaugural Polyvagal Theory in Practice course with Deb Dana for the region. 2020 and COVID-19 required the first all-online IFS Level 1 training, as well as online IFS workshops for Legacy Burdens, Parenting, Grief, and Introductory and ongoing small learning groups.

Simon’s clinical work normalises the inevitable cycles of disorganisation and coherence, of messy stuckness and calm between heightened moments that signal our adult growth and self-elaboration.

Click here to read the Neuropsychotherapist magazine’s interview with Simon

Click here to hear the podcast interview with Tammy Sheppard Sollenberger

Simon is a La Trobe University alumni, a member of the International Association of Integrative Coach-Therapists (UK);  member of the McLean Institute of Coaching (Harvard University affiliate);  Associate Instructor with the Coherence Psychology Institute; and a Professional Member of the Australian Association of Family Therapists.

A series of Level 1 trainings are proposed for the coming year. See the Events page for details, and join the email list for updates and early notification.

Emma Diamond

Emma is the first IFS Institute trainer in the Australia and New Zealand region.

Emma Diamond (she/her) is a psychotherapist, child and family therapist with 17 years of clinical experience across a variety of presentations and contexts. Emma has formally worked for several Non-Government Organisations in the Northern Territory and NSW specialising in CPTSD, Family and Domestic Violence services, services supporting those affected by the Royal Commission into Institutionalised Childhood Sexual Abuse and for the Department of Justice NSW.

Click here to read more about Emma.

Mary Sdraulig

Mary has been a psychotherapist for over 20 years. Her work is informed by various trainings over the years: initially Soul Centered Psychotherapy and later with Internal Family Systems.

Her interests and professional development also include Dream work (CG Jung), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT Sue Johnson) for couples, and Hypnosis.

Mary is Level 2 trained in IFS and has assisted at a number of training and workshop events, including as Lead Assistant in the 2020 online L1 event during Covid.

“I understand my role as facilitating and exploring the landscape of the psyche, both in the conscious and unconscious forms through the body, mind and soul. The psyche is like a house with many rooms and many parts and l walk with you in rooms those known and unknown to assist in resolutions.”

Chris Clay

Chris is a Canberra-based Registered Psychologist with endorsements in Counselling Psychology and Organisational Psychology, having worked in organisations settings in her early career and now being self-employed in private practice.

She is a Clinical Psychologist with a special interest in experiential psychotherapies. Chris has assisted at a number of the regional L1 and L2 training and workshop events, and was Lead Assistant in the 2022 online Level 1 training.

Loranie Leas

Dr Loranie Leas, DPsych, MAPS, is a clinical/health psychologist and Psychology Board Approved Supervisor with extensive experience in working with diverse range of adults and group therapy programs. With over 17 years of practice, Loranie has enjoyed working across community mental health, corrective services, inpatient and outpatient hospital settings and private practice. Her areas of special interest include complex trauma, perinatal mental health, parenting/families, life transition and adjustment issues, chronic illnesses/pain management and loss and grief issues.

Loranie is trained in a number of evidence-based interventions including CBT, EMDR, EFT for couples, and Schema therapy. She is also a certified Level 2 IFS therapist. Loranie strives to create a safe and collaborative therapeutic space for her clients. She is particularly passionate about the impact of early significant relationships on child development and adult development. She is a certified administrator and coder for the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). She is a strong advocate of matching the right therapeutic approach with the needs of her clients and providing a holistic model of care to help clients achieve their goals.

Loranie’s other passion is exploring the intersection between Buddhist Psychology and Western psychology, integrating mindfulness-based concepts and practices to current models of psychological understanding.

Loranie is a registered provider for Medicare, DVA and Work Cover, a member of the EMDR Australia Association, Internal Family System Australia, APS Buddhism and Psychology Interest Group and APS and EMDR interest group.