Psychology House is an exclusive business, owned and operated by Samantha Blackburn-Read.
Samantha is a registered Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is endorsed to practice as an Educational & Development Psychologist in recognition of her specialist skills in education, learning and psychological & educational assessment.
Samantha began her psychology studies at the University of Western Australia and completed a Bachelor of Psychology in 1993 and Graduate Diploma in Education (School Psychology) in 1994. Samantha returned to her studies after working as a Psychologist for a number of years, completing a Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) at Curtin University in 2008.
Samantha’s professional affiliations include full membership with the Australian Psychologists Association (APS) and the College of Educational & Developmental Psychologists (APS, Fellow grade).
Over the years Samantha has had the opportunity to work across both the public and private school sector as a Psychologist and within various leadership roles. In 2015, she moved into private practice, opening Psychology House. Since opening the practice, her goal has always been to provide a reliable, efficient and comprehensive service to parents, guardians and the wider community, including schools.
Ultimately, Samantha aims to provide a service to parents to optimise their understanding and thus their ability to support their child’s learning, behaviour and social-emotional needs in relation to the home, school and wider environment. She has extensive experience in working with parents and their children and has a particular interest in supporting school age children 5 – 17 years of age. However, her assessment work to date has also extended into the early adult years (17 +).
While Samantha considers that her experience and expertise will continue to develop, her particular area of specialty and interest is in the assessment and diagnosis of specific learning difficulties, as well as investigating general developmental issues, behavioural and social – emotional issues (including anxiety & depression) and ADHD. She is also passionate about supporting parents to extend and develop healthy relationships with their children.
To date, Samantha has worked alongside school personnel, mental health specialists and allied health professionals over a period of many years and understands the hard work they all do. She is also a parent herself and very much understands a parent’s desire to support and advocate for their child. Samantha’s goal, therefore, is to provide a service that supports parents/guardians, school personnel and external supports to optimise the young person’s education, social-emotional well-being and overall development. Her experience and knowledge about schools in particular, including knowledge about the resources available and the policies and procedures inherent within the school system, means that she is able to work collaboratively with schools and parents / guardians to develop effective and realistic supports specific to the individual needs of children.
