Dr Anita Cochrane – Clinical Psychologist

B Sc, B App Sci, Grad Dip Nutr Diet, Post Grad Dip Psych,
Dip Clin Hypnotherapy, Master Org Psych, PhD MAPS, MDA

Dr Anita Cochrane is a clinical psychologist and an accredited practising dietitian. Her life’s work has been helping people like you achieve better health outcomes for their mind and body.

Anita believes that the world we live in has become so complex that we need to take a systems-focused, integrative and interdisciplinary approach to health management.

Anita’s areas of interest include the inter-related role of your nutrition, your genes, your gut health (part of your microbiome), stress, your life experiences and lifestyle, as well as the impact of external environmental factors (such as toxins), in determining your physical health, mental health, brain health and your weight.

Anita’s combined skills in psychology and dietetics have been particularly useful in helping people with their mental health, weight and body image concerns, and eating and gut issues.

Anita’s advanced learning and knowledge is passed on to all LifePsyche practitioners and, ultimately, to you, thus putting you on the path to achieving better mind and body health.

Anita’s Research

The results of Anita’s PhD research suggested that interventions for chronic and complex conditions could be more effective if they were designed around the multiple factors that are impacting on clients presenting for treatment. This includes social, psychological, biological, economic and environmental factors. As well as client factors, the contribution of the practitioner, and strategies or processes, in helping the client achieve outcomes was highlighted. The figure below was developed to communicate Anita’s PhD work. The model has formed a platform for the ongoing evolution of LifePsyche’s commitment to best practice.

Figure. Systems interplay for managing chronic disease and complex conditions.

To remain at the cutting edge in the newly emerging areas of integrative health Anita has completed studies in nutrigenomics and has become a Fitgenes practitioner. She has also done training with the with the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine and the American College of Nutrition. She attends annual conferences in Integrative Medicine for Mental Health and trained to become a Certified Practitioner with the Institute of Functional Medicine in the US. In 2017, Anita trained in the Bredesen Protocol that provides guidelines for the prevention of cognitive decline and treatment of mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer’s Disease.

Anita has trained in a number of modalities over the years including CBT, ACT, DBT, EMDR, SFT, EFT and hypnosis. She has special interests in nutrition and neuroplasticity in mental health. Her training in the areas of disordered eating include CBT – BN and BED, CBT – BED and MANTRA.

Anita is a registered provider with Medicare and most health funds.

Aloysa Hourigan –Accredited Practising Dietitian

B.Sc.; Grad Dip Nutr & Diet; Grad Dip Counselling

Aloysa has several decades of experience as a Dietitian working both in private practice and community nutrition for Nutrition Australia. In addition to her dietetic qualifications, Aloysa has a Graduate Diploma in Counselling from the Queensland University of Technology.

Having a counselling qualification alongside expertise in nutrition and food has led Aloysa to focus on the area of lifestyle change to improve health and well being and support individuals living with eating disorders. She has a great deal of compassion and experience providing support for long-term recovery.

In addition to her tertiary studies Aloysa has undertaken additional training in motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and CBT-E. She continually engages in professional development especially in the areas of eating disorders, bariatric surgery, and gut health.

Aloysa takes a health coaching approach with clients and takes care to ensure suggested dietary changes can be implemented in a sustainable and feasible way in the daily lives of her clients. Her special interest areas, in addition to eating disorders, include nutrition and mental health, gut health (including inflammatory bowel disease, GORD, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome), food allergies and intolerances as well as prevention and management of chronic disease.

Aloysa has a great passion for food, improving people’s relationship with food, and for all things associated with the social aspects of eating and its impact on health and wellbeing.