About

My name is Christelle and I am a registered psychologist with over thirty-five years experience in counselling, clinical and organisational psychology, and management in rural communities. This includes twenty years in rural private practice working with children and adults, and ten years in child protection. In child protection, I worked across all areas of investigation and intervention, and at all levels of service centre leadership.

Dr Christelle Withers-Mayne

There are two areas of psychology work that I am particularly passionate about. The first is psychological assessment and report writing. I have many years’ experience in conducting assessments relating to child protection, cognitive functioning, personality, psycho-emotional functioning and medico-legal matters. Many of these assessments have required me to provide expert evidence to the court.

With my current Child Safety knowledge and experience in assessments, I can provide you with comprehensive, practical and relevant reports.

My second passion is for supporting rural and regional communities. Rural psychology is a specialist field in its own right. Having spent most of my life living and working in small rural communities, I understand and care about the issues rural people and professionals face.

Rural professionals deal with a wide range of challenging and complex situations, often with minimal support. Travelling to the major cities for professional development is expensive and time-consuming. To save you time and money, I offer several practical, informative workshops in a regional town near you.

Service organisations in small country towns face similar challenges. Processes like strategic planning, so vital for efficient operation, are often neglected because there is no-one external to facilitate them. And facilitating an organisational audit or team building process yourself makes it difficult for you to participate as a team member and remain objective. So I will come to you! Click here to read more.

A bit about my qualifications

I hold a B.A. Beh. Sc. (with dist.); B.Psych.; PhD.; and Graduate Certificates in Management and Child Protection. I am fully registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and am a member of the Australian Psychological Society. I have also published numerous articles in peer reviewed journals on issues such as Emotional Intelligence, Children of Alcoholics, and responses to youth unemployment.

Publications

Single Authorship

Withers-Mayne, C. (2010) Emotional intelligence as a framework for understanding core child protection skills. Children Australia, 35, (4), 37-42.

Withers-Mayne, C. (2007) Ever feel like an ant in a landslip? Qld: Poseidon Books.

Withers-Mayne, C. (2006) So are you a born leader? South Burnett Times, 22 Sept, 23.

Withers-Mayne, C. (2003) Murder? How exciting! New Life, 65, (39), 5.

Withers-Mayne, C. (2001) Unemployment: A state of mind. Signs of the Times, Nov. issue. Also published in Life.info, (2003) 2, 20-21.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1999) Ever feel like a goldfish in a shark tank? Qld: Silverleaf Publishing.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1990) The way we are… Genesis and psychology. Creation Ex Nihilo, 12, (2), 41-45.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1990) Responses to unemployment: A review and discussion. Youth Studies, 9, (1), 39-50.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1990) Children of alcoholics. Mind, 7, 20-22.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1990) Children of alcoholics. Mind, 8, 16-18.

Withers-Mayne, C. (undated pamphlet) Strategies for recognising and helping children of alcoholics in schools. Information Service, Alcohol and Drug Programs Unit, Department of Education, Queensland.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1998) Carers must care for themselves, too. The Herald, 5 May, 15.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1998) Happy marriage – luck or work? The Herald, 7 April, 7.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1998) Virus of the 90s? South Burnett Times, 20 March, 10.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1998) When someone you love dies. The Herald, 3 March, 3.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1998) Stress need not cause problems. The Herald, 3 Feb, 13.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1997) Stress of drought takes a large toll. The Herald, 9 Dec, 14.

Withers, C. (1989) Children of alcoholics: The challenge for the adult child. Channel 89: The Journal of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Queensland, 1, 8-11.

Withers, C. (1988) Children of alcoholics: Identifying and helping children in need. Channel 88: The Journal of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Queensland, 1, 6-9.

Withers, C. (1987) Children of alcoholics: The home environment and children’s coping mechanisms. Channel 87: The Journal of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Queensland, 9, 8-11.

Withers, C. Guidelines for volunteers working with alcohol abusing clients. Channel 87: The Journal of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Queensland, 8,  10-11.

Withers-Mayne, C. (1985) Animal liberation: Man’s dominion. Creation Ex Nihilo, 8, 24-26.

Withers, C. (1983) Youth unemployment in Queensland and the Baptist church’s response. Brisbane: Baptist Union of Qld.

Joint Authorship

Withers-Mayne, C. & Wenn, R.P. (1993) Dynamic Discipleship Counselling: A practical course in biblical counselling. Brisbane, Qld.: Discipling Dynamics Ministry.

Wilks, J. & Withers, C. (1989) Issues in developing a community medication collection : An overview of medidump projects. Australian Drug and Alcohol Review, 8, 15-20.

Hong, S-M. & Withers, C. (1982) Trait anger, locus of control, religiosity, and authoritarianism as related to trait anxiety. Psychological Reports, 51, 941-942.