Tess Jennings
Registered Psychologist
(she/her)
Available for in-person appointments at our Melbourne office, and also for Telehealth (video) appointments
Tess is a registered psychologist and former psychotherapist committed to creating a safe and inclusive therapeutic environment. She views therapy as a fundamentally collaborative process, wherein clients are empowered to move toward self-acceptance and wellbeing within an atmosphere of genuine connection, safe attachment, radical candour, and deep compassion.
While Tess works comfortably with a broad range of presentations, she has specific interest in the experience, origins, and impacts of shame, especially in relation to disordered eating, body image, attachment, sexuality, gender diversity, and identity. She is passionate about helping her clients cultivate safer and healthier relationships with food, their bodies, and more broadly, with the parts of themselves they struggle to accept.
Tess is especially committed to supporting individuals who may feel marginalised or unseen in traditional healthcare spaces. With an awareness of her positionality as a white, able-bodied, middle-class, cis-gender woman, Tess strives to remain attuned to the challenges and microaggressions experienced by those from marginalised communities. Her practice is weight-inclusive, trauma-informed, affirming of gender and neurodiversity, and firmly grounded in the Health at Every Size (HAES) principles. She also places strong emphasis on supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, to which she proudly belongs.
Tess’ therapeutic style is uniquely warm, and her approach is holistic, client centred, and integrative. Intervention is tailored to meet your unique needs and goals and draws from various evidence-based modalities including schema therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy enhanced for eating disorders (CBT-E), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), and psychodynamic psychotherapy to promote deep, reflective exploration and lasting shifts in cognitive and behavioural patterning.
Professional affiliations include:
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) – Registered Psychologist
Australian Association of Psychologists - Member