Philosophy & Vision
I’m Sara, a Melbourne psychologist working with adolescents and adults navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, grief, life transitions, and relationship challenges — including the complex shifts of pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood.
People often arrive feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure how to move forward. I offer a calm, collaborative space to explore what’s driving that — making sense of patterns and building strategies that feel genuinely aligned with who you are.
I work in-person in Carlton North and via telehealth across Australia. I’m always happy to have a brief chat to see if we’d be a good fit.
Background
Before opening my private practice, I worked across private practice, psychological assessment, and university settings. Prior to completing psychology training, I spent several years working in community mental health and disability services — including case management, NDIS coordination, and outreach support for people with complex needs and acquired brain injuries. This background gave me a grounded, practical understanding of vulnerability, system navigation, and the real-world challenges people face. I bring that experience into my clinical work today.
Services
I offer individual therapy sessions (50 min) for adolescents and adults, in-person at my Carlton North rooms and via telehealth across Australia.
Psychological assessments are available for children, adolescents, and adults, including cognitive, ADHD, autism (ADOS-2), and academic assessments. Each assessment includes a clinical interview, standardised testing, a feedback session, and a written report suitable for school, NDIS, or workplace purposes. Report writing is available on request.
I currently have availability for new clients in-person and via telehealth.
Quality Provision
All services are grounded in evidence-based practice and tailored to the individual. I hold a Master of Psychology (Clinical) and am registered with AHPRA and an Associate Member of the Australian Clinical Psychology Association (ACPA). I have experience across private practice, assessment, university, and community mental health settings, and I engage in ongoing professional development and supervision to support quality clinical care.
Areas of Interest
Accreditations
- Master of Psychology (Clinical)
- Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
Modalities
Attachment Theory - CBT - DBT - Dream Work - EMDR - Existential - Mindfulness - Person Centred - Psychoanalytic - Psychodynamic - REBT - Schema Therapy - Short-term Psychodynamic - Solution Oriented - Strengths-Based - Systems Theory - Transactional Analysis - Trauma-Informed
Therapy Approach
My approach is relational and evidence-based. I draw primarily on psychodynamic and relational frameworks to support deeper insight and longer-term emotional change — helping clients understand their inner world, the patterns shaping their relationships and behaviours, and the underlying needs that may be going unmet.
Alongside this foundation, I integrate EMDR, Schema Therapy, DBT, and CBT where they’re most suited to the person in front of me. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach — therapy should fit the person, not the other way around.
My style is warm, curious, and collaborative. I work with clients across a range of presentations including anxiety, depression, trauma, burnout, grief, life transitions, and relationship difficulties.
Professional Associations
- Australian Clinical Psychology Association
Practice Locations
622 Lygon Street
Carlton North VIC 3054
Free street parking is available on and around Lygon Street. The practice is accessible via tram. Please note the building has stairs — if you have mobility requirements, please get in touch prior to your first appointment so we can make suitable arrangements.
25 Lanark St
Brunswick East VIC 3057
Appointments
I currently have availability on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays during business hours.
Fees & Insurance
Individual therapy: $210 per session (50 min). Medicare Mental Health Treatment Plan out-of-pocket: $111.05. NDIS rate: $232 per session. TAC and WorkCover accepted — gap fee may apply. Report writing available on request.
Payment Options
Payments are processed via Halaxy, with a card securely stored on file. Medicare rebates are processed directly through Halaxy. NDIS self- and plan-managed clients welcome. TAC and WorkCover accepted — please enquire about gap fees prior to booking.
Contact Sara
Please contact me to make an appointment
A conversation with Sara Raby
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Growing up, I was close to family members who experienced significant mental health struggles. Witnessing that gave me an early and deep understanding of how profoundly mental health shapes a person’s life — and how much difference the right support can make. It also gave me a lot of empathy for the courage it takes to ask for help. Psychology felt like a way to turn that experience into something meaningful.
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I’m deeply influenced by relational psychoanalysis and the writing of Nancy McWilliams — her way of thinking about character, defences, and the therapeutic relationship feels both rigorous and deeply human. Dan Siegel’s work on interpersonal neurobiology has shaped how I think about the mind-body connection and regulation. And Marsha Linehan’s development of DBT — particularly her insistence on holding acceptance and change simultaneously — is something I return to constantly, in the therapy room and in life.
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I’m most drawn to the questions people carry quietly for a long time — about identity, worth, patterns in relationships, and what it means to live in a way that feels genuinely their own. I’m particularly interested in the space between insight and change: understanding something intellectually is rarely enough, and I find the work of actually shifting deep patterns endlessly fascinating.
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My foundation is psychodynamic and relational — I think understanding the deeper emotional world is central to lasting change. Within that, I draw on EMDR for trauma processing, Schema Therapy for working with long-standing patterns and unmet needs, DBT for emotional regulation, and CBT where a more structured approach fits best. I try to follow the person rather than the protocol.
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It varies enormously — and I think that’s worth being honest about. Some people feel a shift quite quickly, just from having a space where they feel genuinely heard. For others, particularly those working through longer-standing patterns or trauma, change is more gradual and sometimes not linear. I try to check in about this regularly, because progress doesn’t always look the way people expect it to.
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It’s made me more curious about myself and less afraid of what I find. Engaging with therapy — both as a client and as someone who has spent years thinking deeply about human experience — has given me a greater capacity to sit with uncertainty and discomfort, in my own life and in the room with clients. It’s an ongoing process, not a destination.
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The moments when something shifts — when a client makes a connection they haven’t made before, or approaches something they’ve been avoiding, or simply feels a little less alone with what they’re carrying. Those moments are genuinely moving, even after years of doing this work.
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Yes!!
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Disconnection. From ourselves, from each other, from any shared sense of meaning or responsibility. So much of what I see in the therapy room traces back to it — and I think most of the larger problems we face do too. The good news is that connection is also where healing tends to start.
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M.C. Escher’s work has fascinated me since I was young — the way he plays with perspective, impossible structures, and the tension between order and infinity. I’m an artist in my private life (drawing, painting, photography, though I haven’t practised as much lately as I’d like), and Escher reminds me that the most interesting things often happen at the edges of what seems possible. I’d also be remiss not to mention Harry Potter — which I’ve loved since childhood and return to still. There’s something in those stories about belonging, resilience, and the courage to face what frightens you that never gets old.