Located in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Armchair Psychology helps to provide long-lasting happiness to couples by enhancing relationships. We help to teach you effective communication and conflict resolution skills, in a positive and approachable way.
Read More about our Couple’s Therapy
Individuals may harbour hurt and resentment resulting in an impact on family life or in the family dynamic. Our Eastern Suburbs Psychologists can help families who may experience challenging interactions.
Read More about our Family Therapy
At Armchair Psychology, our Eastern Suburbs psychologists offer therapy for a range of stressors and concerns. We aim to help individuals build self-esteem, manage work stresses, establish and deal with relationships and handle anger management.
Read More about our Adult Therapy
Armchair Psychology was established by clinical psychologist Amanda Gordon, and is based in Edgecliff, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, providing psychological services within a close proximity to the Sydney CBD.
We have a team of experienced psychologists, available to help you deal with the full range of life issues. Whether as an individual, couple or family, we are passionate about providing you with practical skills to better manage your emotions and make positive choices for your life.
We are focused on equipping you with practical life skills that are grounded in psychological principles. Enhancing your happiness and wellbeing is the main goal of our Sydney psychology clinic.
Each of our psychologists work collaboratively with their clients to help resolve dilemmas, build strength, and to improve resilience. We love supporting and helping our clients to achieve their goals and create the life they want for themselves.
We believe that relationships are at the core of personal happiness. Helping make your relationships successful is at the heart of what we do.
We don’t often think about our community except as something that is just there. It is somehow more than family and we may not necessarily engage with it very much. We don’t necessarily reflect on our part in it or what it means to us. However, for many, the pandemic has changed all that. When…
It’s December, which means it’s time for Christmas parties, summer holidays, and hangovers… Summer is an amazing time for many – and with COVID restrictions lifted, traveling and dancing with your friends has never been more appealing. While this break is no doubt well-deserved, it’s important not to fall into unhealthy behaviours, such as excessive…
Starting to feel like your weekends are suddenly overrun with social events again? As Australia gradually comes out of a life of COVID restrictions, we find ourselves in a strange new normal; many of us are still working from home or keeping up hobbies we picked up over lockdown, but our social lives have increased…
This week is the 2021 Australian Psychological Society (APS) Psychology week where the theme is ‘Working Minds’, exploring the role psychology plays in the workplace. As founder and a former President of the APS, this week has great importance to me which is why I’d like to share these tips with you today. Remember to…
From job instability, to juggling work and homeschooling, to trying to explain to your kids why they can’t have their birthday party this year, it was hard for many of us to put on a brave face when nothing seemed certain. On the flip side, when you look back on these tough times in a…
When looking back at the past 18 months, there’s no doubt we’ve all been through many adjustments. Anxiety is at an all time high due to constant change, and there is much uncertainty around our short and long term futures. On the flip side, when you look back on this time period in a positive…
Depression as we know, is a very common mental Illness. According to Beyond Blue, 1 in 7 Australians will experience depression in their lifetime, and 1 in 16 Australians are currently suffering from it. When trying to check on and help a person fighting depression, it’s really important you do so in the right manner…
This week, Amanda Gordon appeared as a guest in the Low Tox Life podcast, discussing resilience, boundaries and compassion with host Alexx Stuart. ‘Today we talk about resilience building, stress reduction, boundaries, have-to’s, and connection to others and our partners while we navigate the stickier points of partnership and equality. It is once again, a…
Grief- it’s a universal experience that tests our mental health in ways we never could have imagined. If you’ve experienced the loss of a loved one yourself, you know how hard it can be to bounce back into living a normal life. We often lean on family or friends for support, and often they are…
Losing a loved one is never easy. The shock and grief that follow news of a death, whether it’s expected or comes out of the blue, can propel us into an emotional tailspin. What happens to our minds and bodies when we learn of the death of someone dear to us? How can we best…
We are all aware that social media has an impact on mental health, particularly when it comes to body image. We see the perfect looking bodies, unblemished faces with impossible looking features filling our social media news feeds. But when you’re a teenager, seeing these images along with a developing brain that has a heightened drive for peer approval, is a dangerous combination. There’s a…
Clinical Psychologist, Prof Amanda Gordon, looks how parents can support this milestone. School is the most important social network for children there is. As children move from infants to primary to high school, the importance of their friendships increases, almost proportionally to their independence. Children need the friendship of peers to develop their own sense of…
Question: I was interested to read your Work Therapy response to the question of what to do about happy, chatty office colleagues being distracting. A family I know has a long-standing rule: silence for an hour after the early evening meal – or lunch on weekends and even at their holiday house when visitors are there.…
Everyone knows that too much technology, without enough exercise or social engagement, is not in the best interests of the child. Everyone knows that children can be bullied online – but sometimes we do not realise how unsafe our child may be. It seems that for most parents, there is an ongoing balancing act with…
The world as we know it has changed dramatically over a short period of time and many children, even the younger ones, will be picking up that something strange is going on. Talking to our children about feelings including anxiety is crucial. Perhaps they are now staying home when they used to be in day…
This is a reminder for everyone to be mindful of their language around COVID-19. “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic” – Dumbledore Covid-19 News Headlines “65 million people could be killed by the novel coronavirus” “We are living in a nightmare” “Two-thirds of the planet could become infected by…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a pandemic, school are facing temporary closures and sporting events are being cancelled around the country. As COVID-19 spreads around the globe how do we, as parents, speak to our children about COVID-19 while protecting their mental health? Australian Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor Amanda Gordon agrees…
For many of us, what we face as coronavirus continues to spread is unprecedented,and the associated anxiety around coronavirus pandemic is on the rise. And it can cause fear and anxiety every which way we turn. We’re facing social isolation and possibly working from home and employers put precautionary measures in place to slow the…
As workplaces across Australia encourage their employees to work from home, it’s important to take a moment to consider the impact this could have on mental health. Amid the surge in Australian coronavirus cases, health authorities have advised we practice social distancing in order ‘flatten the curve’ and slow the rate of transmission, and this…
Secrecy and shame around periods is slowly being phased out as more women talk openly about their menstrual cycle. We need to banish period stigma both individually and collectively. For the majority of Gen Y, growing up the word ‘period’ was only uttered when it referred to your class timetable. Read this article on Body+Soul.…
A single dad has asked for advice about his teenage daughter who is stressed about his welfare when she moves out to go to university. He asks if he has “gone about this in the wrong way” by saying everything is just fine and joking with her that he “can’t wait to hear what peace and…
It has been an unusual and worrying start to the year to say the least. As we begin 2020, we are more aware than ever throughout Australia of the impact of our environment on our ability to feel safe, healthy and motivated. Making sure we reduce our children’s anxiety is of paramount importance. For many…
It’s time we talked about maternal deaths by suicide. Post-natal depression is often overlooked as it goes against everything we believe motherhood to be. We need to talk about why new mothers are at risk of suicide, so that we can help prevent it. Some topics are so taboo that we don’t discuss them. They’re the…
The world is experiencing spectator anxiety… At first, it was the images of blazing fires, charred trees and thick plumes of red smoke descending onto Australian towns, before heartbreaking stories of deaths, species extinction, and burnt homes flooded my newsfeed. Then came another news alert: On January 3, 2020, the world learnt of the…
It’s February, and Valentine’s Day has rolled around again. Time for the newly in love to celebrate their excitement and joy, the long-term committed to work on the passion and the sentiment – and those either without partners or in loveless relationships to bemoan their state and look enviously at those who seem to have…
Most of us would probably think a $200,000-a-year salary was more than enough to live a comfortable – if not downright luxurious – life, however this isn’t the case for high income earner’s. But that’s not the case for scores of Australians on high incomes who still don’t consider themselves to be particularly wealthy, despite…
To my friends and family; Stop asking me to join your weight loss challenges. “Oh, how I wish to be thin. To look better in the clothes that I am in. To be a size six instead of a ten.” That is a portion of a poem that I wrote in high school. During that…
End of year burnout can feel like you’re limping to the end. Like there’s a chain around your ankles, weighing down every tiny step you make to that distant finish line. At this time of year where workplace closure and Christmas chores collide, it can be a period of added workload and strain. As though…
As a society, we are under increasing pressure to do more, be more and have more. This pressure is also affecting our self esteem, how we see ourselves and our physical expectations in relation to the way we look. Some of us strive to be thinner, some curvier or some just want to look fitter!…
Post-natal depression and anxiety is the elephant in the room. Post-natal When a new mother becomes depressed, it affects her and her new baby. Having a new baby is, for most people, the culmination of planning and dreaming. Even if it wasn’t initially on the agenda, you’ve had some months to get used to the…
How do I know if my adolescent has an eating disorder? Teenage eating disorders come in many forms and it can be hard to tell whether or not it is serious. Here are some warning signs to be aware of. Being a parent of an adolescent can be hard enough with all the physical and…
Many identify communication as the key to a good relationship. In all my years as a psychologist in relationship therapy I’ve noticed something else… When asked their goal of relationship therapy, most couples sitting in my room will talk to me about improving their communication. “If only we communicated better”, they say, “we’d be able…
Written by Katie Bailey Everyone has their picture of a “perfect family”. This picture may be different from person to person. Even if you feel envy of a family’s perfect pictures, hold your jealousy because a “perfect family” doesn’t exist. I thought I was a part of a perfect family growing up. I had…
Do you have a teen who is struggling with constant feelings of anxiety? For them the fear, worries, and overthinking just can’t seem to stop. Everything seems to be going wrong. There are overwhelming feelings of: • What can I really do about it? • Will I always be this way? • I’m tired of…
Grief and loss are strange creatures. I lost my mum just over a year ago, after a two year period during which she deteriorated such that she was rarely lucid, could not get out of bed, and seemed to spend the day in her own head, unable even to listen to music or watch a…
Balancing work and family is no easy feat. Our whole working world seem totally unprepared to be supporting working families. The overt message, through paid maternity leave, subsidised childcare, is that we value mothers in the workforce and want them back. However, women seem to be being asked to make a choice. After she returns…
New Year is almost always associated with New Year’s Resolutions. Many people wisely use this quieter time of the year to reflect on their lives and consider ways to enhance them in the coming year. They then resolve to do things differently, or – less wisely – to aim for a particular outcome. There is…
Many people tell me that they would prefer the label “Stressful” to “Silly” for the current season. What can you do to survive it? There is an urgency in the air. So much to do, so many people to see, so little time – and often, a great reluctance to do it. Buying presents, often…
With the prevalence of social media, online bullying and trolling has unfortunately become more present than ever. Kids can no longer escape the school yard bullies in the sanctuary of their own homes, with the online world making it easier and more accessible for vulnerable kids to be targeted. For this reason, it is important…
Yesterday I did one of my favourite things – live radio! I was on SBS Radio, in their Artarmon studios, and responded to listeners’ questions about the range of issues that challenge us as we get older. Depression was obviously a common theme – whether it was triggered by downsizing, retirement, missing one’s childhood home…
The psychology team at Armchair Psychology Practice talk a lot about the issues that affect our clients. The one that is overwhelmingly at play is grief – in all its forms. Whether there has been a death of a loved one, or someone we love is dying; whether chronic illness or disability has changed the…
In my time working at Armchair Psychology, it has become evident to me that each of the Psychologist team members have varied and valuable skill sets. No one person can claim to know everything about everything, so it is helpful for me to know that wherever I might be stuck on something, or not sure how…
Psychologists have a requirement to undertake Continuing Professional Education. This can be attendance at courses or seminars, or completing other activities which contribute to continued learning.
Amanda has an innate ability to translate psychological wisdom into practical life skills. Amanda loves to work with individuals, couples and families.
Peter’s straightforward approach will help you zero in on the issues that really matter. He excels in motivating and challenging adults and couples to overcome their current obstacles and achieving their goals.
Shaping Peter’s approach is a love for life, learning, and helping. Central to this is the appreciation of both positive and negative life experiences as necessary to healing, growth and future success.
* Currently on maternity leave*
Warm and relatable, Rachel uses a holistic and collaborative approach with her clients. She particularly enjoys working with adolescents and young adults.