Welcome to Debra Smith Psychology
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Debra Smith
B.A. (Psych), M. Litt (Psych), M. Sc. (PHC), PhD (Public Health), M.A.P.S, MIACN

Debra Smith has provided psychological services in Gippsland for more than 20 years. Debra offers individual psychological therapy as well as psychological report writing for legal and other purposes. Debra has extensive experience in clinical supervision, staff training and Employee Assistance Program services, as well as consultation services.

Debra completed as Associate Diploma in Welfare Studies when she completed her secondary schooling. She worked and travelled in Australia and overseas before completing her Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Sociology) from Deakin University.  She then studied her Master of Letters (Psychology) at the University of New England, majoring in bereavement and social communication.

Her book, Life After Death: Preparing people with intellectual disabilities for grief and loss was written using her thesis research from this study.  She then completed a Masters of Primary Health Care at Flinders University, followed by her PhD in Public Health from the same university.  Her book, In Prison is largely based on her PhD, in addition to her work in a prison for seven and a half years.

Most recently she completed an Associate Degree in Dementia from the University of Tasmania.   All of this study except the first Diploma has been completed off campus while Debra has maintained employment, and, since 1996, her psychological practice.

The Mindfulness Of Hard Work

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Sisters, Debra & Tam

Recently I spent a small part of my holidays working for my family in the shearing shed. I was a ‘wool technician’ – a fancy name for working on the wool classing table skirting fleeces and preparing them for the classer. With three shearers and big merino sheep this was a busy job! It was hard to believe how much fleece came off each sheep and how many sheep were shorn! There was no time for thinking or worrying about anything except the job in front of me and two hours (the time of each run of shearing) passed very quickly. The day disappears in four neat runs, with breaks in between. I am not about to leave my office for the shearing shed, but it was a valuable experience in mindfulness, focussing only on the present moment, and leaving me physically exhausted and mentally refreshed!