Annelise Rocks has a beautifully complex professional life filled with achievements, experiences and interests prior to re-training in her lifelong passion for psychology, positive psychology, counselling and psychotherapy. She has particular interest in multiplexity of intelligences, thinking diversity, ADHD, ADD, OCD, ASD, and learning challenges such as dyslexia.

She has come from 25 years of corporate entrepreneurship, mentoring, training, and corporate wellbeing in the financial services sector, facilitating employee programs to ensure staff can work to their fullest capabilities and encouraging work-life balance to prevent workplace burnout. 

Annelise is also a proud mum of three boys, with a deep understanding both personally and professionally of the challenges families face when managing neurodiversity and mental health issues. Life is complex.

Annelise takes a person-centred, evidence-based approach drawing on pluralistic theoretical influences which include narrative therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, play therapy, Adlerian theory, and systems, trauma-informed and strengths-based approaches. She works with her faithful sidekick – Ziggy the therapy dog.

Annelise has a Master of Counselling, a Graduate Diploma in Positive Psychology, a Graduate Diploma in Marketing and a Bachelor of Design (Industrial). She has been a corporate facilitator in HBDI (Hermann Brain Dominance Index), Genos (Emotional Intelligence) for the past 10 years. 

Annelise is currently pursuing further postgraduate studies with Edith Cowan University towards her psychology registration. Additionally, Annelise is a facilitator for the Resourceful Adolescence Program (RAP-A) and works with the Cool Kids Team at NorthPsych.

Life is a journey… not a destination.

Annelise is a registered counsellor working with, advocating for and empowering carers, children, adolescents, individuals and families who are managing life changes and life challenges such as:

• Corporate/ carer/ parental burnout

• Parent care and parents in crises

• School refusal/school anxiety

• ADHD and learning challenges support

• Carer mental health

• Family therapy

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Grief and loss

• Life-balance support for entrepreneurs

Ultimately Annelise has a true vivacity and vitality for life. She is warm, energetic, approachable and quick witted with a well-honed sense of humour. Annelise is an impassioned life-long learner who stands on the shoulders of great thinkers and researchers, bringing together the cumulative findings of neuroscience, positive psychology, psychology, anthropology, emotional intelligence, thinking diversity and corporate entrepreneurial know-how. 

With unwavering belief in people, and their inherent desire to flourish and grow. Annelise empowers others to seek, discover and embrace their existing inner-resources and strengths.

Psychology vs counselling

There are similarities between psychologists and registered counsellors. Registered counsellors hold master’s level university qualifications and, like psychologists, are trained in the science of how people think, feel, behave and learn.

Therapeutically, registered counsellors tend to adopt a more person-centred/humanistic approach, helping people tackle problems in a positive way by helping to clarify issues, explore options and develop strategies. Registered counsellors are experts in listening and helping people achieve their personal goals – they don’t tend to do diagnosis or assessment, but they will support people with mild to moderate symptoms of mental health issues.

Both psychologists and registered counsellors are qualified to work with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families, with individual specialisations honed through continuous professional development criteria. 

All postgraduate placements are hired and supervised personally by clinical psychologist Michael MacDonald MSc (LSE), MA (Lond), MClinPsych (Macq), MBPSS, MAPS. All registered counsellors and psychotherapists at NorthPsych are members of the Australian Counselling Association or are under supervision towards this membership criteria.