Dr Dennisa Davidson

Special Interest in Psychological Trauma, Stress and EMDR Therapy

I see patients whose symptoms are related to stress/ trauma/relational dysfunction. This includes emotional dysregulation, self-harm, behavioural problems, sleep and eating problems, sometimes bladder and bowel control problems, symptoms of PTSD, symptoms that look like ADHD and sometimes symptoms that look like ASD.

I use medication and therapeutic interventions for healing. I deliver Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, which is highly researched and started as treatment for trauma related problems. It is now being used for a wider set of mental health conditions. It uses bilateral stimulation, predominantly eye movements, to help the brain re-process dysfunctional information and stop triggering to external and internal cues inappropriately.

Trauma includes anything that has a prolonged negative impact on the person. It happens most commonly in day-to-day settings though some people also experience major traumatic events. With the disruptions to life that came with COVID, many more families have been experiencing stress.

Areas of Specialisation

• Psychiatry, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
• Traumatic Stress, Developmental Trauma, PTSD, Phobias,Anxiety, Mood, Emotional dysregulation, Self-harm, Behavioural issues
• Medication: Expertise in Alpha2 agonist prescribing (Clonidine, Guanfacine) in above context
• Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy

ONLINE PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTATIONS AVAILABLE

Specialist Training

• FRANZCP, Cert. of Advanced Training in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (RANZCP)
• Certificate in Traumatic Stress (The Trauma Research Foundation)
• Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics Phase II (The Neurosequential Network)
• EMDR Therapy (EMDR Institute NZ)

Languages spoken: English,Tamil & Hindi

I have experience working in community Child & Adolescent mental health settings including the Youth Forensic service. I am an ACC provider. I am able to offer online psychiatric consultations and online EMDR therapy. I do trauma assessment and EMDR therapy across the age range, including adults. I speak frequently at seminars, workshops and conferences. I am doing a series of seminars/webinars for the public to increase awareness of the impact of prolonged stress.