Education and training team

Dr Alex Potter is a senior clinical psychologist and MBT therapist. He has experience working with clients who have complex personality disorders within community, forensic, and private practice settings. At Spectrum, Alex is a member of both the MBT team - running groups and working with individual clients – and the Complex Care Service, providing treatment and consultation. Alex sees MBT as a dynamic and flexible modality for working with people who experience personality disorder.

Cathryn Pilcher is an Occupational Therapist and the Associate Director of Spectrum: specialising in personality disorder and complex trauma, in Melbourne, Australia.

Cathryn completed her DBT training with Behavioral Tech, the Portland DBT Institute and other internationally recognised DBT experts. Along with DBT training, Cathryn was integrally involved in developing the core competencies training for working with BPD and train-the-trainer program as part of the National Training Strategy with the BPD Foundation and has trained numerous clinicians across Australia.

In her role she provides training, consultation, supervision and direct treatment and is passionate about supporting systems to work as effectively as possible with people with personality disorder and those presenting with complex needs.

Deborah Dick is a Senior Psychiatric Nurse with more than three decades’ experience in mental health, working in a variety of areas including inpatient, community, and crisis settings. Deborah has worked at Spectrum for over 25 years, providing consultation to public mental health services, training, and direct treatment for clients and their families. 

She has contributed to the development of specific courses for nurses working in mental health and has contributed to various nursing textbooks. Deborah is passionate about engaging clinicians to learn and think about how they may provide the best possible practice for clients struggling with complex mental health issues.

Dr Fiona Donald is a clinical psychologist at Spectrum within the Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT) and Complex Care teams. Fiona has a particular interest in how people with BPD experience treatment, publishing on the experience of recovery from consumer and clinician perspectives, as well as on the relationship between self-compassion and recovery.

Jackie works as a Lived Experience Worker – Carer at Spectrum. She uses her lived experience as a carer for her son with mental health to support other carers. Jackie manages various workshops for carers for nearly ten years and finds the experience both enlightening and rewarding. 

Jackie advocates for carers’ interests through her involvement with peak carer organisations. She has an educational background in psychology and public policy.

Joanne (Jo) Veltkamp is an experienced Mental Health Nurse with wide ranging expertise in both private and public mental health settings. With a strong commitment to supporting individuals and their families, Jo has developed a particular interest in working with people and carers who have lived experiences of personality disorder and complex trauma.

Currently working as a Senior Clinician at Spectrum, Jo works alongside the Lived Experience Team and the Intake Team to provide compassionate and tailored care. Her work extends to supporting adolescents and adults in public mental health settings.

Dr Julian Nesci is a highly experienced senior clinical psychologist and an accredited Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) practitioner, supervisor and trainer, and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Monash University (Eastern Health Clinical School). With extensive expertise in the field, he has made significant contributions through his work at Spectrum’s MBT clinic, where he is the clinical specialist, involved in providing individual and group therapy, supervision, and training. Additionally, Julian plays a vital role within the Complex Care Service, offering consultation and treatment for consumers, carers, clinicians, and services.

Julian’s clinical background includes working with individuals with severe eating disorders, acute mental health issues, and in the adolescent forensic field. Along with his colleagues, his work has earned accreditation for Spectrum’s MBT program from the renowned Anna Freud Centre in London, further solidifying his standing as a trusted expert in this specialized area.

Passionate about advancing psychotherapy for individuals with complex difficulties, Julian is dedicated to supporting the growth and delivery of mental health services within Australia. As the current coordinator and key contact for the new Australian MBT Institute, he actively engages with a wide audience of professionals, fostering meaningful dialogue and sharing his vision to enhance the field of psychotherapy.

Kat Kahler is a credentialed mental health nurse who qualified in 2005 and brings over 20 years of experience across acute, emergency, community, and therapeutic mental health settings in Victoria, interstate, and overseas. She has held senior clinical roles in emergency departments, statewide services, and specialist settings for personality disorder and complex trauma.

Kat currently works as a senior clinician in a busy metropolitan Emergency Department, while also contributing to Spectrum’s Complex Care Service and private supervision practice, InsightSupervision. She recently stepped into the role of Acting Clinical Manager at Spectrum, providing leadership across clinical governance, service development, and workforce education.

Passionate about reflective practice and clinician wellbeing, Kat delivers clinical supervision across a range of health sectors, including palliative care and mental health. She also facilitates training and workshops on trauma-informed care, personality disorders, and therapeutic engagement. Her practice is grounded in compassion, collaboration, and a commitment to lifelong learning.

Marianne Weddell is the Clinical Manager and Clinical Specialist at Spectrum. She is a Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years’ experience in public and private settings, treating a wide range of disorders, managing teams, training staff, and supervising/mentoring clinicians. 

Marianne has a special interest and significant experience working with borderline personality disorder. Her particular focus is developing service and family systems that work effectively in this space. Marianne believes in therapy as a tool to help people understand themselves, their passions, and build a life worth living

Dr Mithira Nithianandan FRANZCP, Spectrum's new Deputy Clinical Director. She is responsible for delivering high level clinical leadership and governance to Spectrum's clinical activities. As a member of Spectrum's leadership team, Mithira will contribute to the ongoing improvement of Spectrum and the broader Statewide Services program.

Mithira is a consultant psychiatrist and a mentalization based treatment (MBT) practitioner accredited by the Anna Freud Centre. She holds an adjunct senior lecturer position at Monash University.

Mithira has extensive experience working with personality disorder and complex trauma. She provides second opinions, secondary consultation and psychotherapy treatment for complex cases.

Mithira has particular interest in building capacity within the mental health workforce and Spectrum's pivotal role in training and workforce development. She has published research in the area of psychiatry training and personality disorder.

Prior to this role, she was a consultant psychiatrist at Spectrum. She has received training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Mentalization Based Treatment.

Rita, Associate Director of Lived Experience, is passionate about working with and advocating for the needs of carers, while also remaining sensitive to the needs of people with BPD, clinicians, and other workers. In her work at Spectrum, she draws on her own lived experience as a family member of someone with BPD.

Rita regularly facilitates peer to peer interactive workshops for carers. She also presents at conferences and forums throughout the state and nationally. Rita is also a volunteer, founding and current President of the Australian BPD Foundation.

Dr Samantha (Sam) Tabak is a senior clinical psychologist and board-accredited supervisor. She has over a decade of experience working in Child and Youth Mental Health services, psychiatric triage, intensive outreach teams, early psychosis, and forensic settings, utilizing psychotherapy frameworks such as MBT, DBT, ACT, and Open Dialogue-informed therapy.

Sam currently works in the complex care service, workforce development, and the neurodiversity clinic at Spectrum. She also works with young people and their families in private practice. Sam believes in a person-centered and collaborative approach to treatment and support.

Associate Professor Sathya Rao is the Executive Clinical Director of Spectrum. Sathya is a consultant psychiatrist and holds an adjunct clinical associate professor position at Monash University. He treats people who experience complex trauma and personality disorder. He provides second opinions and secondary consultations for complex clinical conditions associated with personality disorder.

Sathya directs clinical research and has published research papers, book chapters, and co-authored books on borderline personality disorder. Sathya has taught clinicians across Australia for many years and was the head of the psychiatry training program of Victoria for the RANZCP.

He was the recipient of the 2020 Meritorious Award of the Victorian Branch of RANZCP. In recognition of his contributions to psychiatry, Sathya received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) (General Division) in June 2022. He was a member of the NHMRC Clinical Practice Guidelines development committee, 2012. He is also the Vice President of the Australian BPD Foundation. He is the President of Australasian Association for Research and Treatment for Personality Disorder (AART-PD).