About therapistHi, I’m Kylie Walls, a registered psychologist and the founder of Kylie Walls Psychology.
My work is shaped by professional training, research, and experience across education, community, and private practice settings. I support adults and couples who are navigating complex emotional and relational difficulties, including the impact of trauma, abuse, coercive or controlling relationships, and longstanding patterns that interfere with wellbeing and connection.
I have worked extensively with individuals and couples experiencing relationship distress, emotional dysregulation, shame, and difficulties rooted in early relational experiences. My clinical approach is grounded in schema therapy, which provides a structured and compassionate framework for understanding how early patterns develop and why they continue to shape thoughts, emotions, and relationships in adulthood.
Alongside clinical practice, I have published research examining control, attachment, and emotional regulation, and previously worked in domestic and family violence response roles. This background informs a trauma-informed, ethically grounded approach that is attentive to power, safety, and the relational context in which distress develops.
The Story of Kylie Walls Psychology…
Across years of working with people in private practice, community services, and larger organisational settings, a consistent pattern emerged. Many adults sought support for concerns that appeared familiar on the surface, as they present with anxiety, low mood, burnout, emotional reactivity, relationship conflict, or disconnection. Yet the roots of these difficulties were often deeper and linked to entrenched patterns of thinking, feeling, and coping that tend to repeat across situations and relationships.
Again and again, it was apparent that early relationships, family dynamics, intimate partnerships, workplaces, caregiving roles, and other relational systems shaped how they learn to cope, relate, and protect themselves. When emotional needs are unmet, boundaries are unclear, or environments feel unsafe or unpredictable, people often develop survival strategies that make sense at the time.
Over time, these strategies, such as self-criticism, people-pleasing, emotional withdrawal, hyper-responsibility, over-control, or heightened vigilance, can become entrenched patterns. While they may once have helped a person cope, they can later interfere with emotional wellbeing, intimacy, identity, and the capacity to feel safe and connected in relationships. Many clients would say things like: “I don’t know why I can’t have stronger boundaries”, or “I don’t know why I become so upset and respond the way I do, even though I know that it is not helpful for myself or others”.
Schema therapy became the primary framework for this practice because it offers a way to understand why patterns repeat — and why insight alone is often not enough to change them. Schema therapy recognises that these patterns once served a protective purpose, while also providing structured, experiential tools to help people heal past traumas and pain, and develop healthier ways of responding to emotions, needs, and relationships.
Schema therapy works at a deeper level — helping people understand why certain patterns keep repeating, how they are triggered in real time, and how to respond differently when those patterns arise. Schema Therapy combines insight with active emotional and relational work, supporting change that is not only understood intellectually but felt and lived.
Schema Therapy for Couples offers evidence-based, compassionate support to help partners understand recurring patterns and move toward greater clarity, safety, and wellbeing together.
Areas of Interest
I work with individuals and couples who may be:
Individuals
Experiencing mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD, stress, grief, or difficulties related to life transitions
Feeling stuck in long-standing emotional or relational patterns, including self-criticism, emotional withdrawal, people-pleasing, shame, or fear of abandonment
Navigating complex family dynamics, including conflict, estrangement, boundary difficulties, intergenerational patterns, or ongoing family stress
Recovering from relational harm, coercive control, or experiences of domestic and family violence
Managing the emotional impact of high-pressure, high-responsibility, or controlling environments, including workplaces, organisations, and religious settings.
Seeking support with identity, belonging, or sense of self, particularly where past experiences continue to shape present relationships
Couples
Experiencing ongoing communication difficulties, conflict, or emotional disconnection
Wanting to better understand and change entrenched interaction patterns that repeat despite effort or insight
Working through breaches of trust, including infidelity, and seeking support with repair and reconnection
Navigating the impact of family-of-origin dynamics, blended families, parenting stress, or external pressures on the relationship
Seeking to strengthen emotional safety, responsiveness, and mutual understanding within the relationship
Inclusive and Client-Led Care
I welcome individuals and couples from all backgrounds. Therapy is collaborative and tailored to your needs, values, and goals, with a focus on compassionate, trauma-informed, and ethical psychological care. For clients who value a faith-sensitive approach, I work with awareness of religious beliefs and contexts where this is relevant to their experience.
This is a space shaped by your experiences and what you hope to understand and change.
About Kylie Walls
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Qualifications
Registered Psychologist - Psychology Board of Australia
Registered Teacher (Qld)
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Education
Master of Psychological Practice, CSU
Master of Guidance & Counselling, QUT
Bachelor of Psychology, UNE
Bachelor of Ed/Bachelor of Music, UQ
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Associations
Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi)
International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST)
Christian Counsellors Association of Australia (CCAA)
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Additional Training
Individual Schema Therapy
Couples Schema Therapy
Gottman Couples Therapy
EMDR, EFT, CBT & ERP
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Published Research
Investigated coercive control, attachment styles, emotion regulation, and shame in intimate relationships.
Journal of Family Violence
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Focus Areas
Mental health challenges · Long-standing emotional and relational patterns · Relational and family difficulties · Domestic and family violence · Recovery from harmful or high-control relationships and systems · Values- or belief-related distress (including scrupulosity) · Abuse recovery · Couples therapy, infidelity, and relationship distress
My Approach is…
EVIDENCE BASED
Support is grounded in well-established psychological research and clinical approaches shown to be effective, while remaining responsive to your needs and goals.
COMPASSIONATE
Care is offered with warmth and empathy, creating a safe space where you can be heard and understood with respect for your unique circumstances.
TRAUMA INFORMED
Therapy recognises the impact of past and present trauma, prioritising your safety, choice, and sense of control throughout the process. Trauma-informed approaches are used.
RESPECTFUL OF YOUR BELIEFS AND STORY
Support is tailored to your lived experience, values, and worldview, with sensitivity to cultural, spiritual, and personal contexts.
“Our stories shape how we see ourselves and the world around us. Experiences of trauma, abuse, or difficult relationships can leave lasting patterns - yet these patterns can be understood and changed. I hold each story with care and respect, offering evidence-based, ethical and trauma-focused support that honours your lived experience”.
Kylie Walls, Psychologist.
Fees, Rebates & Referral Information
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Individual Consultation - $225/session
Couples Therapy - $260/session
A $30 surcharge applies to out-of-hours appointments (after 5:00 weekdays, and all weekend appointments)
With a Mental Health Treatment Plan, a rebate of $98.95 is available for up to 10 appointments per calendar year for individual appointments. This cannot be used for couples therapy appointments.
Private Health Fund rebates may be available at the discretion of your fund.
I offer a limited number of reduced-fee places for clients with extenuating circumstances, but once these are filled I’m unable to take on more. If needed, you’re welcome to discuss this with me before your first session.
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A referral is not required. You are able to book appointments without a GP referral. However, you may be eligible for Medicare rebates with a GP Referral with a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
Medicare Rebates: $98.95 with a Mental Health Treatment Plan (for 10 appointments per calendar year).
Rebates for private health funds are available without a referral. Seek advice from your individual health fund before booking to confirm this.
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If you cancel your appointment after 8:00 AM the day before you appointment, or no-show, the following cancellation policy applies:
Grace pass: As I understand life happens, each client receives one late-cancellation waiver per calendar year, regardless of whether the slot is re-filled.
Any no-shows or late cancellations beyond the grace pass will incure a cancellation fee of $80.
Medicare, private health funds, and most third-party payers do not rebate cancellation fees.
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