‘ It is in playing and only in playing that the individual adult or child is able to be creative and to use the whole
personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self ’

– D. Winnicott
Dr Jane Bajgar

I’m Dr Jane Davis-Dunwoodie
(formerly Dr Jane Bajgar)

I am an experienced clinical psychologist and psychodynamic psychotherapist in the Wollongong area. I am also a qualified teacher and a researcher with expertise in Emotional Intelligence. My knowledge, understanding and skills from these areas places me in a unique position to assist you in bringing about change.

As a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist

I provide individual psychotherapy for adolescents and adults. I also provide parent coaching / support for parents of children aged from infancy through to late adolescence.

As a clinical psychologist I am bound by a strict Code of Conduct and Ethical Guidelines as well as commitment to ongoing professional development.

It is not necessary to have a referral to see me. However to claim a rebate from Medicare, clients require a referral from their GP or psychiatrist.

Therapeutic Approaches

I particularly like to work with these therapeutic approaches:

Psychodynamic psychotherapy  is a longer-term insight oriented treatment which assists people to reflect on early life experiences and relationships, as well as current emotions, thoughts and beliefs, with a view to improving understanding of present problems and recurring patterns of responding.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy is a shorter term treatment approach which focuses on current or recent life events, interpersonal difficulties and symptoms with a view to reducing current symptoms.

This Attachment Work is related to psychodynamic psychotherapy. It focuses on an individual’s attachment style – shaped and developed from birth in response to the relationships from birth with primary caregivers. These attachments are represented in the individual inner world and a re-enacted in adult life. Psychotherapy focuses on re-experiencing and identifying aspect of these attachments in therapy as a key component of change.

Emotionally focused therapy seeks to change the way individuals respond to intense emotions. This therapy proposes that it is the individual’s inability to understand and manage emotions that is the primary difficulty and seeks to assist individuals to change how they relate to emotions to achieve adaptive outcomes.

The family systems approach is based on the premise that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as part of their family, as the family is the emotional unit within which the individual operates. Individuals are inseparable from their network of relationships and focusing on how an individual responds in these relationships is a key focus of treatment.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy aims to reduce symptoms of psychological and emotional distress by focusing on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours. CBT encourages individuals to take note of their patterns of thinking, feeling and acting and then to begin to develop new and more adaptive ways of thinking and behaving aligned with their particular goals.

I am a teacher with specialist training in early childhood

I have extensive experience working with parents and with children from infancy through to the end of the high school years.

My teaching degree, and in particular, my specialisation in early childhood provides me with a unique and invaluable resource as a clinical psychologist assisting parents. I apply comprehensive developmental knowledge to clinical practice and tailor parent coaching techniques to the individual needs of the parents and developmental stage of the child.

I am also able to apply this comprehensive understanding of early human development to my work with adults, using developmental frameworks and foundations to inform my clinical interpretation of current adult difficulties.

I am a clinical psychologist with a research PhD in emotional intelligence

I have a widespread understanding of emotional functioning that encompasses over 6 years of dedicated research.

I have a thorough understanding of emotional development and emotional intelligence. Fostering emotional health in children provides vital protection from mental health problems throughout development and can be enhanced by parenting practices.

The support I provide parents is based on the parent’s presenting concerns, the individual needs of the child based on their developmental stage and the overarching goals of fostering emotional health.

I implement my knowledge and understanding in emotional functioning and development to my clinical work with adults by assisting adults in using language and emotions to shape and give meaning to experiences and perceptions.

Where appropriate, adult assessments of emotional awareness are used to assist in parent work and individual therapy.

Building Emotional – Awareness, Understanding, Regulation, Acceptance across the lifespan.

Schedule an Appointment

Whether you’re dealing with stress, navigating life transitions, or seeking to improve your emotional health, we offer a safe and compassionate environment for exploration and healing.

Make an Appointment

DR JANE DAVIS-DUNWOODIE
Wollongong Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist

As a Clinical Psychologist I have specialised training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions and in the delivery of a range of research-based techniques and therapies aimed at treating these problems.