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Our Team - Sensibleminds

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OUR TEAM

Our Paediatric Team

At Sensible Minds, we pride ourselves on offering a multidisciplinary approach to supporting the unique developmental needs of children. Our highly skilled and dedicated team is composed of experienced professionals who are passionate about providing the highest quality of care to families and children. Below is an overview of the specialists who make our care holistic and impactful:

Occupational Therapists

Our occupational therapists (OTs) focus on helping children develop the skills they need to participate in everyday activities. They work with children facing challenges related to motor skills, sensory processing, self-regulation, and independence in daily tasks. Whether a child needs help with fine motor skills, sensory integration, or self-care routines, our OTs use evidence-based practices to create individualised therapy plans that support each child’s unique growth and development.

Occupational Therapy Assistants

Working under the guidance of our occupational therapists, our occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) play a crucial role in delivering hands-on support during therapy sessions. They assist with implementing therapy plans, encouraging children in their exercises, and providing the consistent, nurturing environment that helps foster progress. OTAs bring creativity and care to every session, ensuring that therapy is both effective and engaging for the child.

Neuropsychologists

Our neuropsychologists specialise in understanding how a child’s brain development impacts behaviour, learning, and emotional regulation. They conduct comprehensive assessments to identify cognitive strengths and challenges, helping families better understand their child’s learning profile. Through detailed evaluations, our neuropsychologists provide actionable insights that inform individualised intervention strategies, whether for academic support, emotional well-being, or behavioural challenges.

Psychologists

The psychologists in our team focus on the emotional and psychological well-being of children. They support children who may be experiencing anxiety, depression, behavioural difficulties, or social challenges. Using evidence-based therapeutic techniques, our psychologists help children develop resilience, emotional regulation, and coping strategies. They work closely with families to provide guidance and support, fostering a positive and supportive environment for each child’s mental health journey.

Speech Therapy Partners

In collaboration with trusted external speech therapy professionals, we ensure that children with speech, language, and communication difficulties receive the comprehensive support they need. Our speech therapy partners are experts in helping children develop essential communication skills, including speech clarity, language comprehension, and social communication. Although not directly part of our in-house team, these partners work closely with us to ensure a seamless, coordinated approach to each child’s overall therapy plan, promoting effective communication in daily life.

Staff Members

Ashleigh Ehrenfeld

Director and Occupational Therapist

Ashleigh Ehrenfeld is an enthusiastic and experienced pediatric Occupational Therapist. From a young age Ashleigh knew that she wanted to work with children and make a difference in their lives. This began with a degree in Health Sciences (Nutrition) and she then continued on to obtain a degree in Occupational Therapy from the Australian Catholic University. 

Ashleigh began working with children in as an Occupational Therapy assistant in 2013 and transitioned over to a fully qualified Occupational Therapist upon completion of her degree. Over the past 8 years Ashleigh has continued to focus on broadening her knowledge and ensuring that she continues to grow and develop her skills in a range of areas. 

Ashleigh has strong skills in delivery therapy through a range of interventions and draws on a variety of therapeutic interventions when working with children and their families to deliver the best possible outcomes. Ashleigh is experienced in sensory processing, play skills, behavioural intervention, praxis, feeding therapy and social emotional development. 

Ashleigh loves to work with children of all ages and has extensive experience working with varying challenges including social emotional difficulties, sensory processing and praxis challenges, regulation and behavioural issues, picky and problem eaters as well as children with more complex developmental challenges. Ashleigh works collaboratively with families and all key stakeholders to develop individual research based intervention plans to empower the children to improve their overall function and participation.

Vanessa Bension

Occupational Therapist

I have a Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) degree from the University of Sydney and have been providing occupational therapy services to support children and their families for 7 years. I love working as an occupational therapist because it allows me to support children and families achieve their goals and make a true functional and impactful difference on their day to day lives. I have a passion for learning, creativity and having fun and all this passion goes into creating unique, individual and family centered therapy plans to meet your child’s needs!
Fun facts about me: –
1. I am a mum to two beautiful little girls
2. I love knitting
3. I am a certified infant, toddler and child sleep consultant.

Georgia Longworth

Occupational Therapist

Georgia is a friendly Occupational Therapist who strives to help the children and their families achieve their goals. She completed her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in 2021 and has been working with children since 2016, teaching and coaching various sports with a particular interest in swimming, netball and gymnastics. Georgia’s final university placement was at the Randwick Sydney Children’s Hospital. Most of her time was spent in the brain tumour and oncology ward, seeing both inpatients and outpatients. It was here that her interest in paediatrics was sparked and she saw how beneficial Occupational Therapy can be for children and how important the role of play is in supporting a child’s development.

Lauren Ehrenfeld

Psychologist and Clinical Neuropsychology Registrar

Lauren is a Registered Psychologist and Clinical Neuropsychology Registrar who has completed the Master of Clinical Psychology and is currently undertaking her PhD at Macquarie University. Clinically, she is highly knowledgable in the assessment and diagnosis of ADHD, learning disorders, and other developmental conditions, and has great understanding of the impact of mood and lifestyle factors on a child’s cognition, behaviour and learning. She has extensive experience in the treatment of anxiety disorders, particularly obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety, and generalised anxiety disorder. Lauren has experience in running one-on-one as well as group interventions in both a paediatric and adult setting. She is passionate about helping equip parents with tools to manage challenging behaviours in their children. Her research interests include the effects of lifestyle factors such as diet on mood and cognition, the role of inflammation in mood disorders, and changes in cognition across the lifespan as a result.

Rebecca Riel

Research Analyst

Rebecca graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor or Arts. Over the last 15 years she has worked with the state and commonwealth government, and the private sector, as a research analyst, policy analyst and economist.

Rebecca loves to solve problems. She has applied her research and analytical skills across several sectors including education, heath, transportation, technology, regulation and the environment. She has worked for international and domestic clients and always learns something interesting from each piece of research she completes.

Rebecca joined Eastern Suburbs OT in 2022 to support Ashleigh and the team keep up to date with the latest research around service assessment and interventions. Rebecca loves to research and is keenly interested in childhood development, particularly as she watches her two beautiful children grow and learn.

Shoshana Herz

Administration Assistant