Dr. Michelle McElduff
Clinical Psychologist MAPS

 

 

Dr Michelle McElduff is an experienced Clinical Psychologist who is deeply committed to providing a compassionate and supportive space for those experiencing emotional and health-related challenges. Michelle wants to know each person she works with to build a warm, collaborative relationship where clients feel safe, understood and supported.

Michelle aims to personalise and tailor evidence‑based psychological strategies to fit her clients needs, strengths and circumstances. She offers interventions for a wide range of concerns, including:

• Adjustment to illness and health‑related changes
• Anxiety, fears and worry
• Low mood and depression
• Stress and burnout
• Support for carers and families
• Coping with chronic illness
• Navigating major life transitions
• Living with life‑limiting illness
• Grief, loss and bereavement

Michelle’s previous roles include working within the Palliative and Supportive Care Network at Royal North Shore Hospital, where she supported adults living with life‑limiting illness and the families who love them. Before this, she spent more than ten years at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, providing psychological care to those with congenital heart conditions, and her research contributed to a deeper understanding of how heart disease affects children and their families.  Michelle has worked as a Conjoint Associate Lecturer at UNSW, teaching postgraduate students about emotional health for women during pregnancy and post-partum, and supervising medical students completing research projects.

Michelle completed her Doctor of Clinical Psychology and Master of Science at the University of Sydney, after graduating with First Class Honours in Psychology from Macquarie University. She is a Medicare provider, an AHPRA Board‑Approved Supervisor, and a member of the Psycho‑Oncology Co‑operative Research Group.

Outside of Michelle’s practice, she is kept on her toes with a very active and sporty family, and strives to incorporate mindfulness practice into her daily life.

Therapeutic approaches: Michelle is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Schema Therapy and mindfulness‑based approaches. Michelle draws on principles of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Attachment Theory to inform her therapeutic approach. Michelle is also a long‑term practitioner of mindfulness in her own life, which informs her calm, grounded therapeutic style.

Locations: Cancer Support Centre, Sydney Adventist Hospital, and Telehealth.

Publications: McElduff, Turner, Costa, Smith, Dengler & Kasparian (2026). Finding a new rhythm: child health-related quality of life, parent psychological distress, and unmet needs among families of children with cardiac channelopathies. Quality of Life Research: 6(35).