Jemima Shafei-Ongu
Principal Psychologist
Bsc, MTeach, Post Grad Dip Psych, MAHPRA, MAAPi, MACBS
Education
Jemima graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from Macquarie University in 1995.
In 1998 she graduated with a Master of Teaching from the University of Sydney where she developed a passion to improve children’s experiences of school - an environment she struggled to thrive in, despite attending a valuable school.
In 2008, she graduated from the University of Wollongong, with a Diploma of Psychology after being offered a scholarship with the NSW Department of Education’s School Counsellor Re-training Program.
Qualifications & Membership
Jemima attained psychology registration with AHPRA in 2013 and established Fruition Psychology in 2014 to provide psychological support to adults, as well as children and adolescents.
She is also trained as a clinical supervisor and registered with AHPRA to provide clinical supervision.
She has had extensive face to face training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy both locally and abroad with therapists including Prof. Steve Hayes, Dr. Russ Harris, Dr. Louise Hayes and Dr Lisa Coyne. She is also a member of the ACBS community.
Expertise & Areas of Interest
Jemima is a culturally sensitive psychologist with a keen interest in anxiety and trauma.
For over a dozen years, Jemima has worked with children, adolescents and adults - initially in schools as a primary school teacher - and later on as a school counsellor. She has worked with communities impacted by war and other forms of complex trauma. In early 2018, she was invited to join the Refugee Student Counselling Support Team with the Department of Education to help build capacity in schools with students with refugee experiences. Through her work in schools, she has also supported neurodiverse students, and students with diverse abilities and learning needs. She has designed and delivered training to build capacity in school staff to better meet the needs of students impacted by trauma.
Jemima uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT, pronounced as the word "act"), and a variety of additional approaches including Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), Narrative Therapy, Symbol Work, Biofeedback and traditional Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to treat various psychological issues. These include anxiety, depression, grief and loss, stress and trauma.
She is a trained facilitator in emotion coaching with the University of Melbourne’s “Tuning In” program and has also trained with the Black Dog institute.
Jemima has written Aslan and Big Bad Benny, one of the first children’s picture books to use multiple ACT principles in a picture book story. Aslan and Big Bad Benny is being illustrated by Jade Goodwin and is publishing in early-2024 with Penguin Random House.
Services & Appointments
Jemima provides counselling and therapy to adults, adolescents and children over 6 years of age for face-to-face or telehealth appointments on Saturday mornings from 8:15am to 12pm from 20 Jarrett St, Leichhardt. Telehealth sessions are also offered some weeknight evenings.
She is available to run workshops in wellbeing and provides emotion coaching sessions to parents and carers to improve their relationships with the young people in their lives.
Please email or phone her for a free introductory chat on how she may assist you or to find out more about her workshops.
Sessions run for 50 mins and cost $185.00. If you have a valid mental health care plan, you are eligible to a Medicare rebate of $88.80 per session under the Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative.
Alternatively, if you are with a private health fund, you may be covered for psychological services. Please check with your health fund.
