Dr Erin Kelly
BPsych (Hons), MClinPsych, PhD (Public Health & Community Med)
Clinical Psychologist
Currently accepting internal Ponti Health referrals only.
“When I work with you, my focus is on truly understanding you, so that together we can make sense of your experiences. I believe this understanding is what allows compassion for ourselves and others, and that acceptance is the foundation for meaningful change.”
Dr Erin Kelly is a Clinical Psychologist with 15 years of therapy experience and 20 years in mental health and substance use research. She has worked across private practice, youth mental health services, university clinics, and research centres, bringing together scientific expertise with an authentic, human-centred approach.
Erin’s clinical experience spans a wide range of psychological concerns, such as anxiety, depression, substance use, post-traumatic stress disorder, and ADHD. She has contributed to clinical trials testing innovative treatments for co-occurring substance use and mental disorders for adults, young adults, and adolescents.
Erin has developed and delivered group programs for adults and adolescents, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), CBT for social anxiety, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills training, and school-based programs. Erin also has extensive experience training psychologists and other health professionals, psychology students, educators, and youth workers in substance use, evidence-based treatments, counselling skills, and bullying intervention.
Alongside her clinical practice, Erin has held research roles in public health. Her PhD on the prevention of bullying and related harms was recognised with multiple awards, including the Australian Rotary Health and Alliance for the Prevention of Mental Disorders Research Excellence Award. She later led a program of research disseminating innovative programs for the prevention of substance use and mental health problems in adolescents, which received the Australian Drug Foundation Primary Prevention Award. Her broader research included the treatment of co-occurring disorders, trauma and childhood adversity, social determinants of health, climate change and mental health, and the role of self-compassion in wellbeing. She has published widely, secured significant grant funding, presented nationally and internationally, and supervised postgraduate students.
Her background in both clinical psychology and public health gives her a holistic perspective, appreciating the complexity of people, environments, and systems. She takes a whole-person approach, recognising not only a person’s challenges but also their strengths, values, and the broader context of their life.
Erin is passionate about helping people develop a kinder relationship with themselves, strengthen relationships, connect with their values, develop effective coping strategies, and make meaningful changes to their behaviour. Her work focuses on easing distress while also fostering wellbeing and helping people to flourish in ways that feel authentic and sustainable.
Erin provides evidence-based treatment for adults and older adolescents/young adults (aged 16–25 years), drawing primarily on CBT, Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), and Schema Therapy. She is committed to ongoing learning and has undertaken recent training in women’s mental health and perimenopause, adult ADHD, work-related stress and burnout, neuroaffirming care, and trauma-informed practice. Erin’s therapeutic style is warm, genuine and collaborative. At the heart of Erin’s work are her core values of curiosity, compassion, and connection.
Dr Kelly is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS) and a Fellow of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists (FCCLP).
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Schema Therapy, CBT, CFT
Midlife women’s mental health (e.g. perimenopause & menopause, changes in career, relationships, identity, late-diagnosed ADHD)
Anxiety (e.g. social anxiety, worry, panic)
Trauma & substance use (e.g. PTSD, drinking to cope with stress, vaping)
Managing stress & overwhelm (e.g. work, study, parenting)
Self & identity (e.g. self-criticism, shame, low confidence)
Relationships (e.g. communication, boundaries, loneliness)
Wellbeing (e.g. compassion for self & others, feeling capable and confident, purpose and meaning)
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Grummitt, L., Kelly, E., Newton, N., Stapinski, L., Lawler, S., Prior, K., Barrett, E. (In press). Self-compassion and avoidant coping as mediators of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health and alcohol use in young adulthood. Child Abuse & Neglect, available online as of November 8, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106534
Grummitt, L., Rowlinson, K., Cassar, J., Conroy, C., Birrell, L., Stapinski, L., Barrett, E., Macauley, J., Teesson, M., Newton, N., Kelly, E. (20randomiseddomised controlled implementation trial of the feasibility and effectiveness of school staff delivery of a selective substance use and mental health program during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 349. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21493-1
Grummitt, L., Bailey, S., Kelly, E., Birrell, L., Gardner, L. A., Halladay, J., Chapman, C., Andrews, J. L., Champion, K. E., Hunter, E., Egan, L., Conroy, C., Tiko, R., Nguyen, A., Teesson, M., Newton, N. C., Barrett, E. L. (2024). Refining the Universal, School-Based OurFutures Mental Health Program to Be Trauma Informed, Gender and Sexuality Diversity Affirmative, and Adherent to Proportionate Universalism: Mixed Methods Participatory Design Process. JMIR Pediatr Parent, 7:e54637 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2023.200308
Grummitt, L., Barrett, E., Halladay, J., Bailey, S., Birrell, L., Hunter, E., Kelly, E., Champion, K., Gardner, L., Nguyen, A., Chapman, C., Newton, N., Teesson, M. (2023). Embedding action on social and structural determinants of mental health into a national framework for the prevention of common mental disorders. Mental Health & Prevention, 32, 200308. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212657023000508
Newton, N.C., Debenham, J., Slade, T., Smout, A., Grummitt, L., Sunderland, M., Barrett, E.L., Champion, K.E., Chapman, C., Kelly, E., Lawler, S., Castellanos-Ryan, N., Teesson, M., Conrod, P. J., & Stapinski, L. (2022). Effect of selective personality-targeted alcohol use prevention on seven-year alcohol-related outcomes among high-risk adolescents: a secondary analysis cluster-randomised controlled clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 5(11), e2242544. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.42544
Grummitt, L.R., Debenham, J., Kelly, E., Barrett, E.L., Champion, K., Conrod, P., Teesson, M. and Newton, N. (2022). Selective personality-targeted prevention of suicidal ideation in young adolescents: post hoc analysis of data collected in a randomised controlled trial. Med J Aust, 216 (10), 525-529. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51536
Grummitt, L., Kelly, E., Barrett, E., Lawler, S., Prior, K., Stapinski, L., & Newton, N. C. (2022). Associations of childhood emotional and physical neglect with mental health and substance use in young adults. Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 56(4), 365-375. https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674211025691
Debenham, J., Grummitt, L., Newton, N., Teesson, M., Slade, T., Conrod, P., & Kelly, E. (2021). Personality-targeted prevention for adolescent tobacco use: Three-year outcomes, randomised controlled trial in Australia. Prev Med, 153, 106794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106794