Dr. Brett Deacon, clinical psychologist, is an internationally-renowned practitioner, scientist, educator, and anxiety specialist. Originally from the United States, Brett lives in Wollongong, Australia and works as a clinician in private practice on Sydney's northern beaches. He also maintains a small private practice in Mount Pleasant, near Wollongong.
Brett has specialised in working with clients seeking help for anxiety and related issues for over 15 years. He trained in anxiety clinics at Northern Illinois University, the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Mayo Clinic, and directed an anxiety clinic at the University of Wyoming for 10 years. Brett relocated from the United States to Australia in 2014. Following several years of teaching clinical psychology students as an Associate Professor, he left in order to pursue a new career path focused on clinical practice, with additional involvements in supervision, training, research, and writing.
Brett received extensive training in the US, including a four-year bachelor's degree in psychology, six years of doctoral study in clinical psychology, and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in clinical psychology. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University in 2002, completed a 2000-hour predoctoral clinical internship at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center in 2002, and graduated from a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Mayo Clinic in 2004. He worked at the University of Wyoming from 2004-2014 as an Assistant and then Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. Brett is currently an AHPRA-registered psychologist with an area of practice endorsement in clinical psychology as well as a board-approved psychology supervisor for all registration pathways. He also has a working with children clearance.
Brett is an expert in anxiety and in the most effective and efficient anxiety treatment available, exposure therapy. He is a Fellow of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) in the United States and recently finished a three-year term as editor of ABCT's journal the Behavior Therapist. He is co-author of the clinician guidebook Exposure Therapy for Anxiety: Principles and Practice, published by Guilford Press in 2010. He has published approximately 100 journal articles, book chapters, and books, and his scholarly work is highly cited in the scientific community. Brett routinely presents popular clinical workshops on the nature and treatment of anxiety to national and international audiences. In 2016, he presented workshops to mental health professionals at conferences in Melbourne, New York, and Tehran. A copy of his curriculum vitae may be obtained here.
Brett specialises in assisting clients seeking help for anxiety-related issues including panic attacks, social anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, phobias, generalised anxiety, health anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and body image concerns. He also enjoys training and supervising clinicians in behaviourally-focused therapy and evidence-based practice. Brett has a strong commitment to scientific evidence and rigor and this commitment is evident in his clinical work, supervision, research, training, and other professional endeavours. A detailed overview of his approach to clinical work is available here.
When away from the office, Brett can often be found on the golf course, baseball diamond, tennis court, or at the beach. He enjoys spending time with his family, walking his dog on the beach, landscape photography, and travel.
Brett is currently accepting therapy clients at The Northern Beaches Psychiatrist and Psychologist Family Medical Practice in Dee Why, NSW. To schedule an appointment, please contact the practice here. If you would like to discuss supervision with Brett, please contact him directly. His email address is drbrettdeacon@gmail.com; full contact details are here. To discuss working with Brett privately, please contact him here.
