Meet the Team

Dr GINA VILLAR

Principal Psychologist PhD | MProfPsych | BSocSci(Psych)(Hons1stClass) | BA (Psych)
Gina is the founder and Principal Psychologist of Blue Mountains Anxiety Clinic. She is a registered Psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (AHPRA registration number: PSY0002092811), an Associate Member of the Australian Psychological Society, and a registered service provider under the Australian Government’s Better Outcomes for Mental Health Care Program (Provider number: 5691711A) and the Department of Veteran's Affairs (DVA) Allied Health services program.
Gina worked for several years in welfare agencies with families and young people before becoming a psychology researcher (in the field of deception, false confessions and fabricated remorse), a University Academic (teaching undergraduate psychology students), then more recently a practicing psychologist. Gina’s most recent clinical roles were as an intern with Associate Professor Leanne Humphreys (Director of Training and Workforce Development at Phoenix Australia's Centre for Postraumatic Mental Health) working with adults with complex trauma and as an intern then registered psychologist at headspace Penrith working with young people aged 12 to 25 years, on the Primary Care Youth Access Team. Prior to this, Gina was an intern with Healthy Minds Happy Kids (HMHK) working with children and young adults with various mental health concerns, behavioural concerns and learning difficulties. Gina was extensively trained by Principal Psychologist at HMHK, Emerson Osterberg, in all facets of intellectual, cognitive, and behavioural assessment. A few words from Gina...
Hi there, Thanks for visiting the Blue Mountains Anxiety Clinic website. As you can probably tell by the name of this practice, my 'thing' is the psychology of anxiety and stress. I love psychology, both the research side and the practice of it. It's hugely satisfying supporting people to learn ways to master their worries, manage their distress, and create purposeful, positive, liberating change for themselves. This is a team project between my client and me. It starts with a thorough psycho-social assessment to understand a client's concerns, their strengths, the protective factors in their lives, as well as the factors that might be keeping them in an anxious or depressed holding-pattern. Together we identify possible areas we can target for change and put together a treatment plan. I take a holistic approach, which means together we consider the whole you - not just your mental health, but your overall wellbeing. I only use evidence-based (what we know works) intervention programs, and most often for anxiety-based concerns that will be cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), including exposure therapy. Simply put, CBT is about our thoughts, feelings and behaviours and the ways each of these interacts to influence our wellbeing. By making shifts (sometimes only small ones) in our thoughts and behaviours, it's possible to make noticeable improvements in how we feel. My approach is strengths-based (identifying your values, using positive features of you & your life) and solution-focused (making change in the present & goal-setting for the future) to help you live the life you love. That makes my job pretty amazing and it's a privilege to do it. Looking forward to welcoming you to Blue Mountains Anxiety Clinic. Warm regards, Gina

ms allison J watts

Psychologist BScPsychology (Honours)
Allison joined Blue Mountains Anxiety Clinic in October 2020. Allison is a registered Psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (AHPRA registration number: PSY0001592533), a Member of the Australian Psychological Society, and a registered service provider under the Australian Government’s Better Outcomes for Mental Health Care Program (Provider number: 5918221W). Upon completion of her University studies, Allison worked for 10 years in Child Protection, assisting children and families. Following this, Allison worked for 10 years in a NSW Health Department counselling service providing therapy and court support to children, young people and adults who had experienced trauma. During this time, Allison also provided consultation and training to schools and other counselling services in relation to identifying and supporting those who have experienced trauma and trauma informed therapy. Throughout this period Allison completed her internship to complete her registration as a Registered Psychologist and maintained ongoing Professional Development and training.
Since 2010, Allison has worked at a local Independent School as School Psychologist, providing assessment and treatment of children and young people from ages 4 to 18. Allison has worked with families, school staff and external services to provide wrap around support to children and adolescents in a school context, managing both complex mental health presentations and learning difficulties and needs. During this time Allison has developed extensive knowledge of learning support practices, NESA special provisions and local services and supports available to children, young people and their families. A few words from Allison...
Hello! I have the privilege of joining Gina in her practice at the Blue Mountains Anxiety Clinic and look forward to the opportunity of meeting and working with our clients. My approach to therapy is a collaborative one, where we work together to understand difficulties and challenges and the context of these, but also recognise and harness the skills, strengths and experiences everyone brings with them. I work hard to make clients feel comfortable, safe and understood, working at their pace towards the goals that we have developed together to help them feel more themselves, more in control and more positive about their lives. I am excited to work at a clinic which has a particular interest in and focus upon anxiety, as this is a special area of interest and experience of mine. I enjoy helping clients understand what anxiety is, how it works, how it impacts them in their lives and getting creative in finding ways they can manage it long term, both practically and effectively. I have a particular interest and experience in working with Social Anxiety, Academic Anxiety and General Anxiety. I have experience and interest in working with clients who also face depression, adjustment difficulties, trauma, emotional difficulties, family/relationship difficulties, difficulties in managing stress and parenting issues. I have also worked with clients diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, providing support in social skills training and managing anxiety that is often experienced by those with ASD. I have worked with children, young people and adults and enjoy working with clients across the lifespan. I use only evidence-based therapies such as CBT and ACT and am committed to ongoing professional development, training and awareness of current research in the dynamic and exciting field of Psychology. I believe, and research attests, that a positive, safe, strong, supportive and honest therapeutic relationship between a Psychologist and their client is vital in the success of therapy and I always strive to build that with clients I work with. There needs to be the “right fit”, and when I can provide that, I feel privileged to be able to support the clients that I work with. Kind regards, Allison

gina's CV

Working with Children Clearance Number: WWC800354VNational Police Certificate Number: NCHRC-2016-83803
EDUCATION2018 Master of Professional Psychology - University of New England 2009 Doctor of Philosophy - University of Sydney Thesis: Linguistic markers of lies and false confessions: The role of beliefs, modality and remorse2008 Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) (Honours 1st Class) - Charles Sturt University Dissertation: Linguistic cues to deception in the speech of a convicted murderer 2007 Graduate Diploma of Psychology, awarded "With Distinction" - Charles Sturt University 1988 Bachelor of Arts Degree (Psychology) - Macquarie University AWARDS 2009 Awarded a University of Sydney Postgraduate scholarship (UPA) for a full-time Research Doctorate2009 Awarded the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Prize in Psychology (2008), for the graduate with the most distinguished record in an Honours year in Psychology, from CSU 2007/08 Awarded a full academic scholarship for all fees associated with completion of a Bachelor of Social Science (Psych) (Hons) at CSU MEDIA
Ward, W. (2016, May 19). Are we really sorry when we write ‘sorry’? Charles Sturt University News.
Walsh, L. (2009, October 7). Language discloses the art of deception. The University of Sydney News.
Tovia, J. (2016, May). True crimes, false stories. Mindfood.
Hamilton, M. (2015). Secret girls' business. Hawthorn, VIC: Penguin Books Australia.
Dishburn, E. (2016, June 10). How to tell if someone is actually sorry. HRM.
Critchley, C. (2009, October 2). Um, I really am, um, telling the, um, truth. Herald Sun, p. 45.
Fox, S. (2012, January). Um, are you telling the truth? Linguistic Research Digest.
Patrick, W. (2018, April). Sounds too good to be true? Recognising the sound of a lie. Psychology Today.
Hannan, T. (2016, August). The hardest word. Australasian Science.
PUBLICATIONSVillar, G., & Castillo, P. (2017). The presence of ‘um’ as a marker of truthfulness in the speech of TV personalities. Psychiatry Psychology & Law, 24(4), 549 – 560. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2016.1256018Moberley, B., & Villar, G. (2016). One more time without feeling: Detecting fabricated remorse using linguistic analysis. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 23(1), 102-112. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2015.1032955Villar, G., Arciuli, J., & Paterson, H. (2014). Remorse in oral and handwritten false confessions. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 19, 255-269. doi: 10.1111/lcrp.12012Arciuli, J., & Villar, G. (2013). The place of assessment in reducing student anxiety about a research methods and statistics unit. Paper presented at the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia 2013 Conference, Auckland.Villar, G., Arciuli, J., & Paterson, H. (2013). Vocal pitch production during lying: Beliefs about deception matter. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 20(1), 123-132. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2011.633320 Villar, G., Arciuli, J., & Paterson, H. (2013). Linguistic indicators of a false confession. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 20(4), 504-518. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2012.712834Arciuli, J., Villar, G., Colmar, S., Evans, D., Einfeld, S., & Parmenter, T. (2013). Home-based reading between mothers and their children with autism spectrum disorders. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 18(1), 17-33. Spence, K., Arciuli, J., Villar, G. (2012). The role of pitch and speech rate as markers of deception in Italian speech. In M. Tabain, J. Fletcher, D., Grayden, J. Hajek, & A. Butcher (Eds.), Proceedings of the 14th Australasian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Sydney, 141-144. Spence, K., Villar, G., & Arciuli, J. (2012). Markers of deception in Italian speech. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 453. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00453Villar, G., Arciuli, J., & Mallard, D. (2012). Use of ‘um’ in the deceptive speech of a convicted murderer. Applied Psycholinguistics, 33(1), 83-95. Arciuli, J., Mallard, D., & Villar, G. (2010). “Um, I can tell you’re lying”: Linguistic markers of deception vs. truth-telling in speech. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31(3), 397-411. Villar, G., Arciuli, J., & Barsaglini, A. (2010). Can reduced use of pronouns during deceptive versus truthful speech be observed in a language other than English? In M. Tabain, J. Fletcher, D., Grayden, J. Hajek, & A. Butcher (Eds.), Proceedings of the 13th Australasian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Melbourne, 70-73. Arciuli, J., Villar, G., & Mallard, D. (2009). Lies, lies and more lies. Paper presented at the The 31st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Amsterdam.Villar, G., (2009, September). “I had nothing to do with her disappearance”: Linguistic cues to deception in the public and personal speech of a convicted murderer. Poster session presented at the 44th Annual Australian Psychological Society Conference, Darwin.