ABOUT US
What we do
Starling Health Collective is a specialist Mental Health and Trauma training collective and private practice based in Naarm, Melbourne. Our work spans two core areas:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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CPD Retreats - Our Educational Escapes are immersive CPD training courses for doctors, psychologists, nurses and other health professionals. We combine quality CPD with curated food experiences in Australia's best food and wine regions.
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Supervision and EMDR consultation (Consultant in training) for clinical psychologists, EMDR therapists, medical professionals and allied health (individuals and groups)
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Supervision and reflective practice groups for medical and mental health teams
PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY
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Psychological therapy for children, adolescents and adults - specialising in complex trauma.
We offer CPD in:
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Trauma and trauma-informed care (3 levels of expertise to take you from beginner to expert)
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Self-care and burnout prevention for clinicians
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Psychological management of long-term health conditions
Where do we work?
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Individual services are delivered in-person (from Moonee Ponds, Naarm Melbourne) and via telehealth.
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Group services and training sessions can be offered online or face to face with discussion within Naarm.
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Our Educational Escapes are currently set in Margaret River and Port Douglas.
Our approach
We value diversity and work with people from all backgrounds, honouring each individual’s lived experience, culture and perspective. Above all, we aim to create spaces—clinical, professional, and restorative—where people feel safe, understood, and supported to grow.
Bringing a systemic lens to her work, Dr Alice Morgan believes that training health professionals in trauma and mental health can create greater impact in the community than individual work alone. Alice's work is trauma-informed, relational, and evidence-based at its core, while remaining warm, human and intentionally down-to-earth in tone.
Our trainings are workshop based and combine presentations of the current evidence-base with interactive and experiential components designed to embed the skills within your professional practice. Reflective discussions and collaborative conversations are usually held over long lunches at wineries, designed to increase connection to your peers AND your work. We believe that clinicians learn best when supported by peers - Communities of Practice are built into all the work that we do.
Our professional development and supervision work reflects these same foundations, with a strong emphasis on reflective practice, sustainability, and ethical care in high-intensity clinical environments.
Meet our Team
Reflect. Restore. Connect.
Alice
Clinical Psychologist, Founder and Director
DPsychClinMPHBA(Hons), MAPS
Dr. Alice Morgan is the Clinical Director of Starling Health Collective. She has been a Clinical Psychologist for 20 years and has a Master of Public Health, a Graduate Certificate in Global Adolescent Health and a Graduate Certificate in Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery from Havard Medical School. She is also an EMDR consultant in training with 20 years of experience in clinical psychology and EMDR.
Alice brings a professional yet relaxed presence to her work - whether training, supervision or therapy. She is known for being genuine, non-judgemental, and engaging, and for creating environments where people feel safe to reflect, ask questions, and do meaningful work together. She approaches complexity with curiosity and optimism, and values humour as part of staying human in serious spaces.
Alice views individuals within their broader social, cultural, and systemic contexts and sees behaviours as ways of coping with what has happened in the past. She practices with cultural humility, recognising the innate wisdom on non-western cultures and the importance of attending to power, identity, and lived experience when working with clients.
Alice has extensive experience in a range of settings and has worked throughout Australia and internationally. She has worked in public hospitals (paediatric and adult - including Royal Children's Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital), private practice, training institutes (Beyondblue; EMDR Academy), NGOs (including Doctors without Borders), psychiatric hospitals (The Priory, London), research institutions (MCRI; QCMHR) and universities (UQ; UCL; Kings College; UoM) teaching postgraduate courses. For more information, see Alice's Linked In here.
Dr Alice's areas of expertise have a broad focus on trauma - medical trauma, refugee and immigrant (cultural) trauma, systemic trauma and complex and developmental trauma. Her first thesis focused on vicarious trauma in hospital staff, and she takes a systemic view of mental health, believing that supporting frontline staff's wellbeing will always have a ripple effect on patient care. She ran a staff support clinic at Royal Children's Hospital (where she was Head of Clinical Psychology and Acting Director of Psychology) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alice also has a passion for supporting those with long-term health conditions and recognises the huge impact of psychological support on the physical health and wellbeing of patients and families.
Interests: Alice loves going on adventure walks with Chilli, travelling and experiencing different cultures, watching live music, eating great food, swimming and scuba diving.
Chilli
Therapy Dog and Chief Morale Officer
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Chilli is a six year old Labradoodle. With a calm presence and excellent listening skills, she has never broken confidentiality and has a strong commitment to naps between (and within) sessions. Chilli helps clients feel at ease from the moment they arrive - usually through an enthusiastic and wiggly greeting.
Chilli contributes to sessions by modelling nervous system regulation and reminding us all that taking up space on the floor is a valid coping strategy! Her clinical style is warm, non-judgemental and deeply embodied. She has a particular talent for sensing when extra comfort is needed and will lie herself at/on clients’ feet or against their legs when they most need help to stay present, and reminding people to breathe through expressive sighs when they forget to do so. While she cannot offer advice, she excels at presence and patience.
Her interests include long walks - particularly when they involve trying local "street food" - and chewing (but not fetching) balls.
**Please note: Participation with Chilli is always optional. Whilst Chilli is mostly in attendance at Starling HC, sometimes she throws a sickie and refuses to come to work!
Joel
Business Manager and Hospitality Host
Joel Mackaay brings a rare combination of operational insight, commercial acumen, and deep hospitality experience to Starling Health Collective.
With over a decade working as a chef, followed by more than thirteen years in sales and leadership roles within premium food wholesale, he has extensive experience working in quality food and wine and in managing complex logistics, client relationships, and high-quality service delivery. His background spans both hands-on hospitality, and commercial strategy, allowing him to bridge experience, coordination, and execution with ease.
In Joel's role with Starling Health Collective, he supports the operational and hospitality elements of our Educational Escapes, with a focus on client and services engagement, and the curation of thoughtful food and wine experiences. His approach is detail-oriented and highly organised, ensuring that each food and wine experience feels tailored, balanced and cohesive. If you leave our CPD retreats feeling like you've gained insight into the local food scene (or gained a couple of kilos!) you can probably thank Joel for that!
Interests:
Joel loves watching live music, following his beloved Liverpool Football Club and experiencing food in incredible locations.