ABOUT US
What we do
Starling Health Collective is a specialist Mental Health and Trauma training collective. Our work spans two core areas:
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Professional development - Immersive training courses; Supervision and EMDR consultation (Consultant in training); reflective practice groups for medical and mental health teams
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Psychological therapy for children, adolescents and adults - specialising in complex trauma.
We offer training 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
Inspired by the concept of a murmuration—the coordinated movement of starlings—Starling Health Collective is grounded in the belief that connection, collaboration, and attunement are central to movement and change.
Bringing a systemic lens to her work, Dr Alice Morgan believes that training all health professionals in mental health can create greater impact in mental health support 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 games, role-plays, reflective discussions and collaborative input that increase clinician confidence in their own work. We also believe that clinicians learn best when supported by peers - Communities of Practice are built into all the work that we do.
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.
Clinical foundations
Our clinical work draws on established, evidence-based approaches, including:
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Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
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Trauma-informed and attachment-informed frameworks
We have particular experience supporting individuals with complex trauma, medical trauma, chronic illness and pain, healthcare professional's mental health, and presentations shaped by cumulative or long-term adversity (see more on Therapy page).
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 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 and has substantial experience in this modality.
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. Inclusivity, respect, and openness are central to how she works with both clients and professionals.
Alice has extensive experience across a range of settings and has worked across 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 in London and Australia. 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 - a passion that was initially sparked as a patient with chronic health conditions on the other side of the desk!
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 remind 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!