I have been in clinical practice for 23 years and have experience in a wide range of settings, including community and inpatient mental health, eating disorders, and child and adolescent mental health. After many years of working in public mental health I began working in private practice settings, and enjoy working one-on-one with people to help them move toward their goals and create meaning and purpose in their lives.

I have completed a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Australian National University in Canberra, and have extensive training in exposure-based and cognitive behavioural therapies, including Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. In my clinical practice, I am strongly informed by relational and compassion focused therapies, as well as psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness based approaches.

I have a particular interest in the connection between mental health, nutrition and physical movement and the profound impact these factors have on our wellbeing. I enjoy working with people who struggle with managing their emotions, such as emotional overeating and binge eating.

Much of my practice centres around helping people who are experiencing anxiety, low self-esteem/self-worth, body image issues, and issues related to sexuality.

I offer therapy and treatment to adults at my office in Ainslie.

Please note:

Dr Knipe is not currently available for new referrals for treatment of restrictive eating disorders including Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.

I completed a Master of Clinical Psychology in 1998, and since then have worked in a wide range of settings, including adult community mental health services, alcohol and other drugs services, child and adolescent mental health, and in a health promotion service related to suicide and self-harm. I also taught in the University of Canberra’s Clinical Psychology program for over 10 years, and I am currently teaching in the Australian National University’s Clinical Psychology program. I began a private practice in 2009.

I have training in cognitive behavioural therapies, including standard CBT, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). I have also undertaken training in Gestalt therapy and am informed by humanistic, client centred approaches. I am influenced by trauma informed therapies, mindfulness based approaches, and emotion and relational focused therapies such as  psychodynamic therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy.

I enjoy working with people who struggle with emotions and understanding their behaviours. By focusing on helping people understand their emotions and why they do what they do, I assist people to live with more meaning, purpose and self-compassion. Much of my practice centres around helping people who are experiencing depression and low mood, difficulties with relationships (including in the workplace), anxiety and stress, issues related to sexuality, difficulties with low self-esteem, self-worth or self-mastery, as well as challenges related to personality disorders and characterological difficulties.

I work with adults, as well as provide supervision and training for psychologists and other health professionals. 

I have been practicing as a psychologist for over a decade. For most of this time I worked in Switzerland in an inpatient psychiatric clinic and in private practice. At the end of 2021 I moved to Canberra and now work in private practice. I have worked with individuals but also enjoy working with couples. I am passionate about providing an empathic, positive, strength and resources-oriented client-centred treatment grounded on evidence-based theories and methods.

Before working in clinical settings, I spent ten years as a researcher at multiple Universities in Australia and Switzerland, during which time I completed my PhD in psychology. My experience in research and teaching is in the area of Clinical Psychology, Public Health, and Developmental Psychology, which adds scientific knowledge and theoretical backgrounds to my clinical work. The foundation of my clinical work is a humanistic perspective with a focus on empathy, understanding and respect. 

To become a federally recognised psychotherapist in Switzerland I completed extensive training in systemic therapy with an additional focus on attachment theory. I also have training in CBT, Client Centred Therapy, Focusing, Emotion Focused Therapy (Greenberg), Schema Therapy, and Systemic Couples Therapy. 

Therapy for Individuals: I support adults experiencing depression or low mood, anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, or relationship problems.

Therapy for Couples: I also offer therapy for couples. I have had training in systemic couples therapy and am currently undergoing training in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT-C). Research about the effectiveness of EFT-C has shown it to be an effective evidence-based therapy for couples with 90% of couples significantly improving their relationship and 70% of couples no longer reporting relationship distress after therapy. EFT-C aims to help couples to change negative interaction patterns and to establish deeper and more secure connections to each other by focusing on emotions and exploring unmet needs.

E-mail: christine.forrester@protonmail.com