Our Practitioners
Our team of psychologists and gut-directed hypnotherapists are here to support you with gut-brain health and a wide range of general presentations. Finding the right practitioner is one of the most important parts of starting therapy - browse below and book directly when you're ready.
Not sure who to choose? That's completely normal. Email info@thegutbrainclinic.com.au or call us on 0474 648 500 or and we'll help match you with the right practitioner for your situation.
Online booking takes 2 minutes - create a free account to manage appointments.
Sees Adults & Children
Madeleine Lawrence
Director, Gut Hypnotherapist, Counsellor and Nutritionist
Madeleine is the Co-Founder and Lead Gut-Directed Hypnotherapist at The Gut-Brain Clinic, bringing together a combination of hypnotherapy, counselling and nutrition to support people living with gut disorders.
Madeleine founded the clinic after identifying a significant gap in dedicated gut-brain directed services in Brisbane - and built it with a vision for truly integrated care that addresses both the physical and psychological dimensions of digestive health.
She holds a Masters in Human Nutrition from Deakin University and a Diploma of Strategic Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy from the Institute of Applied Psychology, with additional training in gut-directed hypnotherapy. This combination of nutritional science and therapeutic practice gives Madeleine a holistic perspective on gut health.
Madeleine works with clients across the lifespan - from children and adolescents through to older adults - with a focus on IBS, functional gut disorders, and disorders of gut-brain interaction. She sees patients in person in Coorparoo and via telehealth across Australia.
Warm, approachable and genuinely invested in her clients' progress, Madeleine is passionate about empowering people to make lasting, positive changes to their health and quality of life.
Outside the clinic, she enjoys time outdoors with her husband, two young children and Golden Retriever.
Booking takes 2min - select Online - Gut Hypnotherapy then create an account to manage appts
Sees Adults Only
Tahlia Baumann
Health Psychologist
Tahlia is a Health Psychologist with a view of wellbeing that encompasses all aspects of a person's life — the interplay between biology, psychology, and the relationships around us.
She has a special interest in the gut-brain connection and chronic health conditions and the gut-brain connection, supporting people to recover from or adjust to changes in their health and circumstances. Her background in rehabilitation, public health, and outpatient hospital care has given her a deep understanding of how personal experiences sit within the wider context of our life roles, relationships, and the systems we are part of.
Tahlia is experienced in working with gut and digestive health concerns alongside pain, fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression, and the emotional responses that often accompany changes in physical health, including anger and grief. She draws on evidence-based approaches tailored to each person, integrating a variety of therapeutic methods depending on what matters most to you.
Tahlia will work alongside you with clarity and calm to support you to live a meaningful and fulfilling life of your choice, even in the presence of health challenges.
Booking takes 2min - select location - Gut-Brain Psychology Session then create an account to manage appts
Sees Adults Only
Dr Manuela Francesca Russo
General Psychologist · PhD
Manuela uses a person-centred approach tailoring her interventions to the current needs, goals, and values of her clients, creating a compassionate and supporting environment for her clients.
Manuela has a strong scientific/research foundation in cognitive neuroscience which influences her therapeutic approach and has sparked her interest in learning and understanding the neurobiological processes responsible for a variety of clinical and physical presentations, such as gut-brain disorders, trauma, emotion regulation difficulties, anxious feelings and mood disorders. She is particularly drawn to understanding how the nervous system shapes both psychological and physical health, including the ways emotional and psychological states influence gut function and digestive wellbeing.
She utilises evidence-based therapeutic interventions such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy skills to support her clients.
Manuela is bilingual and can offer appointments in English and in Italian.
In her spare time, Manuela loves exploring Australian nature and spending quality time with her loved ones.
Booking takes 2min - select location - Gut-Brain Psychology Session then create an account to manage appts
Sees Adults Only
Laura Clemesha
General Psychologist
At the heart of Laura's practice is a genuine warmth and care for the people she works with. She believes that good therapy begins with feeling truly seen, heard, valued, and safe — and works to create that experience from the very first session. Laura's approach is collaborative at its core: she takes the time to understand what support looks like for you as an individual, and together you'll explore where you want to go and how to get there. Laura draws on a range of evidence-based approaches, tailoring her practice to suit each client's unique needs, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness, and Motivational Interviewing (MI).
Laura works with adults and young people across a wide range of presentations, including stress and burnout, anxiety disorders, depression and mood disorders, life transitions and adjustment to change, and performance-related challenges for athletes, leaders, and performers. She also has a particular interest in the gut-brain connection, recognising how closely psychological states - stress, anxiety, and emotional overwhelm - are linked to physical symptoms and digestive health.
Laura's practice is informed by a background that spans elite sport and over five years as a leadership development consultant and executive coach, working with leaders across private and government organisations. This experience has given her a deep understanding of work pressure and high-performance environments and what sustainable, healthy striving actually looks like in practice — including the role of self-compassion, self-confidence, and releasing the grip of perfectionism in doing and feeling your best.
Booking takes 2min - select location - Gut-Brain Psychology Session then create an account to manage appts
Sees Adults Only
Louise Samways
Clinical and Health Psychologist · Author
Louise is a very experienced Clinical and Health Psychologist and bestselling author. Her holistic approach is especially helpful when physical and mental health have become deeply entangled as a consequence of trauma and/or chronic illness.
When relevant this approach explores the external factors (environment, relationships, work, and life circumstances) that can be affecting how we feel and function. This can be especially helpful for people living with ADHD or who are Neurodiverse.
Louise incorporates a range of evidence based therapies and modalities (including mind-body therapies, gut-brain research, cross-lateral stimulation) and teaches practical strategies to help create a personal “wellbeing tool kit” for the future.
Her professional practice has been shaped by a career that spans remote Aboriginal communities in the Central Desert, international study in Sweden and the UK, and working in urban, rural, and very remote settings.
What that means for her clients is a Practitioner with the experience and knowledge to identify, and clarify, the issues that need to be addressed so that treatment outcomes are maximised.
Louise sees clients via telehealth only, which means she's accessible from anywhere in Australia.
Booking takes 2min - select Online - Gut-Brain Psychology Session then create an account to manage appts
Not sure who's the right fit? Choosing a practitioner is such an important part of treatment, and can feel overwhelming. We're happy to talk it through with you before you commit to booking.
Call us on 0474 648 500
Email info@thegutbrainclinic.com.au
We aim to respond to all enquiries within one business day.