About Sweetnam Psychology

Taylor Sweetnam | Clinical Psychologist

Gold Coast QLD | Northern Rivers NSW | Telehealth

I'm Taylor, a clinical psychologist on the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers.

I work with people who have learned to manage on a surface level. For the most part, their emotions are kept in check, their image is upheld, they’re holding down a job, and their relationships are going okay. Externally, they look like they’re doing well, and nobody stops to ask if that's actually how they feel on the inside.

Internally, many of the patients I see are experiencing anxiety, low mood, relationship patterns that keep repeating, low self-esteem, difficulty with boundaries or knowing their own needs, or a persistent sense of not quite knowing what they want or who they are.

Somewhere along the way they've lost touch with what they actually feel and what they actually want. No amount of thinking, striving, or holding it together has shifted it.

Something underneath isn't working.

Therapy is where we get to explore that and move through it.

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About Me

I view my work as a psychologist as an extraordinary privilege. In session I am often entrusted with parts of people that they rarely (if ever) share with anyone else. I do not take this lightly, and I aim to honour the bravery it takes to reveal these protected pieces of yourself.

If you’re seeking a psychologist who values depth, focus, attunement and direct communication, then you may have found the right place. My style is active and direct. I'll notice things as they happen between us and name them. I'll gently interrupt when something important is being talked around, and bring us back to it. Sometimes more than once. This isn't passive therapy. We work together, in real time, in the room.

I specialise in supporting high-functioning adults navigating anxiety, relationship difficulties, attachment traumas, and significant life transitions. Many of the people I work with seek help with emotional regulation, low self-worth, an overactive inner critic, or challenges with boundaries and communication in their relationships. 

I believe that healing is a human process, not a clinical one. Together, whether our work is brief or long-term, we build something genuine. A real relationship that becomes a template for the ones you want outside of it. One where the mask of stoicism and polite perfection gets to come off. A place to share real and difficult emotions, explore secure attachment, and practice authentic communication that supports healthier relationships outside of therapy.

About You

My style of therapy works best for adults who are externally high-functioning: intelligent, competent, and successful, presenting themselves as confident and capable.

Behind the scenes however, you may be struggling internally with pressures in your life. Many people come to see me around pivotal moments in their lives, such as a recent or impending relationship breakdown, career changes, or becoming a parent. You may feel unsure about your next steps, how to make authentic choices, or how to communicate these needs effectively. You may feel disconnected from yourself, flat, or resentful, and find that what you truly want has been clouded by what others expect of you.

You may notice chronic anxiety, burnout, or a constant drive for external validation. You may find yourself people-pleasing, minimising your own needs, suppressing your emotions, or repeating relational patterns that leave you feeling stuck and questioning your own actions. At times, this may show up as difficulty setting boundaries, conflict avoidance or approval seeking. Or it may be more aligned with physical, cognitive and perceptual problems such as gastrointestinal symptoms, headaches, occasional dissociation, or seemingly random episodes of vision or hearing issues.

You may have tried therapy before, and found it helpful on some levels, but felt it did not go deep enough. You are not seeking coping strategies or short-term symptom management.

You are ready for meaningful internal change.

Do you recognise yourself here?

  • Chronic or high-functioning anxiety

  • Burnout

  • High achieving with little sense of internal pride

  • Physical anxiety symptoms (gastrointestinal upset, bodily tension, migraine headache, nausea)

  • People-pleasing or approval-seeking

  • Emotional suppression and a tendency to go intellectual 

  • Difficulty setting boundaries or choosing your own path without guilt

  • Fear of disappointing parents or partners

  • Highly self-critical

  • Conflict avoidance and challenges with communication

  • Shutting down, going flat, or becoming tearful in emotionally intense situations

  • Repeating unhealthy relationship dynamics

  • Not knowing what you truly want

  • Minimising your own feelings

  • Feeling resentful but unable to express anger

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Research and Publications

My clinical work and my research have always run alongside each other. The research I have been involved in has been wide-ranging, including work on addiction and antimicrobial resistance. My primary area of academic focus has been alexithymia, high functioning defence mechanisms such as heavy reliance on exercise, and difficulties in emotional regulation.

Alexithymia is a personality trait characterised by difficulty recognising, naming, and expressing emotions. It tends to create a concrete, intellectual relationship with emotional experience. One that lives more in the head than the body. While for some people this reflects neurobiological differences (for example, differences in how neurotypical and neurodivergent people access their emotions) for others it is more reflective of emotional protection. When it lands in this area, from the lens I work through, it isn't a flaw or deficit. It's something the mind learned to do, usually very early, when feelings felt unsafe, unwanted, or simply too much for important attachment figures to tolerate.

When emotions can't be named or truly felt, anxiety tends to run high. Emotional regulation becomes harder, and agency in the face of emotional stimuli becomes lost. People develop mechanisms that keep feelings at bay, but at real cost to themselves and their relationships.

Many of the people I sit with live this every day, often without ever having a name for it. This research shapes how I listen, and what I listen for. It keeps me curious and attuned to the many different ways people express, and protect against, their own emotional experience.

I've published several papers in this area. The full references are listed below for anyone interested.

FAQs

More About Taylor

The Deep Dive

  • Following university level training I sought additional specialised training and supervision to build a skill set that allows me to work confidently with complex emotional patterns, relational difficulties, and trauma, ensuring I can provide therapy that is both effective and deeply attuned to each person I work with.

    My ongoing training includes weekly clinical supervision and intensive ISTDP training.

    • Bachelor of Psychological Science, Griffith University (Gold Coast) - School of Applied Psychology

    • Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science, Bond University (Gold Coast) - School of Psychology

    • Master of Psychology (Clinical), Charles Darwin University (Darwin) - School of Psychology

    • Licensed Clinical Psychologist (AHPRA #PSY0002483536)

    • Core Training in Intensive Short Term Psychodynamic Therapy (ISTDP) with Dr Sarah Walker and Dr Kristy Lamb

  • I’ve had the privilege of training in a wide range of therapy approaches. My work is primarily grounded psychodynamic therapies. In particular my preferred approach is Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). This approach helps us get beneath surface symptoms and into the deeper emotional patterns that shape how we feel and relate.

    Alongside this, I have also trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Schema Therapy, and trauma-focused approaches. This additional training serves to strengthen the tools we can use when working psychodynamically for emotional insight, regulation, and mindful processing.

  • I’ve worked across a wide range of settings, which has given me the privilege of supporting people through very different life challenges. My experience spans community services, veterans’ support, youth mental health, and private practice. Along the way, I’ve worked with children, adolescents, and adults, including neurodivergent patients and people living with complex trauma, severe anxiety, depression, and personality difficulties.

    I have been working privately for several years now, where I work primarily with adults.

  • For interested parties, links to research papers are below:

    Sweetnam, T. J., & Flack, M. (2023). Ready, set, …and difficultly slowing down: What role does alexithymia, emotional regulation and interoceptive awareness play in exercise dependence?Acta Psychologica, 237, Article 103958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.103958

    Lyvers, M. F., Sweetnam, T., & Thorberg, F. (2021). Alexithymia, rash impulsiveness, and reward sensitivity in relation to symptoms of exercise dependence in physically active young adults. Australian Journal of Psychology, 73(4), 475-485. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1981747

  • Diagnosis is not something I provide as part of my direct therapy services. Diagnostic labels such as those found in the DSM-5 can be very helpful, but in therapy, they can also be limiting.

    The human mind naturally uses categories to make sense of the world as this helps us create mental shortcuts for faster decision-making. Diagnoses are no different, and they can therefore create assumptions about how a person with a certain diagnosis may think, feel, or behave.

    By setting these aside, we focus on you as the person who walks into the room, understanding your experiences on your own terms without preconceptions.

  • I grew up on the Gold Coast, but did my postgraduate training in the Northern Territory. My partner is also a therapist, and together we’re raising our beautiful little boy who gives us plenty of opportunities to navigate our own internal conflicts and mixed emotions that come with parenthood.

    I’m fairly dependent on coffee to get through the day, love a great book, and take any excuse to sit by the water.

    I’m a chronic hobby hopper. At the moment, I’m trying my hand at pottery and experimenting with growing and harvesting flowers to create arrangements for my home. (The pottery is lopsided and the floral arrangements are a work in progress, but it’s all about the process…right?)

Still wondering something?

Just message me - I’m happy to help!