My name is Tessa (she/her), and I am a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist (CPSP). I graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Hons) in 2009. I have worked with children, teenagers and adults across health, mental health, and disability services. I have been working as a senior mental health clinician and a senior speech pathologist with children and young people for the last 9 years, including working at the Queensland Children's Gender Service. I have extensive experience working with trans and gender diverse young people and their families, and really value guiding them through the process of sharing their stories as part of holistic, strengths based and developmentally informed assessment and care planning. This includes supporting young people wishing to access gender affirming medical care. I have particular strengths in working with neurodivergent young people or those with communication differences to express their experiences, goals, ideas and identities. Being a speech pathologist, I am also very interested in how language, communication, mental health and relationships are interconnected and interdependent. I am passionate about helping children and young people learn more about their communication styles, strengths and differences. I enjoy helping young people build language and communication skills, explore a range of communication strategies and scaffolds and I work closely with communication partners. I see this as key to building self-advocacy skills and connection, and ultimately best quality of life outcomes. I am also a Mum to the very fun and wonderful Tilly! I like music, learning Spanish, yoga, and running (sometimes!).