ONLINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA
You’re not alone when faith, love and life hurt
Online Faith-sensitive Psychologist Supporting Mental Health, Trauma Recovery, and Emotional Wellbeing
Therapy that helps you make sense of your feelings, reactions, and experiences, while developing a clearer understanding of how context has shaped them.
I offer respectful, trauma-informed, and ethical support that helps you navigate challenges connected to relationships, wellbing, and faith
For many, their faith and church, and ministry communities offer belonging, purpose, and support. Yet we also know that life within faith communities, families, and relationships can sometimes feel complicated, overwhelming, or painful.
As a registered psychologist, I offer respectful, trauma-informed, and ethical support for those who hold faith as an important part of life — including individuals, ministry leaders, and those navigating changes, questions, or challenges connected to faith, relationships, or wellbeing.
Support Areas:
I work with adults experiencing:
Stress, anxiety, and depression
Burnout, including ministry, work, or caregiving fatigue
Relationship and communication difficulties (including couples therapy)
Domestic and family violence
Complex emotional experiences linked to faith, identity, or belonging
Distress associated with rigid or fear-based religious beliefs (including scrupulosity / Religious OCD)
Confusing, painful, or harmful experiences in faith or ministry settings, including experiences of spiritual abuse, religious harm and clergy sexual abuse.
Adults who experience long-standing or entrenched patterns that interfere with emotional wellbeing, relationships, work, or identity—especially where these patterns feel difficult to shift through insight alone. In this case, I offer schema therapy, which can be helpful for people who feel stuck in recurring cycles of self-criticism, emotional disconnection, emotional reactivity, people-pleasing, shame, fear, or relationship distress.
You do not need to have a defined “problem,” and you do not need to know how to explain your experience before you come.
I welcome people of all faiths and backgrounds, including those with experience of high-control religious environments or feelings of disenfranchisement, and those who prefer not to discuss or explore faith or spirituality as part of therapy.
You are welcome to begin from wherever you are.
Support is available for the following:
therapy services
Mental Health Support
Compassionate, evidence-based support for anxiety, depression, trauma, and emotional distress, tailored to the individual’s circumstances, values, and goals.
Relationship Challenges & Recovery from Domestic & Family Violence
Support for those navigating relationship distress, separation, or the impacts of domestic and family violence, with a focus on safety, autonomy, and healing.
Spiritual Harm and Abuse
Specialist-informed support for those impacted by spiritual harm or abuse, including recovery from high-control religious environments, offering a safe space to process experiences of faith-related control, coercion, or betrayal.
Scrupulosity (Moral OCD)
Evidence-based support for scrupulosity and moral OCD, helping individuals respond to intrusive fears around morality, responsibility, or faith with greater flexibility and care.
Ministry-related Support & Burnout
Support for those in ministry or faith-based roles experiencing burnout, moral injury, or role-related strain, with sensitivity to the unique pressures of these contexts.
Couples Therapy
Evidence-based couples therapy supporting communication, trust, and connection, tailored to each couple’s relational patterns, values, and goals.
About KylieHi, I’m Kylie Walls, a registered psychologist and the founder of Refuge Psychology.
My practice is shaped by extensive professional training, research, and experience working across education, community, and private practice settings. I work with adults experiencing a wide range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, relationship and communication difficulties, and challenges related to identity, belonging, and life transitions.
Alongside this broader work, I have developed a particular interest in supporting people affected by relational harm, coercive control, and domestic and family violence, as well as those navigating complex experiences within organisational or faith-based contexts. I have published research examining control, attachment, and emotional regulation, and have previously worked as a Domestic and Family Violence Advisor within a faith-based organisation, supporting safer and more informed responses to harm.
These experiences have shaped an approach that is evidence-based, culturally sensitive, and ethically focused — attentive to both individual experience and the wider relational and systemic contexts that influence wellbeing.
Areas of Interest
I offer support to adults who may be:
Managing general mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, stress, grief, or life transitions — whether or not these are connected to faith or ministry.
Navigating confusing, painful, or high-pressure experiences in church or ministry environments, including those recovering from spiritual abuse, coercion, or high-control faith settings, including cults.
Pastors, ministry leaders, and caregivers experiencing stress, burnout, role strain, or relational challenges within ministry or leadership roles.
Experiencing domestic and family violence, coercive control, or destructive relationship patterns — whether in intimate partnerships, family, community, or faith-based contexts.
Experiencing scrupulosity / Religious OCD or distress related to rigid or fear-based beliefs.
Facing workplace challenges, including bullying, power imbalances, role strain, or organisational conflict, and the emotional toll these experiences can create.
Couples seeking support around communication, connection, conflict patterns, recovery after relational harm, infidelity, or navigating values and expectations within relationships.
Inclusive and Client-Led Care
While I have a particular interest in supporting people from faith backgrounds, I welcome clients from all backgrounds. My focus is on providing compassionate, trauma-informed, and ethical psychological care that honours each person’s values, experiences, and goals for wellbeing.
This is a collaborative space, shaped by your needs and values.
“Over time, I’ve seen how mental health challenges, relational strain, experiences of harm or control, and pressures linked to work, caregiving, identity, or belief can deeply affect a person’s sense of self and connection. I approach each story with respect, thoughtfulness, and care, offering ethical, trauma-informed, and evidence-based psychological support.”
Kylie Walls, Refuge Psychology
My Approach is…
evidence basedSupport is grounded in well-established psychological research and clinical approaches shown to be effective, while remaining responsive to your needs and goals.
compassionateCare is offered with warmth, empathy, and respect, creating a safe space where you can be heard with understanding.
Trauma-informedTherapy recognises the impact of past and present trauma, prioritising your safety, choice, and sense of control throughout the process. Trauma-informed approaches are used.
respectful of your unique situation, beliefs and storySupport is tailored to your lived experience, values, and worldview, with sensitivity to cultural, spiritual, and personal contexts.
About Kylie Walls
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Qualifications
Registered Psychologist - Psychology Board of Australia
Registered Teacher (Qld)
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Education
Master of Psychological Practice, CSU
Master of Guidance & Counselling, QUT
Bachelor of Psychology, UNE
Bachelor of Ed/Bachelor of Music, UQ
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Associations
Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi)
International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST)
Christian Counsellors Association of Australia (CCAA)
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Additional Training
Individual Schema Therapy
Couples Schema Therapy
Gottman Couples Therapy
EMDR Therapy
Emotionally Focused Therapy
CBT, DBT, ERP
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Published Research
Investigated coercive control, attachment styles, emotion regulation, and shame in intimate relationships.
Journal of Family Violence
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Focus Areas / Special Interests
Mental health challenges · Relational and family difficulties · Domestic and family violence · Workplace stress and burnout · Recovery from harmful or high-control relationships and systems · Faith-based harm and spiritual abuse · Ministry-related stress and support · Scrupulosity (Religious OCD) · Couples therapy and relationship counselling
View the Lastest on the Refuge Psychology Blog
Fees, Rebates & Referral Information
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Individual Consultation - $225/session
Couples Therapy - $260/session
A $30 surcharge applies to out-of-hours appointments (after 5:00 weekdays, and all weekend appointments)
With a Mental Health Treatment Plan, a rebate of $98.95 is available for up to 10 appointments per calendar year for individual appointments. This cannot be used for couples therapy appointments.
Private Health Fund rebates may be available at the discretion of your fund.
I offer a limited number of reduced-fee places for clients with extenuating circumstances, but once these are filled I’m unable to take on more. If needed, you’re welcome to discuss this with me before your first session.
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A referral is not required. You are able to book appointments without a GP referral. However, you may be eligible for Medicare rebates with a GP Referral with a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
Medicare Rebates: $98.95 with a Mental Health Treatment Plan (for 10 appointments per calendar year).
Rebates for private health funds are available without a referral. Seek advice from your individual health fund before booking to confirm this.
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If you cancel your appointment after 8:00 AM the day before you appointment, or no-show, the following cancellation policy applies:
Grace pass: As I understand life happens, each client receives one late-cancellation waiver per calendar year, regardless of whether the slot is re-filled.
Any no-shows or late cancellations beyond the grace pass will incure a cancellation fee of $80.
Medicare, private health funds, and most third-party payers do not rebate cancellation fees.
Publications & Media
With All Due Respect
In this episode, psychologist Kylie Walls joins Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen for a conversation about coercive control, faith, and the misuse of power in Christian communities.
Drawing from her clinical work, Kylie explores how spiritual language and leadership structures can sometimes be used to jusitfy or conceal patterns or control.
the controlling church
Published Research on Coercive Control
Co-authored by psychologist Kylie Walls and colleagues, this peer-reviewed study examines how insecure attachment, emotion dysregulation, and shame contribute to controlling behaviours in intimate partnerships.
This is a helpful resource for researchers, clinicians, and those working to understand relational coercion.
Journal of family violence
Welcome to the blog for Refuge Psychology—a space for thoughtful reflection, education, and support around spiritual trauma, religious abuse, and the complexities of faith and mental health. Here you'll find insights from psychology, clinical experience, and research to help make sense of what happens when spiritual spaces become unsafe—and how healing is possible.
BlogVisit the Refuge Psychology Blog
Why Women Seeking Therapy is Framed as a Spiritual Problem, and Why That Needs Re-Examination: On a Recent Gospel Coalition Article. A critique by Kylie WallsArticle on WARD
A written response to a recent article published by The Gospel Coalition. My article, published in WADR Online, offers a critique of the way the original piece frames women seeking therapy as spiritually problematic.
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