Charles Thermos – Director & Principal Psychologist

Charles Thermos is the founder, director and principal psychologist of Transformative Psychology (TP). He has been a registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia since 1996. His is an endorsed counselling psychologist and approved supervisor with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). He is also a counsellor, couple and family therapist, coach, educator, group facilitator and organisational consultant.

He is committed to inspiring and helping people to willingly awaken, develop and transform their lives.

He tailors his approach to the unique needs, aspirations, goals and temperament of each person, recognising each person’s individuality and helping them create meaningful lives, which are guided by their values and preferences. He creates a safe, respectful and supportive environment for this process. He values and respects people’s humanity, human diversity and the variety of ways in which people experience their lives.

Charles has worked in a variety of people and professional practice settings, including private psychiatric hospitals; a major public health service; a university; community-based organisations; management positions; and, schools. He was employed in a major public health service for over 10 years in senior organisational development and learning and development consultant roles. Presently he continues to work as a counselling psychologist in private practice, he provides programs and services to organisations, and he works as a group therapist in a private psychiatric hospital.

Charles brings many years of experience to supporting individuals, couples and families to lead lives aligned with their values, as well as to helping leaders and staff to develop their people capabilities and to work towards achieving their objectives and priorities. He has been involved in a range of organisational change initiatives. His experience includes facilitating and managing critical incidents, facilitating peer support programs and providing Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

He enjoys designing and facilitating group learning programs in hospital, organisational and community settings. These programs support people to develop capacities and strategies that enable them to engage with their lives more meaningfully and fully, or to perform their professional roles more skilfully and confidently.

He provides supervision to registered psychologists and other health professionals, and coaching to executives, leaders, other professionals and individuals.

Prior to becoming a psychologist he worked as a secondary teacher.

Charles has a strong interest and extensive experience and training in mindfulness-based interventions including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), including practitioner training in ACT and teacher training in MBSR and MBCT, as well as with interventions from the Positive Psychology tradition.

Charles continues to participate in professional supervision, peer consultation and relevant conferences as part of his commitment to continuing professional development and ethical psychological practice.

Charles’ commitment to his own transformation practice is an integral part of his life through daily meditation, contemplative practices, reflection, reading, journaling, lifelong learning, and being in nature. He has participated in his own process of psychotherapy.

He is interested in universal truths and insights from the wisdom, faith, contemplative and scientific traditions, reading widely across these domains. He is committed to experiencing the sacred in everyday life. He is interested in practices that contribute positively to health and wellness. He is committed to the gradual alleviation of human suffering and to what contributes to human flourishing.

Charles enjoys the delights of life, including socialising and eating with friends and family, travelling to and experiencing interesting places and cultures, cafes, reading, painting, exercising, cinema, theatre, dance performances and lifelong learning.