Dr Karen Gaunson

Dr Karen Gaunson is a highly qualified Consultant Psychiatrist specialising in adult, paediatric, and parent-infant psychiatry. With a compassionate and reassuring approach, she is dedicated to supporting individuals and families across all stages of life, from infancy through to parenthood. Dr Gaunson focuses on enhancing resilience, improving interpersonal connections, and promoting overall mental wellbeing. Her clinical practice is characterised by a holistic, strengths-based approach, where she works collaboratively with patients to address developmental difficulties, relationship-based distress, and common mental health conditions.

In her clinical work, Dr Gaunson provides expert care for a wide range of conditions, including anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She has a particular interest in trauma-informed psychotherapy, complex trauma, and the treatment of personality disorders. Her therapeutic interventions are tailored to the unique needs of each patient, drawing from evidence-based modalities such as mentalisation-based therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, and family therapy. Additionally, Dr Gaunson is highly experienced in conducting independent medical examinations and providing expert medico-legal consultations for civil, family law, and child protective proceedings.

Dr Gaunson completed her undergraduate medical degree on the Dean's Honours List at the University of Melbourne in 1994. She subsequently obtained a Master of Psychiatry from the same institution. She was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) in 2003 and completed advanced training in child and adolescent psychiatry in 2004. Dr Gaunson is an active member of the professional community, serving on the Victoria Branch of the RANZCP Faculty of Child Psychiatry committee and the RANZCP Binational Family Violence Network Committee. She is also accredited to perform impairment assessments.