Board of Directors
Paul Potgieter
PRESIDENT
Grad Dip (Psych) BA(Hons) Semitic Languages BD M(Prof) Studies
Paul Potgieter is a Senior Psychologist at Nutricula Psychology, providing psychological services to private clients, and the resources industry. He has over 20 years’ experience in dealing and treating people who have experienced different forms of mental illness and trauma. He specialises in couples and relationship counselling and training. He recently received international recognition for his research in the connection between neuroscience and safety at work.
He holds a Post Grad Dip in Psychology, an honours degree in Semitic Languages and a Masters degree in business.
Paul is a member of the Australian Psychological Society and the International Association of Applied Neuroscience.
Warwick Brown
SECRETARY
Warwick is passionate about health psychology and supporting those who have been impacted by injury and trauma to return to healthy contributors of their community.
His extensive experience within workplace rehabilitation, complex trauma, and business management provides Warwick with a depth of experience and an understanding of the challenges and desires of employers and workers alike.
Warwick became the Director of At Work OH&S in 2003 and takes pride in supporting the business community with healthy, safe and happy work environments.
His valuable contributions to the people he supports covers a breadth of circumstances – from same to new employer return to work management, psychological and physical claims, as well as psychological services.
Jan Sky
TREASURER
Jan Sky is a graduate of Neuroscience who uses applied brain capacity techniques in therapy to bring about understanding and desired changes to behaviours. As a Neuropsychotherapist and Director of Sky Training Pty Ltd, she uses neuroscience as a foundation for coaching, counselling and clinical hypnotherapy. Her specialties are in trauma, depression, stress and anxiety.
Jan is recognized internationally for her work in brain potential and change and for creating the ESI (Executive State Identification) Mapping tool that maps the social neural network of the brain. Using ESI and hypnotherapy works as an amazing combination of interventions. She is the author of the successful book ‘The Many Parts of You, Understanding the puzzle of your behaviour”.
Located on Gold Coast, Australia she is also passionate about supporting leaders in the workplace and recently developed the training and coaching program Brain Potential, Leadership powered by neuroscience. This program is delivered online and highlights the correlation between brain activity and behaviour. It educates leaders in an understanding of brain function and associated behaviours for a far greater understanding of themselves and their team members for improved workplace collaboration, cohesion and increased productivity.
As a speaker, her clarity and unique style expand audiences’ understanding of emotional and intellectual opportunities using neuroscience as a foundation. She has presented and taught in Finland, Netherlands, India, Asia, USA, New Zealand and her homeland, Australia.
Joseph Riordan
BOARD MEMBER
Joseph has been a Clinical Psychologist in private practice in south-east Queensland since 1995 specialising in the treatment of trauma and attachment. Joseph has an enduring interest in the neuroscience of interpersonal relationships and the impact of trauma on attachment bonds. Publishing several articles in the field of Attachment Traumatology and presenting his work in neuroscience conferences, Joseph continues to research and explore unique solutions to resolve trauma in relationships. Joseph as a new board member has undertaken to support the IAAN neuroscience training program. He looks forward to advancing all applications of neuroscience in IAAN in the training support team.
Philippa Cable
BOARD MEMBER
Philippa is a distinguished business leader with a career spanning over 25 years, across the education, health, and not-for-profit sectors. Armed with an MBA and a Graduate Diploma in Public Health she brings a unique blend of academic rigor and practical acumen to her roles.
Her commitment to continual growth has seen her pursue board qualifications from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Philippa’s expertise further extends into the realm of neuroscience and human behaviour, where she is an accredited practitioner in diagnostic tools that foster the development of new neural pathways and constructive change.
Philippa’s distinctive talent lies in her ability to merge empathy and analytical prowess. This enables her to delve into the human dimension of business while aligning it seamlessly with corporate strategic imperatives, thereby facilitating safe and effective change processes.
Her passion revolves around female health and well-being. She is unwavering in her commitment to building resilient communities by advocating for accessible health and well-being services that remove stigma and social discrimination. Beyond her responsibilities of supporting businesses, she also holds the position of CEO at RestoreHER, an organisation dedicated to providing tailored biopsychosocial programs for women grappling with grief, loss, trauma, or adjustment disorders.
Louise MacKenzie
BOARD MEMBER
Louise has been working in the care professions for approximately 20 years and is the Director of Waves of Change Counselling and Neuropsychotherapy in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Louise holds a Bachelor of Counselling and completed the Clinical Neuropsychotherapy Practitioner Training in Brisbane in 2017, which Louise subsequently had an essay published in. Louise has a varied history of working in both counselling and social work fields in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia and South Africa.
Louise is passionate about working with children, young people and their families who have experienced complex trauma, sexual abuse, suicidal ideation, bullying, anxiety, depression, grief & loss and self-esteem issues. Louise has a gentle, respectful client-centred approach, which holds people’s dignity and wellbeing at the forefront of the interventions, whilst advocating strongly against social justice issues that are present in the world of her clients.
Louise works from a pluralistic approach and enjoys using Narrative Therapy, Interactive Drawing Therapy, Sand Tray Therapy whilst using the basis of Neuropsychotherapy in all interventions.
Louise has also volunteered working with street children in Africa and projects in New Zealand.
Louise is a Certified Member of the IAAN, NZAC (New Zealand Association of Counsellors) and ANZASW (Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers) and is also a Certified Essential Oils Specialist with DoTERRA.
Jenny Venter
BOARD MEMBER/ MANAGING EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED NEUROSCIENCES (JAN)
Jenny is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa as an Industrial psychologist and lectures on psychological adjustment and wellness in the work context at the department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the University of South Africa. She supervises post-graduate students within the focus area of Organisational Neurosciences. She currently serves on the steering committee of the Applied Organisational Neurosciences Interest Group of SIOPSA (Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology of South Africa) and served as a member of the Strategic Task Team of the Coaching and Mentoring committee of the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) for 6 years. She has 19 years’ consulting experience in various areas including HR information technology and practices, organisation development and coaching. She is currently completing her PhD, with a focus on applied neurosciences. Jenny is a Certified Resilience Coach (CReC) and certified Level 2 BWRT ® (Brainworks Recursive Therapy) practitioner. She also serves on the Academic Advisory Board of Kinetic Leadership Institute (Pty Ltd).
Dirk Geldenhuys
BOARD MEMBER
Dirk is a registered psychologist with the New Zealand Psychologist Board and the Health Professions Council of South Africa. He has been working as a professor in the field of organizational psychology, change management, group facilitation,counselling and coaching for 26 years. Since 2014, his focus has been on applyingneuroscientific research findings, more specifically neuropsychotherapy, to this field.While still supervising PhD students, he is in private practice in New Zealand.He was trained in and obtained extensive experience in group facilitation (NTL –USA), systems-psychodynamic group relations training (Tavistock Institute – UK;Bayswater Institute – UK & AK Rice Leadership Institute – USA), appreciative inquiry (NTL – USA; David Cooperrider – USA), socio-constructionism (TAOS Institute –USA), and narrative therapy (Zimmerman). He is also a registered Brain Working Recursive Therapy (level 2) practitioner.
Vacancy
Board Member
If you would like to nominate as a Board Member, you first must ensure you are a current member of the IAAN. Then, please send a brief one page letter of introduction providing your reasons for wishing to become a Board Member to office@iaan.com.au