Deisy’s training and experience spans over 25 years. Initially trained as an educator, and after completing social work and psychology studies, she then trained as a Family Therapist. She completed her Masters of Family Therapy at the University of Queensland and initiated her PhD studies at Notre Dame University. Curious about clinical immersion in different contexts and with different cultures, she conducted further training in different countries, including a 6 month immersive internship at the Accademia di Psicoterapia della Famiglia in Rome in 2011.

Deisy has worked within government, non-government and private sectors across diverse fields including mental health, justice, drug and alcohol, bereavement and palliative care, brain injury, women’s issues, and sexual and reproductive health. She has worked extensively with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. She has held senior clinical roles as well as managed large allied-health teams, in addition to providing clinical supervision and consultation services to individual practitioners and clinical teams.

Deisy has served on professional boards. She served as Chair of the Editorial Board Australian New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (ANZJFT). She is Editorial Advisor on the Journal for Multicultural Education and is current Editor of the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy: Dialogues & Interviews.

Deisy has presented at national and international Conferences and is a published author, with single authored-papers and collaborated works across disciplines and contexts. Her main area of interest is working across cultures. She focuses on decolonising and de-stigmatising approaches and highlights the importance of polyphonic cultural voices and staying attuned to multiple distinct voices co-existing within a society, instead of a single dominant mono-narrative.