![]() Sharon Cooke works as a Parent-Infant Therapist specializing in supporting parents and infants from pregnancy to two years old. She also offers professional training, reflective supervision, and facilitates reflective groups and retreats. Originally trained in midwifery and child & community health, Sharon honed her relationship-focussed approach in place-based home-visiting, with a special interest in teen parents. Unable to meet the deep need of those effected by trauma and troubled intergenerational relational dynamics she sought alternatives, studying ontological coaching and group work, undertaking a two-year US training process in the facilitation of reflective groups.
Her fascination in attachment dynamics led her to further study, including a Master of Perinatal and Infant Mental Health and Diploma in Psychodynamic Parent-Infant Therapy OXPIP UK. In 2012, Sharon facilitated her first parent-infant group and has since logged over 1000 supervised hours in reflective, relationship-focussed parent-infant groups. Sharon was the lead researcher in two preliminary studies evaluating Mother-Baby Nurture and has been instrumental in growing the government grant-funded group program, which is now available free to families in 12 communities across Western Australia. Sharon is captivated by the relational dance between the parent and infant, and the way past patterns of relating within family are passed forward yet rarely recognised or talked about. Her preferred place of work is beside the parent-infant dyad as they begin to notice and gradually find their rhythm. Diploma in Parent-Infant Therapy (Oxpip UK) Master of Perinatal and Infant Mental Health B.Sc (Nursing) Post Grad (Midwifery, Child & Community Health) Diploma Professional Coaching, GAICD Registered provider Circle of Security, Courage & Renewal ![]() Caroline Winchester Caroline is a Clinical Psychologist based in Western Australia, with a career rooted in a deep commitment to understanding and supporting the human experience. After completing her undergraduate studies in the UK in 1991, she trained as a Clinical Psychologist here in WA, where she has since developed extensive experience working with adults across the lifespan. Her professional journey has seen her work in both community and government mental health settings, helping individuals navigate a range of challenges that often trace their origins back to early relational difficulties.
Caroline’s interest in perinatal mental health emerged from her appreciation of the profound developmental impact of early life experiences. She has a particular passion for helping infants and their caregivers build strong, healthy connections, guiding them through the complex yet critical journey of early parenting. Driven by a curiosity and enthusiasm for psychoanalytic theory, Caroline undertook infant observation training in 2016. This experience deepened her understanding of the unconscious forces that shape our lives, inspiring her ongoing involvement with the Australian Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association of WA, where she has been a training candidate since 2019. Her work is rooted in an appreciation of the powerful interplay between conscious and unconscious processes, which continues to fuel her own learning and development. Much like parenthood itself, she sees this journey as rich, dynamic, and never fully complete. Caroline now divides her time between her work at the FSH Mother Baby Unit in the public sector and her private practice in South Fremantle, where she continues to nurture her commitment to supporting individuals and families through some of life’s most vulnerable and formative moments. MSc Clinical Psychology |
![]() Elaine Cumber holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is experienced in working with children, young people and adults with histories of trauma and neglect having worked in mental health services in both Australia and the UK. Her interest in perinatal and infant mental health grew out of an appreciation of the vital importance of early relational experiences in shaping the developing child’s sense of self and capacity to trust in others, as well as the impact of maternal mental health on the developing parent-infant relationship. Elaine had the privilege of working as a MBN facilitator for a number of years, offering a safe and supportive space for mothers and their infants in the early formative months. She has experience working in public and NGO perinatal services (including KEMH Mother Baby Unit) and her current roles include providing a clinical psychology service within the Women and Newborns Health Service as well as within her private practice in Subiaco.
Elaine offers reflective supervision to MBN facilitators, valuing the opportunity to support others in the work they do. She is a Board Approved Supervisor with the Psychology Board of Australia and has experience supervising students, early career and experienced mental health professionals. D.Clin.Psychol; Edinburgh University, Scotland MA(Hons) Psychology; University of Glasgow, Scotland ![]() Frances Thomson-Salo Ll.B., PhD
Frances trained in the United Kingdom and is a member of the British Psychoanalytical Society and Australian Psychoanalytical Association as an adult and child psychoanalyst. She was a senior child psychotherapist at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne for 30 years, specialising in infant mental health, and was the Infant Mental Health Consultant at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne for over a decade. She has taught over 45 infant observation seminar courses as well as clinical and theoretical courses on the University of Melbourne Grad Dip/Masters of Infant Mental Health for 16 years. She has published over 30 articles and edited/ co-edited 12 books on child psychoanalysis and infant mental health, including Infant Observation (2014, Karnac) and Engaging Infants (2018 Karnac). |