Dr Sophia franks
B. Bus, B, Arts, G. Dip, M. Psy (Clin), PhD
clinical psychologist, Single expert witness
Dr Franks is an experienced clinical psychologist specialising in parent-infant, child, adolescent and adult mental health. She takes a child-focused and systems approach, considering the trajectory of children’s development during separation and changes in families. Dr Franks provides specialised assessments for children, parents and families involved in Family Court, Child Protection, and the Children’s Court.
Dr Franks is a Clinical Psychologist who has spent the last 26 years working with children and their families during adversity and transitions with complex needs. She has been practising as a psychologist for the last twenty-three years, is endorsed clinically with AHPRAH, and has been a member of the Clinical College for the last twelve years and Fellow of the A
Dr Franks has worked in the public and private sectors in Child and Adolescent, Perinatal and Adult Psychiatry. Dr Franks completed her PhD in the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain (Royal Children’s Hospital), Melbourne, whilst working as a Senior Psychologist and was awarded a Murdoch Institute grant for her research. She has a special interest in parent-infant mental health and spent three years completing infant observation. and worked as the Senior Psychologist at Mercy Hospital for Women, Psychiatry Department, Melbourne, assisting high-risk parents and their infants, young mothers, premature babies and drug-dependent mothers/ babies and parents with cumulative trauma.
Dr Franks is an accredited supervisor with the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and has trained postgraduate university students in Queensland and Victoria and clinically at the Children’s Court Clinic, Melbourne.
Dr Franks is also a member of the AFCC and Pacifica Congress, Australian New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. She takes a systems approach and works with Independent Children’s Lawyers in the Federal and Family Court of Australia and in Children’s Court proceedings. Dr Franks is a Single Expert Witness and has worked on Magellan matters on the Evatt list, and complex reunification matters. Dr Franks provides mental health assessments for parents and children to assist the Court with specific questions relating to parenting capacity or in light of children having special needs, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), adjustment issues or trauma.
As a clinician, therapist and court expert, Dr Franks works with parents, children, and families to support their mental health and functioning during separation and Family Court proceedings; to promote relational security in children’s development and adaptive functioning through comprehensive assessment, early intervention and thoughtful steps and resourcing families to minimise stress and adversity in children and their parents.