Dr Candice James

Dr Candice James is a registered psychologist with a Doctor of Philosophy and a Master of Psychology in Educational and Developmental Psychology. She provides comprehensive assessments for children (from age 4), adolescents, and adults, including evaluations of cognitive functioning, attention difficulties, intellectual disability, specific learning disorders, and autism (as part of a multidisciplinary process). Her approach to assessment is holistic and collaborative, ensuring that findings are communicated with clarity and used to inform meaningful, individualised recommendations.

Dr James also offers counselling therapy and has experience supporting a broad range of educational, emotional, and behavioural concerns. These include school difficulties, study and performance anxiety, social and generalised anxiety, sleep problems, oppositional behaviour, bullying, school refusal, parenting support, gender identity concerns, sibling dynamics, and grief and loss. She also works with clients experiencing trauma, and challenges in emotional regulation, and has particular interest in neurodiversity, giftedness, and the developmentof personal insight and strengths.

Her clinical approach is integrative and developmentally informed, drawing on a wide range of evidence-based therapeutic modalities including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Clinical Mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and various Parenting models. She brings this same holistic lens to her assessment work, delivering comprehensive, person-centred evaluations that generate meaningful insights.

Dr James has worked in private practice and school settings, and her work is grounded in the belief that life-long learning and self-awareness are central to personal wellbeing. Dr James also brings a strong theoretical grounding in giftedness and talent development, including twice-exceptionality (2e), developed through her doctoral research and clinical experience. This foundation informs her work with neurodivergent individuals across the lifespan and enhances the team’s shared commitment to providing developmentally informed, evidence-based care. Her approach complements Optimind’s multidisciplinary services by offering nuanced insight into complex cognitive and psychosocial profiles, with a focus on supporting wellbeing, growth, and adaptive functioning in diverse learners and thinkers. Dr James works from a strengths-based framework and aims to help clients explore, understand, and cultivate their potential so they can move forward with clarity, confidence, and renewed emotional strength.