About
Dr Bruce Walmsley
Clinical Psychologist | Founder
Welcome, I’m Bruce!
So what makes my heart sing? “Seeing people live fully — with joy and contentment, true to themselves, finding opportunities for new meaning, purpose, and direction after adversity — all their life.”
My passion for inclusion, empowerment, and growth as we age, for LGBTQIA+ communities and life explorers, is backed by 15 years’ clinical-research-teaching experiences at:
Victoria University, Melbourne
NSW Health’s Specialist Mental Health Service for Older People
Dementia Support Australia
HammondCare’s Dementia Centre and Centre for Positive Ageing
NSW LGBTQIA+ Counselling Service
My personal experiences — as a gay man, carer son, life explorer, and now a dad — bring sensitivity and insight to my practice, helping clients feel genuinely heard and understood.
Qualifications
6 years full-time university training in psychology, including a Master of Clinical Psychology.
2 years full-time clinical endorsement at NSW Health’s Specialist Mental Health Service for Older People.
3 years full-time PhD exploring stigma, traumatic loss, psychological growth, and relational bonds in families living with dementia and the healthcare professionals who support alongside.
Endorsements
Registered Clinical Psychologist, AHPRA PsyBA: PSY0001523710
Endorsed Supervisor, AHPRA PsyBA
Member, Australian Psychological Society and College of Clinical Psychologists
Provisional Member, Australian New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association
Medicare Provider
Selected publications
Walmsley, B. D., Poulos, C. J., & Poulos, R. G. (2022). Arts on prescription for older people: The professional-artist’s facilitation of psychological-wellbeing. Journal of Ageing & Social Change. 12(1). 103-118. https://doi.org./10.18848/2576-5310/cgp/v12i01/103-118
Walmsley, B. D., & McCormack, L. (2018). Dementia: Aloneness, social and relational engagement, and psychological growth in families. OBM Geriatrics, 2(4), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.geriatr.1804013
McCormack, L., Tillock, K., & Walmsley, B. D. (2017). Holding on while letting go: Trauma and growth on the pathway of dementia care in families. Ageing & Mental Health, 21(6), 658–667. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2016.1146872
Walmsley, B. D. & McCormack, L. (2016). Synthesis of meaning: Negative and positive change in family members following the adversity of dementia. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 56(2), 122–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167814557547