Dr. Alysha-leigh Fameli
Senior Lecturer, Psychology
Contact
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Biography
Dr Alysha‑leigh Fameli is a senior lecturer in Psychology in the Master of Professional Psychology and Master of Clinical Psychology post-graduate courses at Federation University. She has over a decade of experience working as a registered psychologist. Her research and clinical focus span perinatal mental health, psychological birth trauma and mother-infant relationship outcomes, building the evidence needed to recognise and respond to childbirth‑related PTSD (CB‑PTSD) in Australian settings. Alysha supports the development of early career psychologists through teaching and clinical supervision.
Alysha completed her PhD in childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder and the mother-infant relationship at the University of Sydney. She provided expert evidence to policymakers (NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma; written submission and oral evidence on 8 April 2024), translating empirical findings into system‑level recommendations for care and mental health support in the perinatal period. Furthermore, Alysha contributes to living national guidance as a Postnatal Panel member for the Australian Government‑funded LEAPP guidelines (Australian Living Evidence Collaboration, Monash), supporting rapid, evidence‑based recommendations across pregnancy and the postnatal period.
More about Alysha-leigh
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Psychology (Hons), Wollongong University
- Postgraduate Diploma of Professional Psychology, Wollongong University
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
Areas of interest
- Child development
- Adverse life experiences
- Parenting
- Perinatal mental health
- Birth trauma
- Child and adolescent mental health
Grants
- Norton, A., et al., (2026) Mental Health Begins at Birth: Improving Dyadic Synchrony and Child Mental Health Trajectories by Addressing Childbirth-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Australian Rotary Health ($99,506)
Awards
- 2025: Paulette Isabel Jones Career Award, University of Sydney.
Current
- PhD student, Federation University, ‘Relationship Between Familial Trauma During Pregnancy and Childhood Anxiety and Fetal Growth: A Biopsychosocial Perspective’, associate supervisor.
- Child and adolescent psychopathology
- Adult psychopathology
Conference presentations
- Fameli, A. (2023, June 8). Assessment of childbirth related post-traumatic stress disorder in Australian mothers – Psychometric properties of the City Birth Trauma Scale (Conference Presentation). Western NSW Local Health District ‘First 2000 Days Conference’, Dubbo, NSW, Australia.
- Fameli, A. (2023, November 13). Assessment of childbirth related post-traumatic stress disorder in Australian mothers – Psychometric properties of the City Birth Trauma Scale (Conference Presentation). Tresillian ‘First 1000 days conference’, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
- Fameli, A. (2024, March 22). The birth of a mother: the ripple effect of traumatic childbirth experiences (Conference Presentation). Australian Association of Psychologists Incorporated 2024 Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Fameli, A. (2025, August). Risk for childbirth-related PTSD among mothers with adverse childhood experiences:
- Do the type and timing of adversity matter? Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology 45th Annual conference, Liverpool, UK.
Other presentations
- Presented evidence at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma (Monday 8 April, 2024).
Peer-review for scholarly journals
- BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2024)
- Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology (2025)
Collaborative Evaluation and Research Centre (CERC)
- Publications
Childbirth-Related Behavioral and Psychological Changes: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Following Adverse Childbirth Experiences
- Book Chapters
- DOI reference: 10.1007/978-3-031-73363-5_105