Our People
We're proud of our team at the Triple P Centre. Our experienced psychologists are specialists in parenting support, and child and family therapy. We'll work with you to tailor the approach that suits you best.
Jackie Riach:
Dip Teaching, M.A, Dip Ed Psych, MNZPSS
Jackie leads the Triple P New Zealand team. She is a registered psychologist who specialises in working with children, adolescents and their families.
Jackie has worked in a range of public and and private settings both in NZ and internationally. She has extensive skill and experience working with children, adolescents and families to assist them to find positive solutions to manage social- emotional functioning and challenging behaviours. She provides consultation as well as individual therapy to children, adolescents and parents.
Jackie’s areas of special interests are: Complex and challenging behaviour, parental separation, family relationships and anxiety.
Jackie is a registered psychologist. She is an accredited Triple P Trainer and an accredited Triple P Provider. Jackie is a certified provider of the Secret Agent Social Skills Program (SAS) for children on the Autistic Spectrum.
Michelle Melville-Smith:
B.A, M.A (Hons), MNZPS.
Michelle is highly skilled in consulting on child behavioural, social and emotional issues and working effectively with parents on strategies to cope with these issues.
Michelle is experienced in working with separated parents to assist them to develop communication tools with each other and help them to understand the needs of their children.
Michelle works directly with children providing counselling on issues including anger management, social skills, coping with anxiety, and dealing with divorce and separation.
Other areas Michelle works in are couples counselling, supporting people to become more aware of how they can enhance their relationship, and professional supervision on matters in relation to child and family issues.
She is a registered psychologist, a member of the New Zealand Psychological Society, an accredited Triple P practitioner and Triple P trainer for over 20 years (Trainer of the Year, 2007).
Michelle has trained a number of professionals working with families in the Triple P program throughout New Zealand and internationally. She is currently Deputy head of training for New Zealand.
Sally Rugg:
M.A (Hons), Dip Clin Psych
For over 25 years, Sally has worked with families and children, with diverse backgrounds, providing psychological support and therapy.
She has extensive experience providing parenting support to at risk whanau with complex needs.
Sally’s areas of special interest include working with parents or neurodiverse children who may have had a diagnosis of ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
She works alongside parents whose children have emotional and behavioural regulation challenges. This can include one on one therapy with Tamariki and Rangatahi.
Sally is a registered clinical psychologist and an accredited Triple P practitioner.
Lucy Rowe
Lucy provides support across the Triple P New Zealand team including Training Coordination (Nationally) and Clinic Administration (Epsom, Auckland).
Lucy is passionate about people and will likely be the first person you interact with when you contact Triple P New Zealand.
Lucy has a degree in Communications.
Laura Beattie
Laura is an accredited Standard Triple P Practitioner and provides administrative support to the Triple P team in Epsom. She has over 16 years’ experience delivering a range of parenting support programs for various social sector providers.