Research & Publications
My research and writing sit at the intersection of clinical psychology, public mental health, supervision, service development and relational theory.
A central thread across my work is the idea of scaffolding: how people, clinicians and services rely on external structures — relationships, roles, routines, protocols, supervision, institutions and systems — to support regulation, identity, safety, functioning, decision-making and therapeutic action.
Some of my work is conceptual and theory-building. Some is practice-based and grows directly from public mental health settings, where clinical care has to remain thoughtful, ethical and humane within real-world constraints.
Research interests
My current research interests include:
- interpersonal and psychological scaffolding
- therapist regulation, treatment structure and clinical presence
- clinical supervision, reflective practice and supervisee safety
- public mental health service development and quality improvement
- brief intervention, access pathways and waitlist management
- chronic illness, identity and the transition to motherhood
- academic identity, authorship and generative AI
- culturally responsive access to psychological care
Current doctoral research
I am currently completing a part-time PhD in Psychology at Federation University Australia.
My doctoral research is a scoping review examining the experiences and challenges of women with chronic physical health conditions during the transition to motherhood. This project reflects my broader interest in how health, identity, care systems, relationships and lived experience intersect during major life transitions.
Current and recent projects
My recent projects include conceptual, qualitative and service-based work across several areas:
Interpersonal Scaffold Theory
A developmental framework for understanding how some forms of relational functioning may depend on external structures such as roles, rituals, institutions, procedures or treatment frames.
The Clinician’s Scaffold
A conceptual model proposing that manualised protocols and structured treatment frameworks may support not only the client, but also the therapist’s regulation, confidence, presence and capacity for co-regulation.
Supervision and training tools
Work focused on clinical supervision, including tools for bridging formulation to intervention, calibrating supervisor self-reflection, and recognising early warning signs in unsafe or harmful supervision.
Public mental health service development
Quality improvement and evaluation work related to counselling access, single-session therapy, waitlist management, and interim clinical frameworks for maintaining safe care during service disruption.
Academic identity and generative AI
An independent qualitative study exploring how higher degree research students experience authorship, learning, competence and academic identity in the age of generative AI.
Publications
Ovlachi, A. (2026). Single-session therapy as a counselling waitlist management strategy in a public health service: A brief quality improvement evaluation. Australasian Psychiatry.
https://doi.org/10.1177/10398562261465222
Ovlachi, A. (2026). Interpersonal Scaffold Theory: A developmental framework for understanding scaffold-dependent functioning in human connection. MultiPsych.
https://doi.org/10.1002/mps2.70017
Ovlachi, A. (2026). The clinician’s scaffold: Manualised protocols as regulatory tools for therapist presence and co-regulation. Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia. https://doi.org/10.59158/001c.171849
Manuscripts under review and in development
I have additional manuscripts under review and in development exploring interpersonal scaffolding, borderline personality presentations, supervision, therapist support, clinical reasoning, hypnotherapy, service development and the role of external structures in psychological functioning.
Across these projects, my aim is to develop ideas that are clinically useful, ethically grounded, accessible to practitioners, and open to empirical testing and refinement.
