David Zimmerman

Dr David Zimmerman is a Clinical Psychologist and Co-Director of Minds & Hearts, with specialist expertise in neurodevelopmental presentations across the lifespan. He works with neurodivergent individuals and their families from childhood through to adulthood, supporting them to understand complex developmental experiences and how early environments, relationships, and context shape emotional wellbeing, identity, and functioning over time.

David has extensive experience in psychological assessment and works with individuals and families whose presentations involve the interaction of neurodevelopmental differences, anxiety, trauma, mood difficulties, and identity development. A key focus of his work is helping people better understand themselves through careful assessment and developmental formulation, particularly where experiences have evolved over time. Rather than relying solely on diagnostic labels, he focuses on identifying underlying developmental pathways and patterns, and frequently works with people for whom previous assessments or interventions have not fully captured their lived experience.

A central feature of David’s work is careful listening and collaborative formulation. His approach is developmentally informed and trauma-aware, with an appreciation of how family environments, attachment relationships, and broader belief systems can be experienced as both protective and harmful. He has worked with individuals and families shaped by rigid or highly punitive belief frameworks, supporting clients who are seeking either to step away from these influences or to integrate personal values and faith in psychologically safe and self-directed ways. His work often involves supporting meaning-making, identity development, and the navigation of tensions between autonomy and loyalty following developmental trauma.

David’s clinical practice is primarily informed by Schema Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). He has particular expertise in trauma and attachment-related difficulties and integrates Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) where appropriate to work with overwhelming or adverse experiences. His work is guided by each person’s developmental history, neurocognitive profile, relational patterns, and broader cultural and contextual factors.

His work with ADHD and autism is guided by careful clinical judgement about when understanding, accommodation, and self-compassion are required, and when individuals are ready to be supported through gentle, structured skill development.

David holds a PhD from Griffith University, awarded with the Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship. His doctoral research focused on mental health outcomes for autistic adults, and his work has been presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. His clinical practice has been shaped by formative mentorship from Professor Tony Attwood and Dr Michelle Garnett, whose work in autism has strongly influenced his approach to neurodevelopmental formulation and Schema Therapy informed practice.

Complementing his clinical and academic roles, David serves on the Board of Directors for Alta-1 College Queensland, contributing to governance and strategic leadership within a therapeutic and community-oriented education context. In addition to clinical work, David is a board-approved supervisor and provides supervision, consultation, and professional development to psychologists and other clinicians, including the supervision of provisional psychologists completing Clinical Masters programs.

David has limited availability for ongoing therapy. He is available for diagnostic assessments, clinical supervision, professional consultation, and one-off sessions to provide clinical opinion on assessment findings, diagnosis, and treatment planning.