Our Team
Gemma Ray
Accredited Mental Health Social Worker
Founder, Luma Therapeutic Services
Gemma is the kind of clinician people tend to find after they’ve already tried a few others. Not because she is hard to find, but because the work she does is genuinely specialist, and the people who need it usually know it when they see it.
As the founder of Luma Therapeutic Services, Gemma brings extensive experience across some of the most complex presentations in mental health. From early childhood through to adulthood, across community, inpatient, and now private settings too.
Gemma has spent her career in non-government and government organisations, including extensive work within a child and adolescent mental health service where she has managed severe and complex presentations spanning developmental trauma and PTSD, anxiety, depression, a range of eating, personality and mood disorders, and psychosis.
Gemma has a background working with adults experiencing mental health and addictions difficulties, and has experience facilitating both drug and alcohol psychoeducation groups, and an intensive DBT skills group for adolescents and their carers.
Clinical Expertise
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), including CBT-p (for Psychosis), and CBT-e (for Eating Disorders)
- Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Motivational Interviewing (MI)
- Family Based Treatment (FBT) for Eating Disorders
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) – Level 1, and Level 2
- Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
- Theraplay – Registered as a Foundational Practitioner with The Theraplay Institute
- Systemic Family Therapy
- Schema Therapy
Experience Across Presentations
- Anxiety and Depression
- PTSD and c-PTSD
- Eating Disorders (Anorexia, Bulimia, ARFID, and related presentations)
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and other personality difficulties
- Psychosis and Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD)
- Attachment and relational trauma
- Addictions and substance use
- Neurodivergence (ADHD, Autism, and related presentations)
- Gender diversity
Working with Gemma
Clients describe Gemma as warm, deeply insightful, and easy to connect with from the very first session. She brings a reflective, unhurried presence to her work, as well as a dry wit that tends to surface at the right moment! Colleagues seek Gemma out for her advanced clinical knowledge and describe her as one of those rare practitioners who is equally at home with complexity and with people.
Gemma does this work because she genuinely wakes up excited to do it. She believes in holding hope for people at the times they find that the hardest, in keeping some lightness alive when everything feels dark, and the quiet but significant power of real human connection.
Gemma is also available for speaking and presenting engagements across clinical, educational, and community settings, and provides clinical supervision to a range of practitioners.
Moose
Certified Clinical Therapy Dog
Professional Good Boy
Moose is a Golden Retriever who has, against all odds, managed to turn being an extremely good dog into an actual career. Moose takes his job very seriously, except for when he doesn’t, which is part of what makes him so effective!
Moose is certified via Therapy Dogs Australia to work alongside Gemma in facilitating evidence-based therapies.
Moose joins sessions where clinically appropriate to support clients who might find the idea of walking into a therapy room a little daunting. It turns out it’s quite hard to stay guarded when a large and enthusiastic dog is quietly resting his head on your knee. Researchers would call this “reduced psychological arousal”. Moose calls this “a Tuesday”.
Moose’s presence in sessions has been shown to lower anxiety, increase a sense of safety, support emotional regulation, and improve engagement. This is particularly helpful for children and young people, and for clients who find traditional therapeutic rapport harder to access.
Moose is gentle, quietly intuitive, and has an almost uncanny ability to find the person in the room who needs him most. He is, on occasion, completely goofy, which in the right moment might be the medicine you never knew you needed.
What Moose brings to sessions
- Reduced anxiety and physiological arousal – his presence can lower stress responses
- A sense of safety and non-judgement that is immediate and requires no explanation
- Increased engagement, particularly for children, young people, and clients with trauma histories
- Emotional regulation support through physical contact and co-regulation
- A genuinely excellent vibe
Moose is available in sessions at Gemma’s discretion and based on individual client suitability. Consent will be required from clients. Please note that he is very professional and will not accept bribes (although he will accept pats, teddies, and a gentle butt scratch).