​Sue O’Callaghan is an international speaker, trauma therapist, clinical supervisor and educator specialising in human behaviour, trauma, ADHD and emotional regulation.

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With more than 35 years’ experience, Sue has worked across education, mental health, justice and community settings in the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. 

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She has delivered over 20,000 therapy sessions, supervision sessions and professional consultations, working with teenagers, adults, couples, families, therapists, schools and organisations.

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Sue is:

• Founder of Teenage Toolbox

• Founder of The Trauma Foundation NZ

• An international speaker, trauma therapist and educator

• A clinical supervisor

• A specialist in trauma, Complex PTSD, attachment, ADHD and emotional regulation

• Author of TAKEN

• Co-author of Hate Myself, Hate My Life: A Teen Guide to Self-Confidence, now held in more than two-thirds of New Zealand secondary school libraries

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Her experience includes working in maximum-security prisons, private practice, schools and community settings. She provides individual and couples therapy, parent support, clinical supervision, professional training, consultancy and keynote speaking.

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An Integrated Therapeutic Approach

Sue's work extends beyond the pathologising of behaviour and medicating of symptoms, to understanding the cause of suffering, behaviour and dysregulation.

Through compassionately understanding the lived experience of her clients, she has high success rates with ADHD, self-harm, addiction and many mental health 'disorders' and 'diagnoses'.  Her ability to connect deeply, listen without judgement and recognise what is happening beneath the surface sits at the heart of her work.

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Her clinical practice explores how trauma, attachment, neurobiology, stress, sensory sensitivity and the nervous system shape the way people feel, behave and relate to others.

She draws on neuroscience, attachment science, Polyvagal Theory, Internal Family Systems, somatic therapies, Relational Life Therapy, Compassionate Inquiry, restorative justice, sensory modulation and somatic expressive therapies.

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Why This Work Is Personal

Sue grew up as a highly sensitive child with undiagnosed ADHD. She understands the overwhelm, intensity and emotional dysregulation that can come from living in a world that does not understand you.

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Losing her mother during her formative years also shaped her understanding of grief, survival and the hidden ways trauma can live within the body and nervous system.

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Later, during one of the most traumatic periods of her adult life, Sue became frustrated by systems that offered diagnosis, medication and talk therapy, but little practical help to release trauma, restore safety or help a dysregulated nervous system recover.

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Discovering innovative trauma therapy in the Priory Hospital in London in 2003 changed the course of her life. It restored her sense of autonomy, connection and hope and became the foundation of the work she offers today.

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Sue founded Teenage Toolbox in 2013 because she wanted young people and families to receive practical, integrated and deeply compassionate support that reaches beyond symptoms to understand the source of distress.

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Her work brings together exceptional professional experience and genuine personal understanding. 

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“Lasting change begins when shame, judgement and blame are replaced with safety, understanding and connection.”

— Sue O’Callaghan

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