Dr Daphne Bryan

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Dr Daphne Bryan

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Dr Daphne Bryan is a registered Clinical Psychologist working at the OCD Clinic in Brisbane.

She works primarily with adults suffering from anxiety disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD), Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder), and Skin Picking

22/09/2026

And that’s a wrap on a whirlwind APS Clinical Conference in Hobart!

We had such a great few days connecting with clinicians who share our passion for understanding and treating OCD — swapping ideas, talking all things OCD, and hearing about the incredible work happening across the field.

It was also very special to finally share the OCD Training Institute and introduce DEFINE, our new online OCD training program for clinicians. After so much work behind the scenes, being able to talk about it in person and see the response was a pretty amazing way to launch this next chapter.

We’re heading home tired, grateful and very excited for what’s ahead.

DEFINE launches at the end of 2026.

18/09/2026

We’re so proud to officially launch the OCD Training Institute (OCDTI) today! 🎉
OCDTI is the training arm of OCD Clinic Brisbane , created with a clear goal: to train clinicians worldwide in evidence-based treatment for OCD.
At the end of 2026, we’ll be launching DEFINE — our online OCD training program.
Developed by clinicians, for clinicians, DEFINE brings together more than 15 years of therapeutic work by Dr Emily O’Leary and myself. It’s grounded in research, shaped by real clinical practice, and designed to give clinicians a practical, transdiagnostic approach to understanding and treating OCD.
DEFINE will include a self-paced online training program, clinical video excerpts and a comprehensive resource handbook with practical tools clinicians can take straight into their work.

We’ve had such a brilliant first day at the APS College of Clinical Psychologists Conference in Hobart. One of the best parts has been chatting and connecting with fellow clinicians who share our passion for mental health and wellbeing, and having some great conversations about how we understand and treat OCD in practice.

If you’re at the conference, come and say hello! We’d love to meet you, hear about the work you’re doing and show you what we’ve been working on.
And if you join the DEFINE waitlist during the conference, you’ll get access to exclusive early-bird offers plus 10% off DEFINE when it launches!

17/09/2026

We’ve been keeping something under wraps… 👀
Tomorrow, it’s out in the world.

Built by clinicians, for clinicians — and designed to bring knowledge, clarity and confidence to OCD treatment.

We’re launching at the APS Conference in Hobart, and I cannot wait to finally share what we’ve been working on — and see everyone there.
See you tomorrow. 💙

05/01/2025

Happy 2025! It's the first week of the New Year 🎊

For many, New Year's = Resolutions; a time to reflect on the coming year, set your intention and set goals to achieve over the next 365/366 days. I love the sentiment behind it. I love the element of reflection and intentionality. But what I am not getting behind, is the pressure to set goals and potentially reinvent yourself for the new year. Don't get me wrong, goals are great! Intentionality is even better! But why only in New Year's? Why does it have to come at a set time?

I haven't set a new years resolution in more than a decade. Somewhere along the line, resolutions made me feel like a failure: my resolutions were not good enough; they're not meaningful enough; I can't achieve them; or I ended up setting really tiny goals just so that I could tick them off and say: I DID IT!! Sure some of this is my own inner critic but it also placed a huge amount of pressure to think of something or a word that would make my new year.

So instead, I've chosen not to make a resolution at new years. I choose freedom for myself; the freedom to make goals at any time of the year. Hell at any moment. Awake at 2am and deciding that I want to cut back on how much screen time I'm having? DO IT! Driving in the car on a random March Wednesday and thinking about how I want to work on a fitness or professional goal? LET'S GO!

Resolutions are not the devil. But they also don't have to be the be all and end all of your new year's. Choose to be intentional in your daily life and open to new ideas, goals and opportunities whenever they come up for you.

Remember, January 1 is just another day in the calendar 🗓️

09/07/2024

Current view as I watch Netflix.

It's been a chaotic few days. It's sickness season we are in the thick of it. It's currently round 3 of virus in a 6 week period. This week features Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD). Woohoo 🥲🥴😬

Everyone's exhausted and running low. Of course because of how contagious HFMD is, I haven't been able to hit the gym for a snippet of self-care. So today, this is how I'm showing up for myself: I'm sitting down instead of picking up the toys, taking a deep breath, watching my favourite TV show as I dig into a pint of homemade Biscoff ice cream. It's the small moments that count 😉🤏🏽

04/07/2024

Self-care can be such a catchphrase. And often it can feel like a luxury or even selfish. The thing is, self-care isn't a frivolous exercise that only some people can afford. Self-care is about doing something intentionally for yourself as an act of self love. It doesn't have to be extra or a huge deal, and can be as simple as you like. Because if you're not looking after yourself, who is?

03/07/2024

Looking after yourself is always a priority, and there are lots of ways that you can do it. In the current climate it's easy to dismiss or postpone self care so that we can focus on other priorities. The problem with that is when we don't look after ourselves, we burn out and become unable to focus or engage in our priorities.

There is no secret recipe or formula to self-care, it's really just a case of making sure you do something for yourself each day to look after yourself both physically and mentally. This could be: prioritising sleep each night to ensure that you are well rested to face the day; ensuring you are having a balanced diet; making time during the day to connect with someone; doing something you enjoy (e.g., cooking, exercising, reading, watching an episode of your favourite TV show); staying present and engaged in the present moment; exercising and moving your body.

My personal favourite : moving my body. It took a while to embrace it but the science is there: moving your body produces endorphins that help you to feel good. I enjoy challenging myself at the gym and doing things that feel impossible; that satisfaction at the end of it is 🤌🏽 and sets me up with the mindset of: If I could do X, I can do anything today. Of course there are days when I don't feel like a good "smashathon" at the gym and those days are also ok. At those times, even turning up and making an effort to move my body is good enough. Also it does help when you find a gym with a smashing community. Because then you kill three birds with one stone: movement, doing something you enjoy, and social connection 😉

What about you? What can you do to prioritise yourself today?

03/07/2024

My favourite breathing exercise to prescribe: 4-7-8 Breathing.
I personally prefer this one over other exercises because there is a discreet end point to the exercise. Many breathing exercises tend to cycle through until you feel calmer. However I've found that this tends to make people more anxious as they keep looking to check if they are still feeling anxious (hello fulfilling prophecy!).
This rhythm of breathing is also physiologically helpful in calming your nervous system down as it helps slow your breathing which allows your body to absorb some of that carbon dioxide you're exhaling.
Give it a try and see how you like it. In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8. Repeat for a total of 4 times.

24/06/2024

Let's talk breathing exercises...

Do they work? YES! I know this because I had first hand experience of it working during labour.

You're probably thinking: well she's a psychologist, so she's obviously biased and would say that. Well, I probably shouldn't say this, but in all my years as a psychologist, even though I was confident in breathing exercises when I prescribed them to clients, when I had to use it for myself, I always had a little voice in the back of my head saying: this isn't going to work. It's JUST breathing.

Well when I was in labour with my third, my body started shaking after I got my epidural. I knew this would happen based on my last 2 experiences so I let the midwife know to bring me more blankets. Except this time, she kindly informed me that the shaking was happening because of the adrenaline coursing through my body as it was preparing itself for pushing (fun times!). So what does she tell me to do: breathe 😅 Makes solid sense right? Diaphragmatic breathing to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system to calm the body down ✅

So I breathed. I practised the breathing exercise I give to almost all my clients. And what do you know: IT WORKED! I stopped shaking after the first round of breathing. 🤯😱😱😱

Diaphragmatic breathing to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system to calm the body down ✅🙌🏽😂 who knew! 😂

So next time your therapist tells you to breathe to help counter your anxiety, remember this little anecdote. And remember that breathing exercises work 2-fold:
1) Diaphragmatic breathing to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system helps to calm the fight/flight response down. This helps to relax your physiological responses.
2) Breathing exercises help orient your mind to the breath, which turns attention away from anxious or stressful thoughts and worries. This can also have the effect of calming you down.

06/05/2024

I'd like to make a preposition: the next time you find yourself experiencing strong unwanted feelings in a situation, instead of challenging how accurate you're feeling or thinking, I'd like you to try asking yourself: is this helpful/working for me right now?

It's easy to jump in and blame ourselves when we find ourselves in a situation where strong feelings are triggered. Often the response to these circumstances tends to be: are you sure? Maybe there's another reason or a better way to think about it? Sometimes we might even go so far as to minimise or dismiss how we are feeling: I shouldn't feel that way. This doesn't make sense...

While well intentioned, these responses invalidate how we are feeling in response to a situation or a trigger. And when we feel invalidated, we (and our feelings) are more likely to dig heels in and stand their ground, which means change is less likely to happen.

Asking ourselves: is this working for me? Is this helpful for me? Allows you the space to acknowledge how you're feeling and validate the experience. It also allows you to go the extra step of assessing whether this is working for you. If it's not, then you can start looking at whether you want to make changes and how to make a change. Regardless of whether your response is "accurate" or not.

So, is this helpful or working for you right now?

Address

OCD Clinic Brisbane
Brisbane, QLD

Website

http://www.ocdclinicbrisbane.com.au/

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