SANVT. [zahnft] Psychology
= a deliberate misspelling of the German word "sanft" - meaning soft, gentle, tender, attuned.

Not fragile or broken. Soft in the way that water is soft - and yet just as capable of moving mountains. The kind of strength and resilience that comes from having lived complexity, carried it across continents, and chosen to turn into something that holds people and their needs.

SANVT. Psychology is a boutique practice for minds that feel deeply, and for care that adapts.

For new inquiries, please feel free to reach out to me via:

email: hello@sanvt.com.au or the Contact Form.

About Dr Nat

Dr Natalja Nabinger de Diaz

Clinical Psychologist | AHPRA Registered
PhD(ClinPsy; incl. MPsy), BPsy(Hons), BCrimJus | MAPS | FCCLP | AAPi

Hi, I'm Dr Nat.

I'm a Clinical Psychologist, published Research Author, and the Founder of SANVT. Psychology. I work with individuals navigating the harder, more complex parts of being human - anxiety, trauma, burnout, depression, neurodivergence, grief, identity, and the ways our histories quietly shape everything else.

No matter your cultural, ethnic, or spiritual background — you are welcome here.

SANVT. Psychology [zahnft]

I opened SANVT. Psychology because I wanted to build something that takes people seriously. Not just their symptoms, but the whole picture — who they are, how they got here, and what actually getting better looks like for them specifically.

How I work

My approach is integrative, attachment-based,trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming.

I draw from evidence-based therapeutic frameworks:

Cognitive-Behavioural therapies (CBT),
Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP, Level 1 , 3rd year in training),
Mindfulness- and (Self-)Compassion-based approaches,
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT),
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)-informed skills,
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT),
Motivational Interviewing (MI),
Health and Wellbeing Coaching (currently training with Healthy Gamer Institute, USA),
Gottman Couple's therapy-informed approaches for individuals.

All of my work is neurodiversity-affirming:

This means I approach neurodivergent presentations as variations of human experience rather than deficits to be corrected.

Therapy with me is client-centred, collaborative and purposeful:

Every person arrives to therapy with their unique set of needs and traits. This means that I always aim to adapt these approaches to the person in front of me.

To be able to do this well, a lot of what I do involves deep and active listening:

Some sessions I may say more, some sessions, I may say little — not because I'm holding back, but because I'm paying close attention to the patterns, the pauses, and to everything that lives in between the things that almost get said and then stay silent.

I work to understand not just what someone is telling me, but what their experience actually feels like for them from the inside:

Over time, that understanding becomes a precise roadmap to their own inner world, one we build and navigate together — and it's often where the most transformative work can happen.

This means I also pay close attention to the signals in the body:

Emotions are felt before they're thought, and the nervous system carries information that words alone don't always capture. Working at that level — beneath the surface — is often where lasting change takes root.

Above all, what happens in the therapy room is deeply human:

I'm warm, compassionate, kind and direct — and so is the space I aim to create. If something is unsaid, we work to bring it into the open together, so it can be held, processed, and gradually let go.
And if something isn't working, there is always room to say so — this is a collaboration, and we adjust as we go.

Languages:

English
German
- I hold native-level fluency in both and see clients in either language.

Who I work with

I see adults across the lifespan and teenagers (16+):

In-person: Palm Beach, QLD, Australia.
Telehealth: Via secure video telehealth platforms (e.g., Coviu).

My clinical focus areas include:

Neurodevelopmental conditions (including ADHD & ASD)
- Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment is available at SANVT..
Anxiety (generalised, social, health anxiety and panic disorder),
Depression and low mood,
Burnout and Adjustment Problems
Trauma and Post-traumatic stress (PTSD),
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD),
Grief, loss and major life transitions,
Relationship and interpersonal difficulties, and
Complex health difficulties (incl. chronic pain, POTS, inflammatory conditions, ante- and post-natal adjustment, birth trauma, etc.), and
Other complex and comorbid presentations.

I have a particular interest in working with neurodivergent people in ways that are genuinely affirming:

This means not just strategies for managing or masking — but developing real self-understanding, supporting adjustment + processing emotions (e.g., around late-diagnosis), identifying inner strengths that we can harness, and (re-)building confidence and a more integrated sense of self-identity.

Professional Background + Development:

I have been working in the field of Psychology since 2017 — as a researcher, clinician, clinical research project manager, and academic tutor (for undergraduate first and third year courses) at Griffith University, Gold Coast.
I completed my doctoral research project in early 2022. The project examined in-person and online mindful parenting interventions for parents of young, clinically anxious children — the first study of its kind for that population.
I am also a published author in the research literature in peer-reviewed journals, and served as a scientific journal peer reviewer for Child Psychiatry and Human Development and Mindfulness journals.
I have clinical experience working across a range of settings, including
- extensive experience in clinical research (specialist child OCD and phobias treatment and research clinic, Griffith University), as well as
- experience in public hospital (acute adult inpatient mental health, GCUH), and
- school psychology settings (Nyunga, Marymount College, secondary school).
Following completion of my clinical training in 2021, I entered into private practice on the Gold Coast in January 2022 .
I received endorsement as a Clinical Psychologist by the Psychology Board of Australia in May 2023.
I founded SANVT. Psychology in June 2025 and first opened doors in October 2025.

SANVT. is currently a solo-operated business, with a vision of expanding its psychological as well as multi-disciplinary services some day in the near or far future.

Watch this space, something may be blooming...

Qualifications

Qualification	Scientific Field	Year
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)	Clinical Psychology	2018-2022
Master of Psychology (included in Clinical PhD)	Clinical Psychology	2020-2021
Bachelor(Honours) of Psychological Science — First Class Honours	Psychology	2017
Bachelor of Psychological Science (Double Degree)	Psychology	2013-2016
Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Double Degree)	Criminology & Criminal Justice	2013-2016

Honours & Awards for Academic Excellence:

Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (GUPRS)
| 2018–2022
Griffith University International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (GUIPRS)
| 2018–2022
Griffith University Honours Scholarship | Griffith University
| 2017
Griffith Award for Academic Excellence
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017

Professional Registration & Memberships

Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency (AHPRA) Registered Clinical Psychologist
Member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS)
Fellow of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists FCCLP
Member of the Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi)
Member of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD)

Professional Development

Various APS workshops | 2017-ongoing
Psychodynamic therapies, ACT and DBT foundations, attachment-based approaches, AI and psychology, ethics and professional conduct, neurodiversity and trauma-informed practices, among others
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP)
Core Training: Julie Cochrane | ISTDP Institute Melbourne | 2024 – present (current training expected completion 2026/2027)
Health and Wellbeing Coaching:
Healthy Gamer Institute, USA | 2026 – present (current training)
Gottman Couples Therapy — Level 1:
Dr Tracey Purnell-Webb | The Gottman Institute | Sep 2024
ISTDP / Affect State Theory Training:
Dr Steve Arthey, Gold Coast | 2022 – 2023 (program not completed due to ISTDP certification pathway changes)
Mindful Parenting Teacher Training:
Prof. Dr Susan Bögels | 2019
Research Methods:
Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Coursera | Mar 2018
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy:
Principles and Practice | UC Davis, USA | Jun 2017

More About Me

I grew up in a small town in the German Rhineland-Palatinate, between deep forests and sun-soaked vineyards, cobblestone streets, and medieval castles. It is a landscape that carries centuries of history in its bones, where the old stories of knights and dragons almost feel possible. Life there had its magic - and it also had its difficulties. Life taught me early what it means when harder realities get in the way of figuring out who you are and what you're here for.

During a break from university in Germany, at a time I felt stuck and uncertain about everything, I came to Australia with no intention of staying. But I slowly and completely fell in love with this country: the vast landscape, the ocean, and its people, who embraced me as if I had always belonged. And so I never left.

Some of what drives my passion for this work comes from lived experience. I have deeply mixed German-European (maternal) and Venezuelan (paternal) heritage, with indigenous South and Central American roots. Growing up between cultures, languages, and worlds, and knowing what it is to not quite fit into any single category (and honestly never wanting to fit the mould anyway), shapes how I think about identity, belonging, and the things people carry that others don't always see. It informs how I sit with people going through genuinely hard things: not from a place of assumption but from a real understanding of what it takes to keep getting up, from a deep compassion for humanity, and from a strong belief that care should be adaptive and shouldn't require privilege to reach.

Outside the therapy room: quality time with the people and animals I love (my two Ragdolls, Luna and Archie, have particularly strong opinions about this), yoga, the ocean, art, travel, photography, surfing, skating, and live performance in almost any form.

The natural world has always been part of how I find my footing. My connection to nature and spirituality has been a constant thread throughout my life, and something I believe carries genuine healing value beyond what clinical language can fully capture. I bring that steadiness into the room with me.

Contact

Acknowledgement of Country

SANVT. Psychology respectfully acknowledges the Yugambeh people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work here on the Gold Coast. We recognise their enduring connection to land, waters, skies and community, and we pay our deep respects to Elders past and present. We honour the strength, knowledge and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and acknowledge that these lands have always been places of gathering, healing, teaching and learning. We recognise the important role that First Nations peoples continue to play in nurturing community, resilience and wellbeing.

SANVT.