Dr Areana Eivers

Biography

Areana Eivers completed her initial studies in psychology at the University of Queensland before leaving Australia to pursue one of her other passions - travel. She lived in the UK for nearly three years, working on a research project investigating the relative influences of biology, home environment and parent-child interactions on early child development. After this, Areana returned to Australia to pursue a qualification in clinical psychology at Griffith University that ended up in a winding path lasting seven years, during which time she learned much about 'psychology in the real world' through her work in various government and non-government clinical and counselling services.

in 2006 Areana again left Australia to study a PhD at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her thesis was concerned with the social-emotional and relational development of young children across the transition to school, but she also gathered rich and diverse experiences both personally and professionally, including the experiences of being an international PhD student, of interacting with colleagues from multiple disciplines, and of studying research methods in a foreign language!

Since 2011, Areana has worked in the School of Psychology and Counselling at QUT. Her goal is to make people as passionate about the importance of relationships to human development as she is. To drive the point home, she is mother to a young child who teaches her every day about how complex, challenging but ultimately rewarding relationships can be, and about the need to balance the development of the mind with the development of the spirit.