Meet Ella

Ella MacLean

Regulation begins in the body and the nervous system. Everything I do grows from that one idea.

I am a Registered Occupational Therapist with a distinctive, evidence based sensory motor approach that supports people to grow through safety, connection and movement. With a background in clinical Pilates, training in sensory and reflex integration, and deep experience across home, school and hospital settings, I bring a highly attuned, whole person lens to every session, grounded in how the nervous system develops and changes.

I am known for a warm, collaborative style, and for the ability to see what sits beneath behaviour, helping build the internal foundations of strength, regulation and confidence a person needs to feel capable and engaged in their life.

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One Integrated Approach

Four strands, woven into one lens

Rather than separate services, my work draws several strands together around a single nervous system focus, so the support meets the whole person, not just the surface.

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Reflex & sensory integration

Supporting the developmental foundations the body builds upon, through repetition and movement.

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Nervous system regulation

Working with safety and the body first, so regulation, attention and confidence can follow.

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Underneath the behaviour

Understanding behaviour as communication, and meeting the unmet need that sits beneath it.

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Evidence based psychotherapy

Training in CBT and DBT, supporting identity, processing and emotional growth.

Experience & Training

Clinical depth, held with warmth

Alongside this practice, I facilitate therapeutic groups at a leading mental health hospital, which keeps my work grounded in current, evidence based clinical practice.

That clinical grounding sits beside a developmental, body based understanding of regulation, a combination that lets me support both how a person thinks and how their nervous system carries what they are moving through.

Registered Occupational Therapist
Approved Behaviour Support Practitioner
Group facilitator, leading mental health hospital
Trained in both psychotherapy approaches and body based, nervous system informed approaches
Background in clinical Pilates and therapeutic movement
Trauma informed, relational approach

Presentations I work with include

ADHD AuDHD Autism PDA Developmental Delay Global Developmental Delay Cerebral Palsy Sensory Processing Difficulties Dyspraxia / DCD Learning Difficulties Prematurity Related Delays Selective Mutism BPD Anxiety Depression Adjustment Difficulties Emotional Regulation Difficulties Burnout

Challenges I often support

Difficulty staying still Attention and focus Executive functioning Emotional dysregulation Behaviour that is hard to understand Sensory seeking Sensory avoiding Sensory processing Coordination and praxis Visual motor skills Toileting Fine motor skills Gross motor skills School readiness Meeting school curriculum expectations Task avoidance Difficulty with transitions Low motivation Loss of sense of self

Why This Work Matters To Me

I understand this from the inside

Having received my own late diagnosis of ADHD, alongside a deeper understanding of my own sensory preferences, I know first hand the work of learning to understand yourself again. It is part of why I hold this work with such care, and why, with the children I see, that care runs deeper still.

Whether I am sitting with a child or an adult, safety, attunement and clinical understanding sit at the centre of every session I offer.

When you work with Integrate & Regulate, you work with me directly, every session, so you receive consistent, high quality care from someone who truly knows your story.

A Paediatric Program I Designed

The Integration Intensive

My signature paediatric intensive approach, built to the highest standard and designed for lasting results.

The gap I saw

Families were doing everything right, pouring in love, effort and time, but without the foundational scaffolding underneath, progress stayed hard to hold.

What makes it different

Not only the concentrated practice that helps reflexes integrate, but the deliberate inclusion of parents and schools, with the education that leaves your child's whole team empowered to support them, long after our sessions end.

Explore The Integration Intensive

Working Together

Where, when and how

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Where

Home and school based across Sydney, where schools are on board. Ella is based in the Eastern suburbs, with telehealth available Australia wide.

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When

Weekly sessions are available Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The Integration Intensive runs as three sessions each week across two weeks, with a condensed option over three days also available.

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How

A cue based, relational approach that supports the nervous system first, so skills emerge with ease.