ELARA - The Clinical Practice Simulator

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WHAT IS ELARA ?
ELARA is an advanced practice training simulator designed to support deliberate practice, supervision, and competency-based assessment in education and training. Developed by experts in psychology and artificial intelligence, the platform is built around a highly realistic client simulator that enables students to demonstrate and develop professional competencies required for practice.

ELARA's 3 Modes - Client, Supervisor, and Research and Governance Mode

Client Simulator Mode
Therapeutically interact with an extensive range of clients with detailed case histories, presentations and varied cultural backgrounds with the ability to progress through 3 sequential levels of client engagement from easy to difficult to complex.

ELARA's client simulator core is an advanced AI relational engine trained with behaviour contingent and intervention response modelling to interact with realistic "human like" clarity. ELARA clients are not scripted responders. Each simulated client has a stable psychological and social profile and inner world. They have consistent emotional and contextual logic across interactions and a relational memory of how the practitioner interacts with them over time with historical recall.

Supervisor Mode
ELARA's supervisor simulator core is an advanced AI supervision engine trained with evaluation capabilities linked to a comprehensive range of APAC aligned evidence based curriculum rubrics.


For Students - Immediate and nuanced supervisor feedback on simulated practice sessions on multiple domains including:
- Relational alliance and safety, empathic attunement, warmth and authenticity
- Basic counselling micro-skills 
- Ethical and professional conduct
- Culturally safe practice
- Managing risk
- Psychosocial assessment 
- Decision-making in complex contexts
- Intervention detection and feedback of cores 
   skills in CBT, ACT, Schema modalities and more
- Suggested areas of focus for deliberate practice
   of skills

For Supervisors - Longitudinal tracking of individual student and cohort simulator session time and progress, domain performance and suggested areas of focus and support. ELARA is a structured, auditable, competency-based clinical skills progression system where client complexity is unlocked sequentially through "competency ready indicators" integrated into the supervision simulator core. Individual deliberate practice capabilities support remediation of students who require additional skill development.

Research and Governance Mode   
ELARA's Research and Governance engine can display data analytics, export-ready research datasets, cohort vs individual longitudinal tracking and integrated objective measures to support pilot studies, Phd research and required governance oversight.

ELARA is designed to complement, not replace, supervision and field education placements, providing a scalable, accreditation-aligned environment for skills development. 
Through simulated client interactions, ELARA enables repeated practice and structured evaluation of trainee performance using evidence-informed feedback frameworks, without exposing real clients, families, or communities to risk.                                                          Bespoked Design
ELARA's unique development enables 
"bespoked" module selection to fit your education curriculum or workplace training needs.

Client Group Module Library

ELARA’s Client Group Module Library provides access to a wide range of highly realistic simulated client experiences designed to reflect the diversity and complexity of real-world practice. Modules include general lifespan cohorts such as children, adolescents, adults, and older adults, alongside specific client groups including First Nations peoples, LGBTQIA+ communities, disability and neurodivergent clients. The advanced practice client library contains DSMV-TR aligned contrasting presentations including alcohol and other drug (AOD) presentations, suicide and self-harm, personality disorders, anxiety and depression, Bipolar and Eating Disorders, OCD and psychosis presentations

Intervention Module Library

ELARA’s Intervention Skills Module Library provides access to modules of specific therapeutic approaches, clinical models, and intervention competencies. Students can engage in deliberate practice across approaches such as CBT, ACT, motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, schema-informed interventions, psychodynamic psychotherapy and other discipline-specific practice methods. 

Assessment Module Library

ELARA’s Assessment Module Library enables discipline-specific assessment experiences aligned with curriculum and competency requirements. Modules can support formative and summative assessment approaches, including clinical interviewing, psychosocial assessments, case formulation, differential diagnosis, risk assessment and tailored Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). 

Professional Practice Frameworks

ELARA supports discipline-specific professional practice frameworks through configurable modules aligned to accreditation standards, ethical codes, professional competencies, and regulatory expectations. Universities and training providers can tailor learning experiences to frameworks relevant to psychology, social work, counselling, occupational therapy, and allied health, ensuring training remains aligned with real-world professional standards and graduate capability requirements.
ELARA's Dashboard's
Display realtime overview and analytics for students, supervisors and researchers.

Student Dashboard (Example only)
Display supervisor feedback on sessions including longitudinal tracking of simulator session time, client insights, domain performance and suggested areas of deliberate practice, focus and support
Supervisor Dashboard (Example only) 
Display cohort analytics and individual student progress including domain performance heat maps and identification of students who may need support in their continued development
Research and Governance Dashboard (Example only)
Display data analytics, export-ready research datasets, cohort vs individual longitudinal tracking and integrated objective measures to support pilot studies, Phd research and required governance oversight

Dr Catriona Davis-McCabe

Dr Catriona Davis-McCabe is a Clinical and Counselling Psychologist with more than 20 years of experience across psychology, higher education, clinical practice, and professional training in both Australia and the United Kingdom.
 
Catriona is currently a Professor of Psychology at a national higher education provider. She has spent much of her career educating and supervising the next generation of psychologists. She has extensive experience teaching within and leading postgraduate psychology programs and has trained hundreds of psychologists across a range of professional pathways and areas of practice.
 
Alongside her academic leadership, Catriona maintains a strong commitment to clinical practice and workforce development. Her areas of expertise include professional training, supervision, ethical practice, clinical skills development, and the translation of psychological research into effective real-world practice.
 
Catriona is the former President of the Australian Psychological Society and former Chair of the Board, where she provided national leadership to the profession during a period of significant change. Through these roles, she developed extensive experience in governance, strategic leadership, policy development, stakeholder engagement, and advocacy for the psychology profession and the communities it serves.
 
Through Advanced Psychology Training, Catriona comb
ines her passion for teaching, supervision, and professional development to support learners at every stage of their career. From helping psychology students develop the practical skills and confidence needed to succeed on placement, to supporting psychologists and allied health professionals in advancing their clinical knowledge and expertise, she is committed to fostering capable, confident, and evidence-based practitioners who can make a meaningful difference in the lives of their clients.
 
Catriona's professional philosophy is grounded in the belief that excellence in practice comes from the integration of knowledge, reflection, and experience. She is passionate about creating engaging, practical learning experiences that bridge the gap between theory and practice and support clinicians to deliver the highest standards of care.

Duane Smith

Duane Smith is a Clinical and Counselling Psychologist, Board Approved supervisor, trainer and educator, with more than 35 years of experience across clinical and counselling psychology, supervision, professional training, and private practice in Australia. Duane is the current executive chair of the Association of Counselling Psychologists, and Owner/Clinical Director of Stream Psychology and The Henry Street Centre in Western Australia. 

Duane is the Founder and Director of Advanced Psychology Training and the creator of ELARA – The Clinical Practice Simulator. With his passion for the application of AI and emerging technologies in the field of psychology, Duane is focused on improving access to high-quality experiential training for psychology students, early career practitioners, supervisors, and allied health professionals through realistic simulation, deliberate practice, and reflective learning.

As a Board Approved Supervisor and experienced trainer, Duane has supervised, trained and mentored psychologists across multiple stages of professional development, supporting clinicians to strengthen confidence, clinical reasoning, ethical decision-making, and reflective practice. This knowledge and clinical supervision experience is at the core of ELARA's development. ELARA is a Clinical Practice Simulator, developed by experienced clinicians.

Duane’s professional philosophy is grounded in the belief that excellence in psychological practice emerges through the integration of knowledge, experience, reflection, and authentic human connection. He is passionate about creating practical, engaging learning experiences that support clinicians to grow in confidence, competence, and relational effectiveness while maintaining the highest standards of professional and ethical care.

Want to explore ELARA for your University or workplace training needs ? 

Contact:  catriona@advancedpsychologytraining.com.au

Frequently asked questions

What can you offer that I cannot get at other online training simulation platforms ?

With ELARA you will have the opportunity to learn with an advanced interactive platform developed by senior psychologists who are intricately involved with education, training and supervision across Australia.

Is there clinical, cultural, ethical and lived experience informed oversight?

Yes, ELARA has a client library advisory group that oversees the development of the client library. This group includes First Nations, Neurodiverse, Disability, AOD , LGBTQIA+ and lived experience members.

Can ELARA be "bespoked" to my University curriculum or workplace training needs ?

Yes...ELARA can be "bespoked" with inclusion of unique cohort clients and presentations with APAC aligned supervision rubrics to match your curriculum or training needs. 
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