Meet Dr Kiran Lele
“Depth psychotherapy for difficulties that have been there a long time — an unhurried conversation in which understanding, and a steadier sense of self, can grow.”
— Dr Kiran Lele
General Information
Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist
Days: Tuesday and Thursday
Availability: Mornings and afternoons
Cost: Medicare rebate — fees are discussed at the time of enquiry, as they vary with capacity to pay.
Insurance Info: Medicare rebates cover a portion of the fee. Private health insurance does not cover outpatient psychiatry sessions.
Adults seeking psychotherapy as the main focus of treatment — usually weekly or twice weekly
People living with longstanding self-harm or suicidal thoughts
People whose emotional difficulties overlap with physical symptoms or chronic illness, including FND
Doctors, medical students, and other health professionals
Clinicians seeking clinical supervision
Longstanding depression and anxiety, complex trauma, borderline personality disorder, chronic self-harm and suicidal thoughts, dissociation, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and physical symptoms without clear medical explanation, grief, recurrent relationship difficulties, identity and self-esteem, shame and self-criticism.
Dr Lele does not offer ADHD assessments or prescribe stimulant medications.
Style of Therapy
Steady, unhurried, and relational. Therapy as a genuine conversation — one in which difficult experiences can be approached at your pace, and understanding grows between us rather than being delivered.
Modalities: Conversational Model psychotherapy (a relational, depth-oriented approach), informed by self-psychology and relational psychoanalysis; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) where helpful; psychiatric assessment and medication support within an established therapy.
Things You & Dr Kiran Might Address:
Making sense of difficulties that have been there a long time
Feeling cut off — from others, or from yourself
Shame, self-criticism, and the harsh internal voice
Urges to self-harm, and thoughts of suicide that have become familiar
Persistent physical symptoms — taken seriously, body and mind together
Relationships that swing between closeness and rupture
Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist
Kiran is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist whose practice centres on depth psychotherapy — usually weekly or twice weekly, over time. Many of the people he works with live with feelings that arrive suddenly and at full volume, relationships that swing between closeness and rupture, or thoughts of self-harm and suicide that have become almost familiar — experiences sometimes given the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. The approach he practises, the Conversational Model, was developed in Sydney around exactly these difficulties. You don’t need a diagnosis, or a crisis, to begin.
What Kiran’s About
Kiran is a Sydney psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Alongside private practice, he works as a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and co-founded a mental health service for doctors and medical students in Western Sydney. A Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sydney, his research explores the Conversational Model in trauma and persistent physical symptoms. His work is shaped by the relational tradition — particularly Russell Meares’ Intimacy and Alienation. Outside work, he plays Indian classical flute and reads philosophy, drawn to how people make meaning.
Credentials
BSc (Psychology)
MBBS
MMed (Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy)
Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP)
RANZCP Advanced Certificate in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Advanced training in Neuropsychiatry
HETI Fellowship in Doctors’ Mental Health
Dr Kiran has membership in the following peak bodies
