Dr Jelena Zeleskov Doric was born in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia (Ex-Yugoslavia), Southeast Europe. She grew up in Nis, a small town in Southern Serbia. In 1998 following graduation from High School, she was accepted into a University programme in psychology at the University of Nis, Serbia. She graduated from the University of Nis in 2003 as the best student of the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy and University of Nis and she was awarded several recognitions and scholarships from the Ministry of Science Republic of Serbia during her studies. In addition, Jelena was awarded the Royal Norwegian Embassy Award for the best student at the University of Serbia during her studies. After completing her Bachelor of Psychology training including Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) Jelena continued her education and was accepted into the Master of Psychology (Psychotherapy) at the University of Novi Sad (Serbia) which she completed in 2006 as one of the best students in her generation. Jelena was also awarded a PhD (Doctor of Psychology) after 3 years of research on resilience and job satisfaction in physicians at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (Serbia) in December 2011.
During her academic studies, Jelena also completed four years of experiential, phenomenological and holistic psychotherapy training in Gestalt psychotherapy at the Gestalt Studio Belgrade, European Accredited Institute for Gestalt Psychotherapy. She was awarded the European Certificate for Gestalt Psychotherapy (EAGT) and European Certificate for Psychotherapy (EAP) in September 2008.
In October 2012 Jelena also started postgraduate two years psychotherapy training in psychopathology and contemporary disturbances in Sicily (Italy) with leading Gestalt psychotherapists in Europe – Dr Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb (Psychologist) and Dr Gianni Francesetti (Psychiatrist) which she completed in December 2014. After Italy training, Jelena commenced one year of body psychotherapy training in Berlin (Germany) which she completed in 2015.
Jelena continued her psychotherapy education and she enrolled in a Master of Gestalt Psychotherapy at the Gestalt Psychotherapy Training Institute Malta (GPTIM) remotely. This two-year program (2016-2018) awarded her a Master of Gestalt Psychotherapist qualification accredited and recognized in the European Union. Jelena participated in numerous Gestalt and body psychotherapy trainings across Europe and she completed a psychotherapy workshop with Ruella Frank delivered by the Centre for Somatic Studies, New York, USA.
In Australia, Jelena completed a Master of Clinical Psychology at Charles Sturt University and Psychology Board of Australia Supervisor Training. She became a Psychology Board of Australia (PBA) Supervisor in 2020.
Before moving to Australia, Jelena worked as a Research Fellow at the School of Medicine, University of Belgrade. She also worked at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade.
Jelena was also employed as a consultant clinical psychologist and psychotherapist for Sava Perovic Foundation Centre for Genito-Urethral Reconstructive Surgery, Belgrade (Serbia) where she worked with Dr Rados Djinovic (Reconstructive Surgeon), Dr Sasa Tomovic (Urology Surgeon) and Dr Uros Kenic (Urology Surgeon).
In addition to this, Jelena was a Vice-President of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (2010-2016) and a Board member of the European Association for Psychotherapy (2010-2016). She was a full member of the American Psychological Association for more than 10 years and a full member of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy for more than 15 years. Jelena was a full member of the Australian Psychological Society (2017-2022) and the Singapore Psychological Society (2018-2022). Also, she was an International Co-Chair of Gestalt Australia and New Zealand (GANZ). Upon being active in many organisations for several years Jelena decided to put her memberships on hold and maintain her psychology registration status in Europe and Australia.
In Australia, Jelena worked as a Lecturer in Psychology and Psychological Therapies at Charles Darwin University (2016-2018) and as a Discipline Lead and Senior Lecturer in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the Australian College of Applied Psychology (2018-2020). Jelena is currently a Visiting Professor at the American University of Cyprus (remote). Her research, writing and advocacy are focused on attachment theory, chronic pain, resilience, human movement and body processes important in understanding the relationship between client and therapist. So far, Jelena authored and co-authored over 40 books, chapters, peer-reviewed papers, and national and international conference presentations in the fields of resilience, attachment theory, chronic pain and psychotherapy. Since 2012 she has been reviewing academic papers for various international journals. She has been awarded numerous national and international scholarships and fellowships.
In addition, Jelena worked for Advance Healthcare Melbourne (remote) and Ramsay Psychology Wollongong until March 2024 when she relocated to Perth.
Jelena is consulting through her private practice Gestalt Healthcare and she also sees patients at ICON Cancer Centre Midland.
She joined the Neurospine Institute in March 2024.
Jelena’s services are available in English and languages of ex-Yugoslavia (Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Bosnian and Slovene).
Outside work, Jelena loves to spend time with her husband and two daughters. She is passionate about photography and art. Her other hobbies are skiing, writing, walking her dog, reading and traveling.
