About us
We believe no one should have to navigate persistent pain alone. Paced Health brings together compassionate clinicians who work collaboratively to understand your story, make sense of your pain, and help you find a realistic path forward.
WHAT WE BELIEVE IN
Your pain is real
We believe pain is complex and deserves to be taken seriously. Your symptoms are valid, and understanding pain can help create meaningful change.
Care should be collaborative
We’re here to walk beside you, not ahead of you. Our role is to support your self-discovery, not direct it. We trust your inner wisdom, and help you reconnect with it.
A meaningful life
is possible
Healing doesn’t mean perfection or eliminating all pain (although there are real life stories of complete recovery). We believe in helping people move towards the things that matter most, at a pace that feels realistic and sustainable.
How it works
01 —
Book an Appointment
Reach out or book online. Whether you’re seeking psychology, physiotherapy or multidisciplinary care, we’ll help you find the right place to start.
02 —
Tell Us Your Story
We’ll take time to understand your experience, make sense of your pain and learn what matters most to you. Together, we’ll explore your goals and challenges.
03 —
Build Your Team
Depending on your needs, your care may involve one clinician or a coordinated team. Our clinicians work collaboratively to provide individualised, evidence-based support.
04 —
Move Forward at Your Pace
Meaningful change doesn’t happen overnight. We’re here to help you build understanding, confidence and practical tools to support a life that feels bigger than pain.
Our Team
Sophie O’Dwyer
Health & Clinical Psychologist, Director & Co-Founder
Sophie supports people living with persistent pain, chronic health conditions, trauma and burnout to better understand their bodies and nervous system, and rebuild lives that feel meaningful and manageable. Her approach is compassionate, collaborative and evidence-based. She brings experience from 2.5 years working with multidisciplinary teams for persistent pain and enjoys working with individuals, groups and supporting psychologists through supervision.
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Sophie is a Clinical & Health Psychologist with a particular interest in chronic pain, chronic illness, trauma and burnout. She understands that pain and other symptoms are influenced by many interconnected factors, including the nervous system, stress, emotions, relationships, life experiences and physical health. For this reason, she believes treatment should be tailored to the individual rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
Her approach is compassionate, collaborative and grounded in evidence. She aims to create a space where people feel heard, understood and empowered to make sense of what they are experiencing. Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, Sophie helps people develop confidence, flexibility and the skills needed to live a meaningful life alongside recovery.
Sophie draws upon contemporary pain science and evidence-based therapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Schema Therapy, mindfulness-based approaches, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)-informed approaches.
She enjoys working collaboratively and takes an active role within her clients’ treating teams, valuing clear communication and a multidisciplinary approach throughout the rehabilitation journey. Drawing upon six years of experience as a psychologist and over two years working within a multidisciplinary pain management team, Sophie has developed a deep appreciation for the value of integrated care. She enjoys facilitating both individual therapy and group programs and believes that some of the most meaningful shifts occur through shared learning, connection and collaboration.
Qualifications:
BPsych (Hons)
MPsych (Health)
Lachlan Townend
Lachlan Townend is an accredited Physiotherapist and co-founder of Paced Health, with over eight years of experience and a special interest in chronic pain. Driven by a single purpose — a world with less pain — he combines holistic, person-centred care with the latest pain science to help people understand their pain and rebuild strength and confidence in their bodies.
Physiotherapist, Director & Co-Founder
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Lachlan Townend is driven by a single purpose: a world with less pain. It's the thread that runs through everything he does - from his clinical work to co-founding Paced Health and Pain Coach.
Lachlan is an accredited Physiotherapist with over eight years of experience helping people living with musculoskeletal pain and injury. He has a particular interest in chronic pain. He recently completed postgraduate studies in Pain Sciences at the University of South Australia under world-leading pain researcher Professor Lorimer Moseley. This training deepened his understanding of the latest science-backed approaches to treating complex, persistent pain.
Lachlan's approach is holistic and person-centred. Rather than focusing only on the site of pain, he looks more broadly at the body's various systems and how they may be contributing to it. He believes effective pain treatment is never one-size-fits-all; it should be as individual as the person experiencing it.
He supports people through a clear three-step process:
Understand your pain
Reduce your pain triggers
Rebuild strength and confidence in your body
Together with pain psychologist Sophie O'Dwyer, Lachlan founded Paced to make coordinated, multidisciplinary pain care accessible from the comfort of home.
For Lachlan, a Physiotherapist is much like a coach - there to educate, strategise, plan, inspire and encourage.
Qualifications:
Master of Physiotherapy
Professional Certificate of Pain Sciences
Bachelor of Exercise Science
Rhianna Lovegrove
Registered Psychologist (Clinical Psychology Registrar)
Rhianna works with people navigating persistent pain, chronic illness, stress and trauma. She understands that symptoms do not exist in isolation - they can shape identity, relationships, confidence, hope and the way a person moves through life. Her approach is attuned, committed and evidence-informed, helping people make sense of what they are experiencing, rebuild self-trust and reconnect with a life that feels meaningful, sustainable and fulfilling.
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Rhianna is an AHPRA-registered Psychologist and Clinical Psychology Registrar based on the Gold Coast, with experience across both public and private healthcare settings. She works with people across the lifespan and has interests in persistent pain, chronic illness, dysautonomia/POTS, stress, trauma, anxiety, self-esteem, ADHD/neurodivergence, sport and performance, and the relationship between mind, body and lived experience.
Rhianna understands that pain and chronic symptoms rarely affect only one part of a person’s life. They can influence identity, relationships, confidence, work, independence, mood and hope. She is particularly interested in helping people make sense of what is happening in their body and nervous system, while also making room for the emotional and practical realities of living with persistent symptoms.
Her approach is attentive, authentic and informed by up-to-date evidence-based literature. She aims to offer a space where people feel heard, understood, respected and supported to explore their experiences without judgement. Rhianna works collaboratively with clients to facilitate growth, build self-trust, reduce fear around symptoms and subsequent avoidance, strengthen coping skills, support pacing and activity engagement, and reconnect with the parts of life that feel meaningful, manageable and their own.
Rhianna takes an integrative and highly individualised approach, recognising that therapy is not one-size-fits-all. She draws flexibly on components of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Schema Therapy, trauma-informed therapies, mindfulness and compassion-based approaches, polyvagal-informed mapping, somatic and mind-body strategies, and practical nervous system regulation skills. She also values clear psychoeducation, including pain neuroscience education, to help people understand the relationship between pain, threat, stress, the nervous system and daily functioning in a way that makes sense and feels usable.
She values an individualised approach and believes therapy should feel both scientifically grounded and deeply human.
Qualifications:
• BPsySc(Hons)
• MPsych(Clinical)
At Paced Health, we believe that living well does not have to wait until pain is gone. While pain may be part of your story, it does not have to define it.
Our approach is grounded in the understanding that persistent pain is complex and that meaningful change happens through understanding, connection and gradual, sustainable steps forward. We work alongside you to help make sense of your experience, reconnect with what matters most, and build a life that feels bigger than pain.
We know there is no one-size-fits-all answer. That’s why our clinicians work together to provide compassionate, evidence-based care that supports the whole person, not just symptoms.
WE BELIEVE LIFE CAN BECOME BIGGER THAN PAIN
