Dr. Kate Jacobs is the Director and Principal Educational Psychologist at Raise the Bar Psychology. With a Bachelor of Arts, a Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology, a Combined PhD/Masters in Educational & Developmental Psychology, and a Graduate Certificate of Academic Practice it could be fairly said that she is more than qualified to hold this position.
However it’s not just her studies that have given Kate her wealth of knowledge. With a career that has revolved around the educational system for as far as back as she can remember, Kate has a variety of experience gleaned from complementing her studies by working as an integration aide, a tutor and teaching into the undergraduate psychology program at Monash University. Since graduating and embarking on her career path, Kate has retained a university lecturing role in addition to establishing her own private practice – Raise the Bar Psychology.
With a fierce belief that a quality education is the right of every human being and the key to a successful future, Kate was driven by the desire to help students of all ages
realise their academic potential. With that in mind there was really no question that she would forge a career path for herself that enabled her to do just that.
Her intention in establishing Raise the Bar Psychology was to create a practice that uses a comprehensive approach to educational assessment. This approach enables the uniqueness of every student to be truly understood and appreciated. Since understanding is the first step towards acceptance, this assessment approach aides not only parent and teacher understanding of students, but promotes self-acceptance by students as well. Kate’s success in achieving this desire and the positive outcomes of this approach can be seen clearly in the way that Raise the Bar Psychology has grown since its beginnings.
Kate’s motivation to see people succeed and reach their potential is well summed up when she says “The most successful people are those who understand both their strengths and challenges and work proactively towards developing compensatory strategies for their areas of challenge.” Her ability to assist in that process is something she views as both a challenge and a very worthy pursuit.
However it’s not all work and lecturing for Kate. With a young family at home and a deeply abiding love of all things Harry Potter, her free time is filled with books, movies and shared meals with friends and family. A focus on a happy balance between work and life ensures that Kate brings the best of herself to everything she does. And a look to the future shows more family, more friends and more working with students to help them achieve their goals.
