— A B O U T A N T H O N Y —
Psychologist. Dog trainer. The only person in the world doing both.
I've spent the last decade building something that didn't exist — a specialist clinic dedicated entirely to helping people overcome their fear of dogs. Here's how it happened.
I'm Anthony — a registered psychologist, enthusiastic dog behaviourist, and proud dad to two humans and two dogs.
Since founding The Cynophobia Clinic in 2016, my team and I have helped hundreds of people across Australia and around the world overcome a fear that had been running their lives for years — sometimes decades.
What started as an unlikely combination of two very different careers has become the world's first psychology practice dedicated exclusively to cynophobia. And now, with The Cynophobia Clinic Online, that same expertise is available to anyone, anywhere.
— H O W I T S T A R T E D —
A passion for dogs. A career in psychology. A moment that changed everything.
My path to this work began about a decade ago, when I completed a professional dog training course under two of Australia's most respected dog trainers, Vicki and Steve Austin.
At the time I was working in private practice treating anxiety-related conditions — work I loved deeply, partly because I understood anxiety from the inside. I'd dealt with my own PTSD following a serious car accident, and that experience gave me a different kind of connection to the people I worked with.
I wanted to find a way to bring my clinical work and my lifelong passion for dogs together. I just didn't know yet what that would look like.
For the next couple of years I continued my psychology practice while volunteering with an organisation that trained therapy dogs for veterans with PTSD. It was deeply rewarding — and it sharpened my understanding of how powerfully the relationship between humans and dogs can affect mental health.
Then one day, a client came to see me who had a severe phobia of dogs.
"With the knowledge I had as both a psychologist and dog trainer — and the help of my beloved beagle, Ace — I was able to help them feel safe and in control around dogs for the first time in their life."
The result was extraordinary. Life-changing, in the truest sense of that word. And for me, the experience was so rewarding — and honestly, so much fun — that I knew immediately I had to make this my life's work.
— T H E C Y N O P H O B I A C L I N I C —
From a single session to the world's first cynophobia clinic.
That first client introduced me to the team at TATE Animals — a group of outstanding dog behaviour consultants with a pack of beautifully trained dogs and a shared belief in what we were building.
The Cynophobia Clinic opened in 2016. It was the first psychology practice in the world dedicated exclusively to cynophobia — and it still is.
What followed was years of incredibly rewarding clinical work, helping people from across Australia and around the world finally feel free around dogs. People who hadn't visited certain friends in years. People who had planned entire holidays around avoiding dogs. People who had been living with this fear for fifty years.
By 2022, demand had grown far beyond what could be served in a Sydney clinic. People were reaching out from Melbourne, Brisbane, London, New York, Singapore — people who desperately wanted help but had no way to access it.
So I made the decision to build something new.
— T H E C Y N O P H O B I A C L I N I C O N L I N E —
The same expertise. Available everywhere.
The Cynophobia Clinic Online launched to bring the same evidence-based process I'd refined over years of specialist clinical work to anyone in the world — on their schedule, at their pace, without needing to travel to Sydney.
I'm genuinely thrilled to be able to share what I've learned from working with hundreds of people just like you. The knowledge, the process, the tools — everything that has helped them break free from this fear — is now available online.
Wherever you are. Whenever you're ready.
- F R E E R E S O U R C E S -
Not sure where to start?
Unleashed: A Beginner's Guide
A 13-page plain-English guide covering what cynophobia actually is, why your brain does what it does, and the three pillars that make overcoming it possible.
5 Minute Fear Assessment
A research-backed tool that measures your cynophobia severity across ten dimensions and gives you a personalised result — including the type of support most likely to help.
- O U R P R O G R A M S -
Two programs. One specific fear. Expert guidance every step of the way.
Unleashed
Overcome your fear of dogs — for good.
A self-paced online program that guides you through the exact process Anthony uses with his in-person clients — step by step, starting wherever you're comfortable. Seven modules covering the science of your fear, dog behaviour and body language, personalised exposure therapy, and troubleshooting support. Includes a private 1:1 telehealth session with Anthony.
Pack Leader
Help your child live free from their fear of dogs.
Everything parents need to understand what's happening and guide their child through overcoming cynophobia — calmly and confidently.
Built on the same evidence-based approach as Unleashed, adapted specifically for children and the parents supporting them.