Our people.
Our team is composed of highly experienced professionals who have an exceptional level of wisdom, insight, and practical knowledge.
Our people are passionate about what they do and highly motivated to work with others on creating thriving, vibrant, healthy organisational cultures, and safe communities.
It is rare to find a team of such experienced, knowledgeable, motivated, and outcome-oriented practitioners.
Karen Mitchell.
Karen Mitchell is the founder and CEO of The Kalmor Institute. Her 30 year career has included extensive work with executive groups and people across organisations on large scale culture change interventions related to efficiency, mergers, marketplace changes, diversity, and other issues, all of which have required deep insight into human motivation and engagement as well as commercial acumen. Karen has also worked on team, and individual capability development including building knowledge, confidence, and skills in areas such as strategy, leading through change, inclusive leadership, client management, to name a few.
Karen was the first culture change specialist in Australia to work with organisations on creating cultures that support women's advancement and achievement. This included the development of a suite of programs for women designed to create highly effective career-management capabilities. Programs address some of the unspoken dynamics in enterprises that impact women and how to overcome them, personal branding, and positioning women operating effectively in support roles, such as finance, law, and human capital, to take on P & L roles. It also includes program for leaders to understand and address unconscious bias.
Karen’s PhD research is the first in the world collected on high functioning psychopaths/narcissists/predators (Dark Personalities) operating outside the justice system in areas such as corporates, medicine, religion including child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, coercive domestic violence, schools, the military, cults and so on, as well as within a forensic context. She has created a highly nuanced model which applies to all people of Dark Personality and which highlights the shared characteristics and how these manifest in a wide range of personal circumstances and contexts. It is the first work to identify the shared tactics commonly used by people of DP to manipulate and harm without being exposed.
Karen has spent many years volunteering in the areas of micro-financing in third world countries and also domestic violence where she has advocated for justice system reform and the legal acknowledgement of targets/survivors of coercive control. Her qualifications include a BAppSc, GradDipBus, MCom and she is a PhD candidate having submitted her final thesis. She is a member of the Institute of Company Directors.
Karen’s PhD research is the first in the world collected on high functioning psychopaths/narcissists/predators (Dark Personalities) operating outside the justice system in areas such as corporates, medicine, religion including child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, coercive domestic violence, schools, the military, cults and so on, as well as within a forensic context.
Mark MacKizer.
Mark MacKizer, as a former Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (retired), is an expert in both overt and covert forms of harm perpetrated by narcissistic and psychopathic personalities. His roles have included extensive behavioural analysis and advisory work relating to risk, personality, and mitigation.
Mark’s 27-year career with the FBI has included general and leadership roles in special weapons and tactics, evidence response, crisis management coordination, organised crime drug trafficking investigations, homicide investigations, and co-ordination of one of the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment teams.
Mark spent 7 years assigned to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico where his focus was on crimes against children. He was responsible for providing behaviourally based operational support to law enforcement agencies internationally and domestically which involved threats of targeted violence, terrorism, homicide, sexual assault, child abduction, equivocal death, and cold cases, as well as training to federal, state, local and international law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation of child abductions, the disappearances of children under unusual circumstances, child homicide and child sexual victimisation.
Mark has an extensive career working with people who have psychopathic, narcissistic, and predatory personalities and their victims and surrounding communities. He is exceptionally experienced in working with the darker sides of human behaviour including coercion, exploitation, fraud, fabrication, intimidation/threats, grooming, toxicity, and manipulation.
At Kalmor, Mark specialises in advising organisations on ways to handle complex situations which involve risk resulting from the behaviour of a person within an organisation or community. The risk posed by the person may be to other people, to organisational reputation, to finances, to assets, and to organisational survival. Mark assists organisations work through the options for addressing the risk and which elicits the best responses and outcomes for all stakeholders.
At Kalmor, Mark also specialises in coercive control advisory work and training.
Mark is an expert in the detection and identification of coercive controlling behaviours. He has delivered presentations internationally on DARVO and interrogation/interview techniques designed to expose coercive controllers and where there is often limited evidence.
Coercive control is the art of using a plethora of strategies to target, engage, weaken, isolate, and exploit targets/victims causing severe harm which may be psychological, emotional, financial, social, reputational, parental, and relational. It has been described as a form of terrorism and may indirectly lead to death through illness, suicide, or drug-related death.
Mark has co-developed a unique, cutting edge, interviewing technique which can be used in the justice system to expose and gain actionable information from coercive control perpetrators, including higher functioning narcissists and psychopaths.
This technique can be used in any arena where coercive controllers engage including corporates, domestic violence, terrorism, cults, child prostitution and other sexually exploitative industries, consulting, religion, law enforcement, and the justice system. This specialised technique has been developed from data collected by the United States Government over a 5-year period relating to best practice interviewing and interrogation techniques and several other research projects presenting related data. Mark has worked on combining this best practice information to create this specialised interview/interrogation process.
At Kalmor, Mark is also a specialist presenter and facilitator of programs designed to educate about narcissistic and psychopathic personalities, their attributes, and tactics as well methods to expose and manage them.
Mark has presented at numerous conferences throughout the US and internationally on areas such as child abductions; DARVO and interrogation techniques; sex crimes and missing person investigations.
Mark’s 27-year career with the FBI has included general and leadership roles in special weapons and tactics, evidence response, crisis management coordination, organised crime drug trafficking investigations, homicide investigations, and co-ordination of one of the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment teams.
Dr Felicity McFarlane.
Dr McFarlane is a coach, facilitator, and special guest speaker with the Kalmor Institute as well as the founder and principal practitioner at a large, private-practice psychology clinic.
At the Kalmor Institute, Dr McFarlane delivers educational programs and presentations on the intrinsic traits of, as well as the tactics used by, high functioning narcissists and psychopaths, such as those found in the fields of business, law, the military, medicine, and law enforcement, to control, to win, to harm and to escape exposure. She also delivers coaching and support programs to people targeted by individuals who are high functioning narcissists or psychopaths, that is, people of Dark Personality.
In private practice, Dr McFarlane has a special interest in post-separation families which appear as ‘high conflict’ but rather involve a ‘protective parent’ and a high functioning narcissist or psychopath who may be, for example, a doctor, a judge, a CEO, or a board director and who uses the courts to continue their control and harm of the ex-partner and children. Dr McFarlane has substantial interest and experience in matters relating to child and family court proceedings where a parent of Dark Personality can control and abuse their ex-partner and child/children for years through weaponization of the justice system.
Dr McFarlane is a clinical psychologist with a doctorate in child and adolescent trauma. She has extensive experience with narcissists and psychopaths and with their targets/victims, including both adults and children and a deep understanding of the methods narcissists and psychopaths use to control, to harm, to demean, and to disadvantage as well as the complex, long-standing and deep trauma experienced by their targets/victims.
In her coaching and support role with targets/victims at the Kalmor Institute, Dr McFarlane works to understand the context of harm, clarify how Dark Personality attributes are manifesting behaviourally and how tactics are being used to damage the target/victim, then provide feedback, insights, and support drawing on her clinical experience.
In her clinical role, Dr McFarlane works extensively in assessing and treating anxiety, mood disorders, eating disorders, self-harm, complex trauma (both critical incident and developmental trauma), somatic difficulties and developmental issues across the lifespan. She focuses particular attention on emotional regulation/dysregulation patterns and has a special interest in anxiety and developmental trauma as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, attachment focused parenting across childhood and adolescence. Some of the frameworks Dr McFarlane engages in her work with families include trauma and attachment theories (Perry, B., Van der Kolk, B., Bowlby, J.) and dyadic developmental psychotherapy (Hughes, D.) where an attachment disruption in the parent child relationship is present. Dr. McFarlane uses focused mindfulness strategies and body-oriented techniques from her training in a Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Framework. She also has training and experience in Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). Her therapy dog, Nellie, is often present during sessions.
Dr. McFarlane provides clinical supervision to provisional and registered clinical and general psychologists and is a board approved supervisor through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). She provides consultation and supervision across a variety of settings including, private practice, AHPRA, schools, community mental health, headspace, and rural and remote settings.
Dr. McFarlane began her career at St Vincent’s Hospital Acute Adult Inpatient Unit and has worked as a clinical child and adolescent psychologist at the Austin Hospital Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service and The Alfred Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (including the Alfred Infant Team). She has also worked as a senior clinical psychologist at the Monash Medical Centre for the Consultation and Liaison Psychiatry Team in paediatrics.
Dr McFarlane has a B.Arts, Grad.Dip.(Psych.), D.Psych.(Clinical), M.A.P.S., is eligible for Membership of the Clinical College and is a founding Member of A.C.P.A. Her registration number is PSY0001122785.
Dr McFarlane delivers educational programs and presentations on the intrinsic traits of, as well as the tactics used by, high functioning narcissists and psychopaths, such as those found in the fields of business, law, the military, medicine, and law enforcement, to control, to win, to harm and to escape exposure.
Michael Griffiths.
Michael has over 35 years of international consulting experience in complex organisational change, cultural transformation, and both individual and organisational capability development.
He has worked with a wide range of industries, clients and organisational issues and has a unique ability to work with people at all levels, from the CEO of a multi-national company to teachers and students in an educational setting, to a frontline operator at an outback mining site, to sporting coaches in elite sport. The driving philosophy of Michael’s consulting approach is a firm belief in the untapped potential of people in organisations and it is his belief that the role of an effective consultant is to facilitate the growth of that potential, removing potential blockers, and thereby maximising an organisation’s effectiveness. During his many years of advisory work, Michael has developed close partnerships with his clients, becoming a trusted adviser and maintaining long-term relationships.
Michael has driven many cultural transformation and regeneration projects across small, medium, and large organisations both internationally and in Australia and believes the key to successful cultural transformation is a deep understanding of personal motivators and behavioural drivers. Facilitating staff ownership of a change process with guidance from leadership, rather than a ‘top-down driven approach’ is another key feature of successful culture change in Michael’s experience, far more successful than the generic approach many organizations adopt. Likewise, his approach to developing high performing leaders considers both individual perspective and existing behavioural capability.
The base of much of Michael’s consulting approach is Integral Theory, developed by Ken Wilbur, which is an important advancement in contemporary organisational and individual development practices. Integral Theory is a comprehensive, balanced, and inclusive approach to change, inviting us to be a little more whole and a little less fragmented, in our work, our lives, our destiny. Michael has been instrumental in using this approach effectively in organisational and communities to expand individual perspectives and evolve collective cultures. The application of this approach is unique, and Michael is passionate about using it with individuals and teams wanting to take their performance to the next level.
An example of one of Michael’s projects, in 2022, was the engagement of 400 coaches and 2500 athletes of an educational institution in a ‘reimagining’ of the future of sport. This included establishing, with full buy-in for, a strategic direction including purpose, vision, and values. As of June 2023, the program of transformation has resulted in significant performance improvement at both individual and team level.
Another of Michael’s current projects involves working with senior and middle level leaders across a food products business in the FMCG industry, developing team and leadership capability across the organisation, redesigning the organisational values, and developing an implementation plan to ground the values in all aspects of the business operations.
Michael has a degree in psychology and sociology, a Graduate Diploma in Social Psychology (Performance Science), and a Masters in Organisational Psychology. He is a member of the Australian Psychology Association.
Michael has over 35 years of international consulting experience in complex organisational change, cultural transformation, and both individual and organisational capability development.
Mariam Issa.
Mariam Issa is a visionary change agent, a highly skilled coach and person of extraordinary compassion and strength. Her ability to work with people in a one-on-one capacity or as a group to gain confidence, knowledge, and skills, as well as a deep appreciation for their own personal strengths is exceptional.
Mariam specialises in gender issues. She is passionate about women designing lives that they love, that are of their own choosing, and supporting women to identify and take steps to fulfil on their life vision, powerfully breaking through barriers along the way. Mariam has a deep belief in the power of storytelling, of honoring personal stories. In her group work she creates safe environments where people may choose to engage in personal storytelling which secures unexpected, desirable outcomes. She also uses a plethora of transformative tools which help people connect more skillfully and meaningfully with themselves and with each other which she integrates into the Kalmor Institute offerings.
While Mariam understands corporate and organisational contexts, she is not constrained by them. As such, she offers a refreshing approach to coaching and facilitation, enabling women to step outside their own perceived constraints and barriers to gain traction in their lives, careers, and other roles.
Throughout her own life, Mariam has triumphed over numerous obstacles and challenges associated with culture, race, migration, gender, and more. With her deep understanding of adversity, Mariam illuminates a path forward with individuals and groups, weaving her African heritage and her Islamic faith into contemporary expressions of compassion and connection.
Mariam is an author, a community builder, and an inspiring facilitator who sees diversity as an essential element of a unified world. Her life vision is that all women lead lives of joy and purpose.
Mariam is an author, a community builder, and an inspiring facilitator who sees diversity as an essential element of a unified world. Her life vision is that all women lead lives of joy and purpose.
Alexandra Grainger.
Alexandra is a clinical psychologist with a highly compassionate but pragmatic style. She has many years of experience working with people from a range of contexts and circumstances, including couples, families, youth, and people living with chronic illness and disability. Alexandra has worked in both a counselling capacity with private individuals, and as a coach to people in corporates and organisations.
Alexandra is highly experienced in working with people who have experienced or are currently experiencing the damaging effects of narcissists, including those who engage in coercive control. She has a deep knowledge of the tactics used by narcissists to harm, and to avoid exposure including manipulation, creation of false narrative, blaming, bullying, provocation, exploitation, and grooming others to see them as ‘normal’ individuals. She is also familiar with the exceptionally unusual lengths narcissists will go to, to harm, deceive, provoke, and disadvantage their targets/victims.
At Kalmor, Alexandra delivers our one-on-one programs for those experiencing adversity through past or current experiences with narcissists and/or coercive controllers. She also delivers our training and education programs on the characteristics of narcissists and psychopaths, how to identify them and strategies to address them.
Alexandra is particularly passionate about working with those who have been negatively impacted by adverse life circumstances, including those experiencing high levels of trauma and surviving in highly stressful environments. Her professional focus is on assisting those experiencing high levels of adversity to shift from survival mode to experiencing a greater sense of support and vitality.
Alexandra has a BBehSc, a PostGrad Dip (Psych), and a MPsych (Clinical).