Emerging Minds Podcast

In this episode, host Sophie Guy speaks with Dr Sara McLean about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Dr Sara McLean is a registered psychologist and researcher. She has conducted extensive work to identify the role and impact of developmental differences and FASD in children in out-of-home care.   In this episode you will learn:  Prevalence of FASD and the reason for its increase in recent ye...

In this episode, we talk with Dr Jackie Amos about her doctoral research into intergenerational patterns of relational trauma and how distressing parent-child relationships can be healed. Jackie is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and Gestalt psychotherapist. She is currently working with the family preservation and reunification team at Centacare to train and support staff in an intensive ther...

In this episode, we talk with Nicola Palfrey about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); what they are and how they can be of use to practitioners who work with children and families. Nicola is a clinical psychologist and researcher who has worked extensively with children, adolescents and adults who have experienced significant adversity and trauma. She is responsible for leading the National Wor...

In this episode, we talk with David Tully about engaging men who use violence and its role in supporting children's social and emotional wellbeing. David has worked in the area of domestic violence and childhood sexual assault for over 20 years and is currently Practice Manager for the Specialised Family Violence Services at Relationships Australia SA.   In this episode you will learn: The role of...

In this episode, Dan Moss introduces us to six practice positions that can help practitioners to build positive working relationships with parents and create a foundation of safety to explore child social and emotional wellbeing. Dan worked as a practitioner and manager at Uniting Communities for more than 15 years and is currently the Workforce Development Manager at Emerging Minds. In this episo...

One program manager’s journey to create culturally authentic support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

In this episode, we speak with Dr Sara Whitburn about the role of GPs in promoting children's resilience and mental health. Sara is a GP and lactation consultant in private practice in Melbourne who has a strong interest in women's and children’s health and the early years of parenting. We discuss the unique opportunity that GPs have to support child mental health and ways of bringing the conversa...

In this episode, we speak with Dr Nick Kowalenko, a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Sydney. Nick has been practicing as a psychiatrist for more than 25 years and is President of the Tresillian Family Care Services Council as well as Deputy Chair of Emerging Minds. We talk infant and child mental health; what it looks like when things are going well and when things are not going so well;...

Learn ways of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families that create genuine engagement and lead to culturally safe services.

In this episode, we speak with Sarah Seekamp about the importance of play for child social and emotional wellbeing. Sarah is an occupational therapist and has spent much of her career working in primary health care settings. Her work has had a strong focus on supporting parents to play with their children in ways that encourage healthy growth and development. In this episode you will learn: Why ch...

Welcome to the Emerging Minds podcast series. Join us each fortnight as we speak with a wide range of practitioners - from GPs to social workers to psychiatrists - on a variety of topics related to children’s mental health.

In this episode, we sit down with the Director of the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, Brad Morgan, to discuss why supporting the mental health of children under 12 years is so important. Tune in to learn why the mental health of children often flies under the radar and the approach that the National Workforce Centre is taking to support practitioners and other professionals to s...

In this episode, we talk to Kate Brady, a Churchill Fellow and National Recovery Advisor at Australian Red Cross, about what happens in a community during and after a traumatic event. She discusses the difference between natural disasters and community traumas, what communities might experience, and how families, communities, and first responders can all respond to and support children in their re...

In this episode we talk to Dr Briony Towers, a research fellow in the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University, about the benefits of involving children in disaster preparedness, as well as some of the myths and misconceptions that children hold about disasters and bushfires in particular. In this episode you will learn: The survive and thrive program for primary schools (10:39) Children's inv...

In this episode we talk to Michelle Roberts, a psychologist and expert in the areas of child and adolescent trauma, loss and grief, and children's disaster recovery. She has decades of experience as an educator and psychologist supporting school communities, and discusses with us the ongoing psychosocial needs of children following a disaster or community trauma and how schools and families can wo...