Psych Matters

This episode will explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health training experiences and consideration of indigenous values, lifestyles, aspirations, family and differing needs and capacities of Indigenous people in diverse, complex economic and social circumstances. Through the firsthand stories of current trainees on their rural pathways to Fellowship, they share their experience o...

This episode from the series In Conversation: on the rural pathway to Fellowship explores the holistic nature of care by examining the firsthand stories of trainees and their approach to cases in rural settings. The podcast seeks to explore trainees dealing with cases in rural everyday circumstances and how these cases impacted their training experience. This podcast series was made possible by fu...

Considering a career as a Private rural psychiatrist but not sure about the pathway? A/Prof. Mathew Coleman explores the practicalities with Fellows working in rural private practice, to answer many common queries. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has received Australian Government funding under the Specialist Training Program to deliver this activity. Associate Profes...

Want to find out more about the rural training journey? This is the podcast to listen to! Doctors David Townsend, Skye Kinder, Nicholas Faint and Phoebe Thornton share the real stories of their rural psychiatry training journeys. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has received Australian Government funding under the Specialist Training Program to deliver this activity. ...

Are you considering a move to a rural community for your psychiatry training? This is the first podcast of a series of five; In Conversation: On the Rural Pathway to RANZCP Fellowship. Host Dr David Townsend speaks with psychiatrists-in-training sharing firsthand experience of living and working in a rural community. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has received Austra...

As 2022 draws to a close, the Psych Matters team: David, Jo-Rose, and Nishta, would like to thank you for your support during the year.  We hope that you’ve enjoyed the many topics presented during 2022, and we look forward to bringing many more to you in 2023. We would especially like to thank College members and others who have generously given their time to develop and present Psych Matters.  W...

This podcast explores the current evidence guiding how feedback can be most effectively delivered in clinical supervision. Supervision is a central feature of the RANZCP training program. While supervision is valued by trainees, they often discuss the desire for more feedback from their supervisors. Supervisors can struggle to provide feedback in busy clinical settings, and it is not always easy t...

In this episode of Psych Matters we hear about the ongoing journey of Australia’s first Indigenous doctor, Professor Helen Milroy, including the central importance of cultural competence for understanding and engaging with patients of all backgrounds. Professor Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Professor of Psychiatry and Chair in Child Mental...

In this episode of Psych Matters Professor Henry Brodaty explains recent advances in dementia research, diagnosis, treatment, and care. He presented this topic at the RANZCP Congress 2022 in Sydney, Australia and discusses many of the important points made during the presentation. Professor Henry Brodaty is a researcher, clinician, policy advisor and strong advocate for people with dementia and th...

Want to find out more about current developments and approaches in adolescent forensic psychiatry in Australia and NZ? This is the podcast to listen to! Hear from adolescent forensic psychiatrists at the coal face who bring diverse updates in this field for psychiatrists and trainees alike. Associate Professor John Kasinathan MBBS (Hons I; Syd), M.Psychiatry, FRANZCP, Cert. Forensic Psych., M.FMH...

Women in Psychiatry is a special interest group made up of women psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees. The mission of women in psychiatry is to support the needs of women psychiatrists and trainees through education, advocacy and support. Women in psychiatry have been involved in advocating for gender equity & safe, flexible workplaces, raising awareness regarding gender issues in psychiatry...

Dr Ben Bravery started life as a zoologist, working to save animals from extinction across the globe. Though at 28-years-old, he was diagnosed with bowel cancer and confronted with the prospect of his own destruction. Ben’s journey from scientist to cancer patient, and now to psychiatry trainee is documented in his memoir The Patient Doctor. On the topics of compassion, system design, and medical...

In this episode hosted by the Gender Equity Working Group of the RANZCP, Dr Carol Silberberg and Associate Professor Samantha Loi discuss the challenges involved in balancing leadership roles with family commitments and provide their own experiences and advice about how to tackle these.  Dr Andrew Amos is a Representative of the RANZCP’s Gender Equity Working Group. Associate Professor Samantha Lo...

In this episode Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi and his guests discuss topics including the recent pandemic and other related themes which was presented during the Presidential Symposium hosted at the 2022 RANZCP Congress in Sydney. Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi , MBBS Syd, MD ANU, DMedSc Melb, FRANZCP, AFRACMA, is a clinical academic neuropsychiatrist, in private and public practice, and Head...

Music And Psychology & Social connections (MAPS) is an online group program which combines music therapy via therapeutic songwriting and psychology informed by cognitive behaviour therapy for couples affected by younger-onset dementia.  MAPS aims to improve the mental health and social connections in the spousal carers and in the people with younger-onset dementia, with secondary aims to impro...

In this podcast, Professor Jayashri Kulkarni speaks on the current social context of women's mental health, and the impact this has in our work as psychiatrists. Professor Kulkarni's podcast focusses on problems with the diagnostic term "Borderline Personality Disorder", as well as the hormone impacts on women's mental health. She speaks about new treatments for premenstru...

In this episode Professor Mal Hopwood and Dr Dhamidhu Eratne discuss The Markers in Neuropsychiatric Disorders Study. The MiND Study is an Australia-wide research study led by Professor Dennis Velakoulis and Dr Eratne in Neuropsychiatry at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and The University of Melbourne, aiming to develop a routinely available blood test to diagnose (or rule out) dementia and other il...

In this episode of Psych Matters Dr Rees Tapsell, from the Arawa canoe of Ngāti Whakaue descent, describes systemic features affecting Maori mental health, including the impact of the RANZCP’s Te Kaunihera committee, imminent changes to the NZ health system which will see a new Maori Health Authority working alongside Health NZ, and the importance of self-determination for First Nation peoples acr...

This podcast is a discussion of the performance of the Victorian health system during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with reference to the Australian and International context for health systems and population mental health. Issues related to managing through adversity, adaptation health, wellbeing, workforce and mental health service data collection are also discussed by Professors Vina...

Over the years there has been an increasing awareness of the fact that while the vast majority of individuals with autism spectrum conditions are law abiding, some on the spectrum do commit serious acts of violence. In this podcast we look at the core features of autism, explore differences across the spectrum and review the evidence on the link, if any, between autism and serious violence. We als...

Over the years there has been an increasing awareness of the fact that while the vast majority of individuals with autism spectrum conditions are law abiding, some on the spectrum do commit serious acts of violence. In this podcast we look at the core features of autism, explore differences across the spectrum and review the evidence on the link, if any, between autism and serious violence. We als...

Remote psychiatry is one part of the diverse practice of regional, rural, and remote psychiatry that is unique to countries such as Australia and New Zealand.  Remote psychiatry brings a number of unique challenges and benefits for clinicians and is not for the faint hearted.  Working in resource poor areas, across large geographical areas means that psychiatrists must be adept in providing the wh...

Dr Elder is the author of Aroha:Māori wisdom for a contented life lived in harmony with our planet and in this episode of Psych Matters facilitated by Dr Andrew Amos, she discussed how spiritual stories of the Māori people can improve the health and wellbeing of psychiatrists and their patients through expanded understanding of the meaning of absolute self-determination, the rhythms of kinship and...

The Section of Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry is comprised of a small group of psychiatrists from around Australia and New Zealand.  It is an active section that hosts the only annual Youth Forensic conference worldwide.  In this podcast, members of the binational committee for Child and Adolescent Youth Forensic Psychiatry discuss violence in Youth. Their discussions will include the hi...

The Section of Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry is comprised of a small group of psychiatrists from around Australia and New Zealand.  It is an active section that hosts the only annual Youth Forensic conference worldwide.  In this podcast, members of the binational committee for Child and Adolescent Youth Forensic Psychiatry discuss violence in Youth.  Their discussions will include the h...