Overview

The Health Psychology College, Victoria Branch is hosting live 60 minute peer supervision and reflective practice discussions on a monthly basis open to all psychologists. The focus for each session will be on a different area of health psychology practice with topics aligned with awareness campaigns in each month, including specific health concerns, as well as sessions focusing on behavioural health. We invite you to join the consultation with other psychologists from around Australia, as part of your continuing professional development. These sessions will be facilitated by Health Psychologists and will draw on the knowledge and experience of the attendees.

Why attend?
- to know more about the work of health psychologists in the care of patients with the health condition
- to increase competence at addressing the psychological consequences of the health condition
- to increase awareness of issues, current evidence and practice challenges in the area of focus

Who can attend?
We welcome all psychologists with an interest in health to learn from each other and contribute your expertise.

What is the format?
The format involves reading an assigned relevant paper, directed learning about the topic, and reflective practice discussion in small groups, which is shared in the facilitated larger group. This format doesn’t include individual case discussion and is focused on practice implications, challenges and the needs of the attending psychologist.  

When are the sessions?
Online sessions will be held at 12 noon on the second Tuesday of each month. A zoom link to all sessions will be sent to participants after registration.

Proposed Dates & Topics

Date	Topics
11 February 2025	Initiating Health Behaviour Change
11 March 2025	Assessing and treating sleep issues (in older adults)
08 April 2025	Psychologist Role in Brain Gut Disorders
13 May 2025	Supporting Vaping Cessation
10 June 2025	Pain management strategies for recurrent pain conditions
08 July 2025	Reducing Alcohol Harm
12 August 2025	Supporting a Culture of Connection
09 September 2025	Supporting Courageous Conversations
14 October 2025	Understanding impact of military experiences
11 November 2025	Psychology in Rural and Remote Australia

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should be able to:

• Increase knowledge of area
• Provision of reflective practice opportunities
• Provide opportunities to extend learning in the health area
• Increase networking with other psychologists with an interest in health psychology
• Reflection on self-care

Presenter(s)

Dr. Thai Ohtsuka, Dr. Rosemary Higgins, Ms Sue Yencken and Dr. Andrew Sinclair

About the presenter(s)

Dr. Thai Ohtsuka is a clinical and health psychologist as well as a registered supervisor. She has extensive experience working in community settings, public mental health services, clinical supervision, research, and higher education teaching. Her practice focuses on combining mindfulness and reflective techniques, guided by Eastern and Western traditions. Beyond her clinical work, she contributes to projects aimed at improving service provision, guiding governance direction, offering mindfulness training, and advancing the psychology workforce. Dr. Rosemary Higgins is a health psychologist who divides her time between clinical research, training and private practice. Rosemary has worked in hospital and health care settings, private practice and not for profit organisations. Rosemary is a passionate health psychologist with a drive for improving multidisciplinary patient care and supporting self-management. She has authored over 60 research papers and lectures at a number of universities, supporting the growth of health professionals Ms Sue Yencken is an experienced health psychologist who works in public as well as private health settings as well as in private practice. Sue is an integral part of pain management services at Eastern Health and has delivered patient group education and support for patients with a wide range of health issues across multiple health services. Sue is passionate about improving service delivery to provide best practice care to patients within and on discharge from health care settings. Dr. Andrew Sinclair is a health psychologist with significant experience working with men, veterans, and people with physical disability. Andrew has worked for 15 years at a national disability organisation, Independence Australia, managing the delivery of a diverse range of psychological services including counselling, therapeutic groups, and a post graduate student placement program. Andrew works in private practice as a health psychologist as well as being a committee member of the APS Health Psychology Vic Branch.

Notes

The registration fee covers access to all 10 sessions in the workshop series. The sessions will not be recorded as they are focused in live discussion.

Target Audience

The sessioss are aimed at all psychologists with an interest in health to learn from each other and contribute their expertise.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.