Overview

Mental illness has many gender-specific and age-specific characteristics that clinical practice has historically overlooked.

This self-paced eLearning activity aims to upskill clinicians to enable them to work sensitively and effectively with women across the lifespan who experiencing mental ill-health, and to integrate an understanding of factors such as the role of trauma and endocrinology in the development of mental illness, as well as implications for treatments.

Health clinicians, as a key point of contact for women of all ages who suffer from complex mental health conditions, play a critical role in early identification, risk assessment, and timely intervention.

This short course consists of three modules, purchased separately:

1. Adolescence (5 CPD hours),

2. Midlife (5 CPD hours), and

3. Perinatal (5 CPD hours).

This activity aims to cultivate a ‘new thinking’ approach to better equip clinicians with the skills to enhance the health, mental health, and wellbeing of women. The content draws on a biopsychosocial framework of women's mental health, with a focus on psychoneuroendocrine research, to help provide an understanding of assessment and treatment of women's mental health across the lifespan.

The topics covered apply to the psychological management of women of all ages, and includes the provision of background knowledge, assessment, and treatment options for women across the lifespan:

• adolescent women and content relating to the contraceptive pill,

• menstrual cycle and premenstrual mood disorders, 

• complex trauma disorders,

• perinatal mental health,

• psychotic disorders, and

• mental health and menopause.

Level of learning

Advanced. This activity is targeted to those who have significant expertise or similar field of knowledge.

Duration of access

Participants will have access to each module for 12 months from the date of confirmed enrolment.

Group discounts apply, email for details.

Target audience

• Psychologists with an interest in women's mental health,

• Health professionals working with women across the lifespan, 

• Psychiatrists,

• Obstetricians/gynaecologists, and 

• General practitioners.

APS CPD-Approved

This activity has been assessed against the APS Standards for CPD activities and approved for its education quality. Learn more about the APS CPD Approval process.

About HER Centre Australia

Explore online courses, resources and support, news and publications of HER Centre Australia and learn more about how it is dedicated to changing awareness and understanding around how women are uniquely impacted by mental illness and mental ill health, so that everyone can play a part in changing the way illnesses and issues are managed and treated. Learn more.

Learning Outcomes

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

• describe how symptoms of complex mental health conditions, including borderline personality disorder (complex trauma disorder), depression, anxiety, and psychosis, vary across the lifespan,

• identify risk factors for, and key symptoms of, complex mental health conditions relevant to women across the lifespan (e.g. eating disorders and self-harm behaviour),

• evaluate biological, psychological, and social treatment approaches for crisis, early management and recovery phases of complex mental illnesses suffered by women across the lifespan,

• compare and contrast several new treatment approaches including those based on the latest in psychoneuroendocrine research,

• discuss the significant impact of past and current abuse, violence and trauma on female mental ill-health and outcomes, and

• identify special health issues and how they impact on women’s mental health, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), use of the oral contraceptive pill (OCP), and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

Website/s