Overview

The College of Clinical Neuropsychology Victoria is pleased to invite members to an upcoming event featuring two presentations exploring the characteristics, assessment, and treatment of cognitive difficulties in mental illness and substance use disorders.

In the first talk, Jamie Berry will explore cognitive difficulties in psychiatric and substance use disorder populations, including their substantial impact on everyday functioning and treatment engagement. While cognitive screening and assessment can help identify these difficulties, there is increasing clinical interest in interventions that support cognitive functioning and lead to meaningful real-world outcomes. This presentation will provide a brief overview of cognitive remediation in psychiatry and substance use disorder settings. Drawing on clinical program development and evaluation work, the talk will summarise key principles of cognitive remediation, review evidence for its effectiveness, and provide examples of treatment approaches. Practical considerations for neuropsychologists interested in implementing cognitive remediation will also be discussed, including core competencies, client engagement, and outcome measurement.

In the second talk, Kelly Allott will focus on cognition in early psychosis. Cognitive impairment is a core feature of psychosis and a key determinant of functional outcomes, yet it remains under-assessed and undertreated in routine care. This presentation will cover a series of studies examining the prevalence and profile of cognitive difficulties and strengths in young people with early psychosis. It will explore cognition as a treatment priority from the perspective of young people and present longitudinal data on cognitive trajectories across illness stages. The talk will also address the role of brief, scalable cognitive screening in clinical services by presenting preliminary findings from the CogScreen study, a type 1 hybrid effectiveness- implementation study.

Learning Outcomes

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

• Characterise cognitive functioning in early psychosis and substance use disorder
• Explain why cognition is important to assess and support in early psychosis and substance use disorder populations
• Understand the role of hybrid effectiveness implementation studies in closing the gap between knowledge and clinical practice
• Understand how cognitive interventions can be applied in clinical practice

Presenter(s)

About the presenter(s)

Jamie Berry is a clinical neuropsychologist and Director of Advanced Neuropsychological Treatment Services (ANTS), a group private practice specialising in neuropsychological assessment and intervention. He teaches on the postgraduate training programs at Sydney University and the University of New South Wales and has an honorary appointment as Clinical Associate Professor at Macquarie University. He has more than 25 years’ experience working clinically across public health and private practice and his research focuses on cognitive assessment and cognition-oriented interventions for people with complex neurocognitive, neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric needs. Jamie was the project lead on the Alcohol and drug Cognitive Enhancement (ACE) project, a collaboration between ANTS, the NSW Health Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI) and We Help Ourselves (WHOS)

Kelly Allott is a clinical neuropsychologist and Professorial Fellow at Orygen and the Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne. She leads the Cognition Research program at Orygen, focused on understanding and supporting cognitive functioning and functional recovery among youth with mental illness, with a strong focus on early psychosis. She has a special interest in cognitive functioning over time and the factors associated with cognitive change, as well as strengths, strategy, and lifestyle-based approaches to supporting cognitive functioning and optimising implementation in real world clinical settings. She has published over 185 peer reviewed publications, been awarded more than $61 million in research funding, and developed a range of resources for clinical use.

Notes

Target Audience

This event is aimed at neuropsychologists and clinicians who are working, or interested in working, in mental health and substance use settings, particularly those with an interest in cognitive assessment, intervention, and rehabilitation.

Please note:

• This is a Member Groups event. All communication will be sent to the registrants’ registered email address. This includes event reminders with details (such as the Zoom link) and any pre-event or post-event resources, if provided by the facilitators.
• A post-event email will be sent within two weeks of the event’s completion to each registrant’s registered email address. This email will include the CPD certificate, event-recording, and any additional resources shared during the session.

Duration of Access

This event will be recorded. The recording will be emailed to all registered within 2 weeks post event and available for viewing up to 90 days.

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.