President’s Initiative: Bringing Psychology to the Public

This year’s President’s Initiative, ‘Bringing Psychology to the Public’, arose out of a recognition by APS President, Anthony Cichello, that one of the key contributions the APS can make is to inform and educate the public about the role of psychology. By arranging a number of engaging speakers to present on topics that are of interest to the public, he hoped to not only raise the profile of the APS and psychology, but also educate the public on how psychology can assist people to live healthier lives.

The free public talks were very popular, with each event being oversubscribed and waiting lists created.

Melbourne events

The first public talks were held in Melbourne on 10 and 14 May, and featured American psychologist Dr Michael Yapko presenting a stimulating and informative lecture on the topic of depression, ‘Keys to unlock depression: Why skills work better than pills’.

In a departure from the common emphasis on the neurobiology of depression that encourages a reliance on antidepressant medications, Dr Yapko’s focus was instead on understanding the strong social and psychological components of depression.

Dr Yapko emphasised that depression involves much more than just your biology and isn’t something that you ‘get rid of’ or just medicate away. Instead, he described it as a multi-dimensional disorder made up of many contributing factors that you need the skills to manage. He provided some exercises for each of the risk factors he described, making the talk highly practical and useful.

There were also copies of Dr Yapko’s newest book, Keys to Unlocking Depression available for sale at the event, which provides both insights and strategies for managing depression.

If you’re capable of moods, you’re capable of mood disorders – Dr Michael Yapko, May 2018

The Melbourne events were well attended with more than 200 people taking part. Participant feedback is being collected and includes many positive comments from those who attended including the following:

“Just wanted to thank you very much for organising this informative, non-nonsense lecture.”

"I’m grateful, personally that you were able to organise a second lecture as my son agreed to attend with me and I know that for him the messages resonated on some levels that hadn’t before.”

“Dr Yapko, you have given me inspiration that there is awareness and coping skills to manage and support my son, thank you.”

Perth event

The third talk was held in Perth on 19 July, presented by APS member Associate Professor Carmela Pestell on ‘Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD): Australia’s hidden epidemic’. This is a topic of particular importance and relevance to Western Australians and has received considerable publicity over several years. The event was extremely popular with Associate Professor Pestell presenting in an auditorium full to capacity with an audience of more than 300 people.

Associate Professor Pestell used her talk to unravel 20 myths of FASD and explain why it is commonly misdiagnosed. She highlighted that it was a myth that FASD only affected Aboriginal populations, with surveys suggesting up to 60 per cent of Australian women drank during pregnancy despite national health guidelines stating they should abstain.

Associate Professor Pestell discussed how FASD can be prevented with the help of not only expectant mothers but also their loved ones and their healthcare providers, and provided information on the interventions that can make a significant difference to the quality of life for those affected and their families.

She also provided a number of key messages for health professionals in the audience, encouraging them to engage in non-judgmental conversations with their clients about alcohol consumption during pregnancy and to provide advice consistent with the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines, which recommend no alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Initial feedback on the Perth event was again very positive with comments from attendees including:

“Dispelling the myths about FASD was helpful.”

“I found the speaker both professional and caring.”

Evaluation of the initiative

The President was keen to ensure that evaluation of the event occurred to determine whether this was an initiative that was worth continuing in future years. Attendees have been asked to complete an online evaluation form. The preliminary feedback to date indicates that the events were popular with the public and that there is an appetite for such events to be held. The National Office will look at ways in which elements of this initiative can be continued in future years.

Ongoing access to presentation recordings

Both talks were filmed and are accessible to the public via our Psychlopaedia website (psychlopaedia.org), with the Yapko video receiving nearly 5,000 views at the time of going to print. People have also taken the opportunity to read some of the related articles on Psychlopaedia, with approximately 7,500 page views to date.

Media interest in the events was also evident, with nationally syndicated articles published for Fairfax media.

Melbourne event

Perth event