Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Psychology Interest Group
Student Award
Ms Alison Christie MAPS
Thesis title – The meaning and doing of mindfulness: The role of values-based behaviour in the link between mindfulness and wellbeing
Alison is a clinical psychologist working in private practice in Canberra. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the Australian National University in 2017. Alison's PhD thesis explored the roles of mindful awareness and purposeful, values-based action as processes of change in mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions and also examined how these processes interact in daily life to improve wellbeing and reduce distress. She authored/co-authored three papers derived from her research and a fourth is now in preparation.
Alison's work in clinical practice centres on mindfulness-based processes as tools for clinical change and she is passionate about continuing to develop ways to better integrate mindfulness and values processes into therapy.
ePsychology Interest Group
Student Research Prize
Dr Sally Bradford MAPS
Thesis title – Using technology to support engagement and self-disclosure in face-to-face mental healthcare: Promoting integrated systems of care
Sally is a clinical psychologist with an interest in using technology to support prevention and early intervention in mental health care. Her research has won her several awards including winning the 2015 National Cooperative Research Centres Association Early Career Researcher Showcase.
Sally currently works for Lifeline Australia where her role is to develop and evaluate new crisis support services such as a new crisis text service, and to test innovative practices for current services. She also works in private practice and has previously worked in both forensic and community mental health settings.
Sally is actively involved with the APS across a number of member groups and APS committees.
Dr Bonnie Clough MAPS
Thesis title – Technological adjuncts to increase adherence to therapy: The role of mobile phones
Bonnie was awarded her PhD (clinical) from Griffith University in 2016. Her main areas of interest are in patient engagement and adherence to psychotherapy, and ways in which technology can enhance existing therapy practices. In 2012 she was awarded a scholarship from the International Congress of Psychology as a member of their Emerging Psychologists' Programme. She was also awarded the Australian Psychological Society's Clinical Psychology Student of the Year for Griffith University in 2015.
Following completion of her PhD, Bonnie undertook a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Innovative Mental Health Solutions team at the University of Southern Queensland and since 2017 has been a lecturer at Griffith University, where she enjoys lecturing, research and clinical activities.
Psychology and the Environment Interest Group
Climate and Psychology Student Research Award
Dr Annamaria Klas
Thesis title – Pro-environmentalism: Environmentalist social identity, environmentalist stereotypes, and green consumerism engagement
Anna is a recent PhD graduate in social psychology and mixed methods research. Anna's thesis made a strong theoretical contribution to understanding the importance of group processes in the context of environmentalism, particularly how social identity and group stereotypes contribute to green consumerism. The use of mixed methods and social identity theory within her thesis was not only innovative for the area but also demonstrated that group-based variables provide a useful avenue for future pro-environmental interventions.
Anna's research attempts to understand how varying groups react to politicised issues such as climate change and tries to identify persuasive message types which may encourage pro-social outcomes.
Psychology of Intellectual Disability and Autism Interest Group
Thesis Award for Studies in the Psychology of Intellectual Disability and Autism
Dr Joyce Man MAPS
Thesis title – Psychologists' adherence to and carer experiences with best practice in intellectual disabilities and co-morbid mental health
Joyce is a clinical psychologist with The Benevolent Society where she specialises in intellectual disabilities and co-morbid mental health concerns. Joyce recently completed her PhD at Macquarie University which explored Australian psychologists' perceptions of best practice with individuals with intellectual disabilities and co-morbid mental health disorders and its alignment with carer experiences, and has led to two publications.
Joyce is the recipient of The Benevolent Society's Leaders Award which allows her to continue her research agenda in her workplace as well as two Innovation Impact Awards which provide funding to promote mental health literacy and self-care in parents with a child with an intellectual disability.
Occupational Health Psychology Interest Group
Fourth Year Student Award
Ms Stacey Renouf APS Student Subscriber
Thesis title – Exploring reasons for poor progress in Australian disability employment programs
Stacey completed a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) degree at the University of New England in 2017. She has been working as a mental health consultant for disability employment services provider EPIC Assist on the Sunshine Coast since February 2016 and developed a passion for working with people with disabilities (physical and mental) by helping them improve their mental health to gain and maintain employment.
Stacey's thesis identified the need for a more personalised screening process so that referrals to a mental health consultant and tailored interventions could occur earlier in the registration process, resulting in getting people with disabilities into work sooner. This individualised approach is being trialled in EPIC Assist branches.
Psychoanalytically-Oriented Psychology Interest Group
Psychoanalytic Essay Prize
Mr Jesse Bourke MAPS
Essay title – On the value of play in therapy for adults: Perspectives from neuroscience, Buddhist psychology, and Winnicottian psychoanalysis
Jesse is a psychologist and neuroscientist completing his PhD thesis at the University of Newcastle while working as a clinical psychology registrar. Jesse's research explores the psychobiology of asymmetry and integration of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. He believes that there is much to be taken from the brain's dynamic and often dialectical way of processing and responding to the world.
He aims to advocate for increasing the appreciation and integration of neurosciences, psychoanalytic theory, philosophical enquiry, Eastern psychology, and Indigenous cultural wisdom in modern psychological science and practice. Jesse has received several awards for collaboration excellence as part of the University of Newcastle psychology equity and diversity working party, and for excellence in clinical psychology.
Women and Psychology Interest Group
Elaine Dignan Award
Dr RaeLynn A'lvarez Wicklein MAPS
RaeLynn has dedicated more than 20 years of her career to furthering the lives of women and girls through provision of psychological services in research, supervision, education, and training. Most recently, she has done so via her women-focused private practice and consultation services, and training of more than 60 psychologists.
RaeLynn is ardent about the issues faced by women as psychologists in career transition and advancement, motherhood, and work/life balance. She has focused on the provision of ethical, effective and collaborative treatment and therapy to women and girls across eating and body image issues, perinatal mental health, fertility, abuse, and trauma, and has contributed to public feminist conversation through her research about women in acculturation and internalisation of body ideals.
Psychologists for Peace Interest Group
Youth for Peace Project Award
First Prize winners – Celia Connolly, Jason Mason and William Todman
The Youth Peace Project Award both encourages and recognises innovative group projects that address current social issues around peace and conflict using psychological knowledge or strategies.
Jason, Celia and William are a group of gay, lesbian and bisexual orientation teenagers aged from 15 to 16 years belonging to the Pink Mountains Social Group. The Social Group is a not for profit community group run by a small number of volunteers and provides lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or intersex (LGBTI) information to the Blue Mountains community.
Project aim: To address the lack of representation and accurate information concerning LGBTQI+ identities and the damaging mental health implications on LGBTQI+ youth.
The project consisted of:
- producing five short films with positive information about LGBTQI+ identities
- creating an online community providing support for the LGBTQI+ youth community
- raising funds by producing hand knitted items, including pride flags, badges and pom poms, for the Pinnacle Foundation (a foundation established to provide scholarships to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer students who are marginalised or disadvantaged)
- releasing letters and articles about LGBTQI+ experiences in the community.
Children's Peace Literature Award
Book title – Boy by Phil Cummings
This award supports the dissemination of information related to peaceful means of resolving conflict and promoting peace at the global, local and interpersonal level.
The winning book is for younger readers (up to mid-primary years) and is written by Phil Cummings, a well-known children's author. The illustrations are by Shane Devries, and it is published by Scholastic Press.
The delightful picture book Boy relates a story of friction that leads to fierce battles between a king and a dragon after the dragon is accused of burning the King's forest. A young deaf boy gets caught in the crossfire and writes a simple question in the sand with a sword 'Why are you fighting?' that leads to a dialogue about the origin of the conflict and results in a peaceful resolution. The story is tastefully told and the illustrations superbly enhance the text to create a book that will appeal to children and adults alike.