Science of Therapy

Dr Cele Richardson is a lecturer and clinical psychologist at the University of Western Australia. She is an expert in sleep difficulties and their treatment in adolescence, and she shared a wealth of knowledge about sleep and its role in adolescent mental health. This episode left us surprised about how common sleep problems are in young people, despite how few of us are trained in the assessment and treatment of sleep problems. We guarantee Cele's insights will motivate you to learn even more about sleep and add sleep treatment strategies to your professional toolkits.

Barnaby Nelson is a clinical psychologist with Orygen at the University of Melbourne. His research and practice focuses on early identification and treatment of people who have been identified as 'ultra-high risk' for psychosis. Barnaby walks us through how to detect psychotic symptoms and what effective treatment looks like. Barnaby shares how common these experiences are, and how everyday clinicians can tailor their skills to address and manage psychotic symptoms in their clinical practice.Barnaby also shared a wealth of information and resources, including:THIS recent review of interventions for early psychosisTwo examples (HERE and HERE) of online therapy options as adjunctive support for people with psychosis. A helpful BOOK for clinicians about how to tailor CBT for psychosis, called ‘Think You're Carzy, Think Again?' by Anthony Morrison

Kelvin Wong is a clinical psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University in Canada. Kelvin's research and clinical work focuses on obsessive-compulsive disorder. Kelvin talks us through the key features of OCD, different types of OCD, and the best practice approach to treatment. He also dives into some of his recent research on the processes underlying the development and maintenance of OCD, such as a fear of self.

Zac Seidler is the director of mental health training at Movember, and a research fellow with Orygen at the University of Melbourne.Zac is an expert in men's mental health, both as a clinical psychologist and researcher. When we spoke with Zac, we learned about how distress may present differently in men, and how therapists can engage men in treatment more successfully.

This week's episode is one for the child and family therapists, those aspiring to be, or anybody interested in learning all about a creative and high-intensity therapy modality – Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Dr Georgie Fleming is a postdoctoral research fellow and clinical psychologist at UNSW, Sydney. She specialises in behaviour problems in children and is an expert in PCIT as a researcher, trainer and clinician. We spoke to Georgie about the kind of families who will benefit from PCIT and why it is such an effective therapy. We also learned how PCIT is delivered, both in the clinic and over telehealth.

Corrie Ackland is the director of the Sydney Phobia Clinic and a PhD Candidate at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. In her clinical practice, Corrie specialises in the comprehensive treatment of specific phobias. We spoke with Corrie about how different phobias present in clinical practice, and why they are worthy of our attention. We learned about the typical structure of phobia treatment, the value of good-quality exposure therapy, and the role of virtual reality in phobia treatment. We guarantee you'll come away with heaps of new information and ideas.

This episode is a little different - it's just us! In our first explainer episode, we jump into what "evidence-based practice" really means, and give some tips about how you can find evidence for a particular therapeutic approach.Join us as we talk through some really important parts of psychotherapy research – randomised controlled trials, meta-analyses, and clinically meaningful results. We hope this episode helps you feel more confident at consuming psychotherapy research.

Jill Newby is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at UNSW and the Black Dog Institute, Sydney.In this episode, Jill spoke about the promise of internet-delivered treatments and she also busted some unhelpful myths about internet-delivered therapy. We spoke about what the future might look like for internet-delivered therapy, including who might benefit from this format of treatment, and how clinicians can harness this platform to be more efficient and effective in their day-to-day clinical practice.

Michelle Moulds is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at UNSW, Sydney. We spoke with Michelle about her clinical work and research in rumination, and we took so many helpful facts and tips away with us. We discussed the difference between worry and rumination, the importance of repetitive negative thinking as a mechanism in psychological disorders, and how to help clients who get “stuck” ruminating.

Simon Rosenbaum is an exercise physiologist and Associate Professor at UNSW, Sydney. Simon is passionate about the role of physical activity in improving people's mental health, from all corners of the globe. He spoke about how exercise interventions could play a role in mental health service delivery, and importantly, what psychologists need to know about physical activity and mental health.

Jess Grisham is a clinical psychologist and professor at UNSW, Sydney. She is an expert in obsessive compulsive disorder and hoarding disorder. When we spoke with Jess, we learned a LOT about hoarding disorder. Jess dispelled the (very) unhelpful myths about ‘‘hoarders,'' and gave some interesting insight into psychotherapy for people with hoarding disorder. We also learned about some new research that is uncovering the social and emotional origins of hoarding.

In our first episode, we talk with Associate Professor Bronwyn Graham. Bronwyn is an expert in the neurobiology of anxiety disorders, especially the role that sex hormones play. Join us as we talk with Bronwyn about how pre-clinical research (in other words, research in rats) helps us to better understand anxiety and its treatment. Bronwyn also sheds light the “gender biases” in pre-clinical research, and her discoveries about the impact of the menstrual cycle on female's response to treatment. It's equal parts scary and interesting!