On Tuesday 8th November 2022 Dr Kellie Cassidy attended the inaugural Clinical Psychology Career Expo hosted by the WA Clinical Psychology Placement COnsortium. For those of you who are not aware, the consortium meets to arrange the clinical placements for masters students across the WA universities and includes Rebecca Anderson (Curtin), ALison Marsland (Murdoch), Lisa Saulsman (UWA), Raffia Salvo (ECU) and ICP’s own Helen Correia.
This expo is an opportunity for all Clinical Masters students to hear more about placement and employment opportunities available to them in the public and private sectors in WA.
The expo had 100 students registered with approximately 30 attending on the day. Others due to other commitments were to watch the recording at a later time.
The expo afforded the ICP the opportunity to raise its profile to a new cohort and discuss the benefits of students and registrarsof joining the ICP. We are hopeful that this may lead to increased members for us in the future.
In her presentation Kellie discussed the pros and cons to registrars undertaking their registrar program within a private practice setting. Specifically she explored points that registrars must consider to evaluate whether a particular workplace (public or private) is going to be able to offer them what they need to thrive in their career.
Positive feedback was received from the consortium members. Dr Rebecca Anderson from Curtin University commented that the presentation “gave a really balanced view on private practice and answered so many of the questions students come to us with about PP work.” She further noted that there is “lots of great work being done by ICP and we (the consortium) are grateful.” Following on from this the ICP has been invited to provide information to all new clinical masters students in 2023.
Following on from his success, our next task is to set up some support groups for students and registrars in private practice which will be provided in 2023.
Do you employ people within your practice? Clinicians and/or support staff?
Do you understand your obligations to your employees under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award of 2020?
ICP will be co-hosting a one-hour webinar on Monday 4th April 5.30pm AWST to help practice owners ensure they understand and are compliant with the Health Professionals and Support Services award.
This award applies to psychologists, medical staff, allied health professionals and support staff (this includes receptionists, practice managers, gardeners).
We appreciate the award can be confusing and contradictory. Many practice owners may be surprised to know that they are interpreting the award incorrectly and may in fact be underpaying their staff! This is particularly true for the span of Ordinary hours which is different for different professions under the award.
Attendees will be better able to understand:
• the classification levels under the award
• the impact of ordinary hours under the award
• the implications for ‘shift-workers’ under the award
• when penalty rates are to be applied and if you are paying enough
• leave entitlements of employees (including leave for COVID-19 related issues)
This webinar will be co-hosted by Dr Kellie Cassidy, Clinical Psychologist, and Ms Frances Orr, HR Advisor with Strawberry Seed.
Dr Kellie Cassidy is the Director of Prosper Health Collective, a group psychology practice in Perth Western Australia. Kellie has been a Clinic Psychologist for over 14 years and currently leads a team of 10 psychologists and 5 administration staff. Kellie is also the current Treasurer for the ICP and has been on the committee for the past 2 years.
Ms Frances Orr is a HR Advisor for Strawberry Seed. Strawberry Seed are a HR company based in Victoria who support many allied health professional businesses Australia wide. You can find out more about Strawberry Seed at https://strawberryseed.com.au/
The event will be recorded and a recording provided for those that can not make it on the day.
Working with clients who present with a comorbid addiction
ICP Seminar Working with clients with comorbid addiction.pdf
Michael Tunnecliffe & Kerryn Ashford-Hatherly
Many clients present for treatment with a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or a post-trauma condition. During the assessment and formulation process, it’s not uncommon to find the client also has a comorbid addiction. Often, the first dilemma for the clinician is whether the mental health problem resulted from the addiction, or did the addiction develop from coping with the mental health condition? With many mental disorders, comorbidity with addiction is often reported to be the rule rather than the exception. This practical, interactive professional development session will review the relationship between mental health conditions and addictive behaviours in a manner that assists the clinician to more effectively assess the presenting issues and set priorities for treatment.
A brief ICP AGM will be held prior to the seminar, with morning tea provided Saturday 27th July 2019 9am to 12noon The Boulevard Centre, 99 The Boulevard, Floreat $40 ICP Members $60 Non ICP Members, Clinical Psych Students $40
Participants in this practical professional development session will benefit by: ́ Understanding the importance of assessing for addiction comorbidity when clients present with a mental disorder. ́ Appreciating comorbidity has important implications for treatment, as clients with comorbid conditions often have a poorer treatment response and a worse recovery trajectory over time. This means an intervention plan needs to take the comorbid addiction into account. ́ Reviewing the common mental disorder / addiction co-morbidities which present in psychological practice and the hypotheses that may explain these. ́ Appreciating that even when there is no causal relationship between substance dependence and a mental disorder, having one disorder may worsen the symptoms and treatment outcomes of the other. ́ Participants are provided with a set of course notes, assessment guidelines and an opportunity to discuss common addiction co-morbidity issues which arise in clinical practice. You will be provided with course notes, assessment guidelines & opportunity to discuss addiction co- morbidity issues which arise in clinical practice. Come join us!
Seminar: Working with Clients with Comorbid Addiction
Integrating Acceptance & Mindfulness in Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy
Thursday 30th August 2018, WA State Library
“CBT is not monolithic…there is no doubt that several concepts and methods that have been central to third wave interventions (mindfulness methods; acceptance-based procedures; decentering; cognitive defusion; values; psychological flexibility processes) are now permanently part of the CBT tradition…” (Steven Hayes & Stefan Hofmann, 2017, World Psychiatry, p. 245)
For mental health professionals interested in this topic, this is a reminder that final registration for this workshop closes in 2 weeks on the 23rd August.
