Black Dog Institute Podcasts for Health Professionals

Screen-based devices play a central role in adolescents’ daily lives, serving purposes such as education, entertainment, social interactions, and creativity. While public concern about the impact of screen use on adolescent mental health has grown, evidence of a direct link remains unclear. The association between screen use and mental health is complex, influenced by many factors. This webinar will report on new data about this association based on an analysis of the data provided by Australian adolescents currently enrolled in the Black Dog Institute’s Future Proofing Study. These findings will be framed within the broader context of screen use research and offer recommendations for both societal and individual changes to help adolescents benefit from online experiences while reducing potential harms.

Dr. Lyndsay Brown has worked for five years as a Research Officer on the Future Proofing Study, now the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal study of adolescent mental health in Australia. Between 2019 and 2021, thousands of Year 8 students across Australia were recruited for this six-year study and each year they complete confidential questionnaires about their mental health, identity, experiences, and well-being. The team analyses this data to identify the risk and protective factors associated with adolescent mental health and the early interventions that could help adolescents thrive. Lyndsay’s work spans school engagement, data collection, research, public presentations, and community outreach.

Hosted by Dr Kathy O'Grady.

The median age of onset for mental disorders is 14 years. This means, 50% of individuals who will develop mental illness will have already developed the disorder by the age of 14 years.

Since children's diagnoses are missed, they do not receive the care that they need and are less likely to receive help, which has a flow-on effect to adolescence where more complicated conditions can present.

In this episode, Professor Jennie Hudson from Black Dog Institute shares her findings on understanding the onset of anxiety and depression in children and teenagers, focusing on correcting the myth that mental health problems begin in adolescence.

Joining her on the panel, is Psychiatrist Dr Brenda Heyworth who shares her insights from working with children and teenagers, and by Fiona, a lived experience representative who also discusses the topic from her perspective.

Panel Members: -

- Professor Jennie Hudson - Director of Research at Black Dog Institute
- Dr Brenda Heyworth - Psychiatrist, Educator and Facilitator
- Fiona - Lived Experience Representative

Facilitator: -

 - Dr Sarah Barker - Clinical Psychologist

The term dMH (digital mental health) covers a wide range of online resources for mental health care.  This includes, but is not limited to, the CBT-based treatment programs that Australia has led the world in developing.   The scientific evidence is important for practitioner confidence but sometimes our patients and clients want to know about it too. This webinar will make it easier for you to explain why you are recommending an online treatment program. 

Please join Dr. Jan Orman and Prof Nick Titov, founder of the Mindspot Clinic at Macquarie University, who will discuss the evidence to support online CBT delivery.  They will talk about the evidence to support the use of online mental health treatment programs in general as well as the Mindspot Clinic specifically. 

Learning outcomes:

1. By the end of the webinar participants will be able to:
2. Describe some of the research that supports the use of online mental health treatment programs
3. Describe the situations in which they may consider recommending an online program
4. Explain how they would talk to a patient about the evidence base for these programs and the best ways to get benefit from them

Nick Titov is a Professor of Psychology at Macquarie University.  He is also a Clinical Psychologist and Executive Director of the Australian MindSpot Clinic. MindSpot is a digital psychology service, which provides psychological assessments and treatments to adults across Australia. MindSpot employs mental health professionals to deliver care, it is accredited under the National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health Standards, and it has been funded by the Australian Government since 2012.

Nick has worked on >100 trials of psychological interventions and has published numerous reports of outcomes of digital psychology services in peer reviewed papers including in the Lancet Digital Health. Nick serves on multiple advisory groups to national and international organisations.

Dr Jan Orman MBBS MPsychMed is a Sydney GP with a special interest in mental health and psychological medicine. She has a Masters in Psychological Medicine (CBT) from the University of NSW and has combined general practice and specialised work in mental health for over two decades.  Jan has also worked for more than 10 years as a facilitator in Black Dog Institute’s Professional Education team. She is currently responsible for developing the content of, and delivering, the GP education programs for the Black Dog Institute’s arm of the e-Mental Health in Practice Project.

Click here to see the slides

Can engagement with the arts improve children's wellbeing? In this episode, we talk to Dr Diane Macdonald (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Black Dog Institute/School of Psychiatry, UNSW) about her research on Culture Dose for Kids, an arts engagement program for children and their caregivers that has been designed to improve mental health and wellbeing in children who are experiencing anxiety.

Joining on the panel is Art Therapist, Jennifer Blau, and Lucia Barrera, a Culture Dose for Kids parent participant, researcher, and UNSW Scientia PhD Scholar (Mental health and arts-based knowledge creation/translation).

Listen to explore the promise of an arts-based intervention for childhood anxiety that highlights the value of the role of community and cultural care in children’s mental health and well-being.

Panel Members
Dr Diane Macdonald - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Black Dog Institute/School of Psychiatry, UNSW)
Jennifer Blau - Art Therapist, Art of Wellbeing
Lucia Barrera - Parent Participant.

Facilitator
Dr Sarah Barker

Many of us know something about the post-colonization history of Australia and most have some understanding of the transgenerational impact that history has had on our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. Nonetheless, it is often difficult to know what we need to do and how we need to be as clinicians to respect indigenous culture and behave as allies to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and clients.  Many of us have done "cultural awareness" training and even adjusted our workplaces to make indigenous people feel comfortable but what other changes do we need to make to be good allies?

In this webinar, Dr. Jan Orman, Mim Weber (WellMob) and Angela Sheridan (WellMob) will discuss how clinicians can be good allies to their First Nations patients. 

 
Check out the slides here.

With the plethora of digital CBT apps and programs available, how do you select one that’s effective, safe, and engaging for teens? In this webinar Dr. Mirjana Subotic-Kerry, Senior Research Program Manager at Black Dog Institute delves into her research on digital cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and its impact on teen mental health.

Mirjana shares the latest research findings and insights on navigating interventions to ensure they’re evidence-based and prioritise the safety of teens’ data and privacy, among other considerations.  She introduces the new app ClearlyMe.

You can find the slides here.

To celebrate the 2024 NAIDOC week (7 - 14 July) theme, Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud (www.naidoc.org.au), this Expert Insights session focuses on the enduring wisdom, vitality, and strength in First Nations communities, passed down through generations. We explore the power of cultural healing approaches within suicide prevention, with a particular focus on what works, achievements, and excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention. 

Listen and learn from the rich contributions and wisdom of First Nations cultural healing approaches, which can be leveraged to promote positive wellbeing for Indigenous communities and beyond.

Panel Members

· Maddison O'Grady-Lee, Clinical Psychology PhD candidate (UNSW/Black Dog Institute), Dalai Lama Peace Fellow, and winner of The Diana Award

· Shannon McNeair, a proud Malgana woman and a Psychologist from McNeair Aboriginal Psychological Services

· Uncle Monwell Levi - First Nations Lived Experience Representative

Facilitator

· Dr Sarah Barker, Clinical Psychologist

Sleep is vital to mental health, especially for adolescents who are in a critical stage of development and forming lifelong habits. However, 40% of young people face significant sleep problems which can put them at risk of developing anxiety or depression. There is extensive evidence for the benefits of Cognitive Behaviour for Insomnia (CBT-I), but an app delivering this gold standard treatment to adolescents was missing.

In this webinar, Dr Sophie Li (Postdoctoral Research Fellow and clinical psychologist at Black Dog Institute) introduces Sleep Ninja®; a free, evidence-based smartphone app shown to be effective in helping young people with sleep problems.

Hosted by Dr Sarah Barker

Research evidence clearly supports exposure as a key ingredient in first line treatment for anxiety, yet practitioners can be reluctant to use it with children and young people.

In this episode, Professor Jennie Hudson from Black Dog Institute will share her research findings on exposure therapy for anxious children and adolescents as part of an app and programs she has developed for them and their caregivers. We will be joined by clinical psychologist, Anna McKinnon, who will share her clinical insights from extensive exposure therapy with children and families over the years about how we can use it effectively and by a lived experience panelist who will share their experience as a caregiver of an anxious young person.

Listen to the conversation about the benefits of exposure therapy for anxious children, young people, and their caregivers and about approaches that practitioners can take to successfully introduce and effectively use exposure in order to have the best chance of children and their families achieving lasting, positive outcomes in anxiety management.

Panel Members

• Jennie Hudson – Professor and Director of Research at Black Dog Institute
• Anna McKinnon – Clinical Psychologist
• Emma – Lived Experience Representative

Facilitator

• Dr Sarah Barker, Clinical Psychologist

With the plethora of digital CBT apps and programs available, how do you select one that's effective, safe, and engaging for teens?

In this episode, Dr. Aliza Werner-Seidler, Scientia Associate Professor and Head of Population Mental Health at Black Dog Institute, delves into her research on digital cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and its impact on teen mental health. Aliza shares the latest research findings and insights on navigating interventions to ensure they're evidence-based and prioritise the safety of teens' data and privacy, among other considerations.

Joining her on the panel is Hazel McKenzie, a psychologist specialising in teen mental health, who discuss how clinicians currently integrate digital CBT into practice. Additionally, Ruby, a teenager serving as a lived experience representative, will offer invaluable perspectives on her firsthand experiences with digital CBT, shedding light on its impact and usability.

Panel Members

· Dr. Aliza Werner-Seidler - Scientia Associate Professor and Head of Population Mental Health at Black Dog Institute

· Hazel McKenzie - Psychologist in private practice

· Ruby - Lived Experience Representative

Facilitator

· Dr Sarah Barker, Clinical Psychologist