Dr Allen Frances was chair of the task force writing the DSM-IV, but subsequently became an outspoken critic of the rapid expansion of mental health diagnoses in DSM-5, and what he sees as the over medicalisation of behaviours that fall into the normal range of human life.

Dr Frances offers a US perspective on issues such as treating ADHD and Autism, the pros and cons of early diagnosis, the appropriate role of drugs in mental health, and strategies to bring public mental health care to the greatest numbers of people.

Assoc Professor Chris Lee tells Dr Sara Quinn about his career researching and treating trauma. They discuss exposure, EMDR, stabilisation, helping clients reach the "ah-hah" moment, and the importance of self-care for professionals working in this space.

This week Lisa Chantler speaks to Rachel Menzies about the impact of death anxiety in clients presenting with broader symptoms of anxiety and depression. They discuss cultural attitudes to death, CBT, Terror Management Theory and the role of Stoic philosophy in developing a healthy acceptance of death.

Cognitive Analytic Therapy integrates Psychodynamic and Cognitive Theory and is a transdiagnostic therapeutic modality that approaches psychological problems from a relational perspective. Matt Cartwright speaks with Dr Louise McCutcheon from Orygen, The Australian Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health in Melbourne.

Links and more information about C.A.T. can be found on the Clinically Thinking Facebook page.

New Clinically thinking presenter Aaron Neaves meets Jonathan Shedler; author, consultant, researcher, Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and faculty member at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis.

Dr Shedler firmly presents the case for the evidence base and effectiveness of Psychoanalytic Therapy.

Dr David Preece studies Alexithymia. He discusses how to use this construct in clinical settings to recognise clients who struggle to understand and process emotions, and how that in turn influences the effectiveness of therapy.

Amanda Garcia Torres and Lisa Chantler introduce us to the basics of Chairwork and discuss why this is such a powerful tool for clients who have experienced trauma. Garcia Torres has further developed her Chairwork practice to give voice to clients from marginalized communities, focusing on what she has identified as the five core problems of oppression.

In this episode Nina Cook asks how a therapist can respond to a client’s climate anxieties, when they may also be feeling the same fears.

She speaks to Paul Rhodes who is a collaborative research fellow at the Sydney environment Institute. Paul has helped establish a research project with a group of school age young people to explore ways of responding to climate related distress. We also meet one of the project’s young participants to talk about how she is learning to “stay with the trouble” and reduce her feelings of powerlessness in the face of climate change.

The data is in. Australian Clinical Psychologists are working harder than ever and better than ever. But cuts to Medicare will no doubt change the mental health landscape for both practitioners and their clients.

Dr Aaron Frost from Benchmark Psychology crunches the numbers in the December 2022 Medicare Better Access Initiative Report.

You can read the report, or at least the executive summary at:

https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/evaluation-of-the-better-access-initiative-final-report

Clinical Psychologist Professor Dianna Kenny discussing the ways therapists can most helpfully care for survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.