Current Degree:
PhD in Clinical Psychology
Undergraduate Degree:
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
What department are you in, and what is your research topic?
Department of Psychological Sciences, The implementation of telehealth counselling in residential aged care
What are your personal interests?
In my free time I love making TikToks, going to karaoke, painting, and sewing. I also love fitness and weightlifting.
Tell us a bit about why you are doing this research, how you got to where you are now (e.g. analysing results), and any obstacles or adversities you’ve faced with respect to your research (e.g. ethics sign off, noisy data, COVID)
I initially went into the PhD with the belief that there was so much untapped potential for telehealth to make psychological services more accessible and cost effective, however there had been significant implementation issues with many telehealth services in the past and there was very slow uptake. There was also very little research on the use of telehealth counselling with depressed and anxious older people. In my first year of my PhD I was working on understanding the implementation of telehealth in rural, community dwelling older adults, however when COVID-19 hit, I changed my project to focus on the immediate need for psychological services in residential aged care. Even before COVID-19 there was high rates of depression and anxiety in residential aged care, and COVID-19 exaserbated this. Psychological support is also
What would you like to do post PhD?
I’m planning on working as a psychologist and gaining clinical endorsement. I’d like to do this alongside work as a researcher.
Any book and/or podcast recommendations?
Books: Staring at the sun by Irvin Yalom, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
hessa.school.blog 