Current Degree:
PhD in Clinical Psychology
Undergraduate Degree:
Bachelor of Science
What department are you in, and what is your research topic?
Centre for Mental Health, researching outcomes of a phase-based treatment for complex trauma
What are your personal interests?
I love reading, swimming, playing footy and playing board games with friends. I also like hiking and getting home to Tasmania to go on adventures.
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 am really interested in trauma and trauma treatment, so this project lined up perfectly for me! I am also very passionate about clinical psychology and the delivery of accessible and affordable treatments. The program I am researching has been designed to fit within the Medicare mental health rebate scheme of up to 10 individual and group sessions and the research is complimentary to my clinical training and practice. I am entering my final year of my PhD (2021) and am hoping to submit by December next year. I am currently analysing results and working on publications and bringing it all together. Fortunately I had all my data collected prior to COVID so I have been able to analyse and write up from home. Working from home was an interesting transition, but I think I have settled in nicely, with my new housemate Jonathan the cat closely monitoring my progress.
What would you like to do post PhD?
EVERYTHING. Ultimately I would LOVE to do a post doc that involves examining a psychological intervention for trauma treatment, so I can see clients therapeutically but also do some research. I have my eyes on some local research groups and some overseas. I also love tutoring and working with students, so weaving that in there somewhere would also be fab.
Any book and/or podcast recommendations?
SO many, you’ve come to the right place.
Books: A little life, absolute favourite, prepare to cry. Anything by Fredrik Backman, anything by Oscar Wilde, anything Roxane Gay, anything Irvin Yalom, See what you made me do – Jess Hill, Mythos – Stephen Fry, The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas. I could go on…
Podcasts: I love Chat10Looks3, Bang On, Big Sister Hotline, Ladies We Need to Talk.
hessa.school.blog 