Professor Helen Herrman is is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Orygen and the Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, and Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre in Mental Health, Melbourne.  She is former president of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA – 2017-2020) and the International Association of Women’s Mental Health. She is appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, included in the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and awarded an honorary Doctor of Medical Science degree from The University of Melbourne, for ‘outstanding contributions to international and community mental health’.

Her research and development interests as psychiatrist and public health physician include promoting mental health, community mental health care, and women’s mental health. Previously she was Professor and Director of Psychiatry in St. Vincent’s Health Melbourne, and for a year acted as regional advisor in mental health for the WHO’s Western Pacific Region. She led the WPA’s action plan 2017-2020, concerned with supporting the contribution of psychiatrists to global mental health. Publications and lectures include The Lancet-Academy of Medical Sciences International Health Lecture 2021 and “The Lancet-WPA Commission: time for united action on depression” report in 2022.

SMHR Conference: https://www.smhrconference.com.au
The Lancet Depression Commission: https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/united-action-on-depression

Helen Herrman - Time for united action on depression

Professor Willem Kuyken, Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, discusses his new meta-analysis of mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression. This new study is an important step forward for MBCT which now deserves to be considered alongside other evidence-based treatments for preventing the recurrence of depression. 

Willem also told us about his own personal journey to becoming one of the world's leading mindfulness researchers, and along the way we talked about the evidence for mindfulness-based interventions, the safety and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness, researcher allegiance, mindfulness in schools and how he sees mindfulness fitting into care pathways for people with depression.

Mindfulness with Willem Kuyken

Pim Cuijpers, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, discusses his new RCT of web-based guided self-help for preventing depression, published yesterday in JAMA.

This high quality study found that Internet-based guided self-help can prevent the onset of depressive disorders in some people who have sub threshold depression.

Preventing depression with Pim Cuijpers

The COCAPP study is about mental health risk, care planning and therapeutic relationships. This podcast interview with Alan Simpson and Sarah Carr explores the importance of assessing and managing risk, how to make care planning work for staff and service users, and what constitutes a positive therapeutic relationship.

Along the way we talk about the impact that austerity is having on the lives of service users, carers and staff, and we discuss what needs to be done to make research a central component of frontline mental health practice.

Recovery-focused care planning with Alan Simpson

Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Activist Jay Watts talks to us about borderline personality disorder and trauma-informed care.

Jay Watts

Clinician, Academic and Writer, Professor Linda Gask speaks about her own experience living with depression and anxiety, whilst working as a psychiatrist in the NHS.

Linda Gask

The Director of Common Room talks about her work on coproduction and shared decision making with children and young people.

Kate Martin

The National Elf Service will help you keep up to date with the latest reliable health and social care research. Our podcasts feature interviews with leading experts in mental health: researchers, clinicians, practitioners and experts by experience.

Helen Herrman - Time for united action on depression

National Elf Service

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