Last year, my boss asked me if I would like a secondment to our Aboriginal Dual Diagnosis program. The funding body abruptly changed the specifications from a clinical case management model to a model that required groupwork programs. I was asked to mentor the incumbent Aboriginal worker to be able to facilitate group programs […]
Continue readingInfinite worth
December 3, 2015 
2 Comments
At the end of completing my masters degree in 2008, I could sum up my six years of learning with three words, “meet the need”. The process of expansion during academic study and then being able to compress all of your learning into three words is profound. It sticks. In the following talk by Dr Kent Hoffman, […]
Continue readingCool Kids don’t worry!
June 29, 2014 0 Comments
The following article was published in the March 2014 edition of the UK journal ‘Counselling Children & Young People’. Narelle Smith uses the Cool Kids programme in Australia to address anxiety with groups of children and parents. A few years ago, I spent time deputising as team leader of an early intervention programme for families. In every family […]
Continue readingGroup work – love it or loathe it?
June 28, 2014 0 Comments
On Friday 27th June 2014, I did a presentation at the Hunter Networks of Practice, Triple P conference in Newcastle NSW. I would like to thank Carolyn Ellis, Sara Evans, Hunter Networks of Practice, and Family Insight for their generosity, hospitality, and support. I would also like to thank Dr Kate Sofronoff for her feedback […]
Continue readingInterested in studying infant mental health?
April 15, 2014 0 Comments
The study of infant mental health is such a hot topic at the moment. The advances in neuroscience coupled with the vast body of research into and clinical experience on attachment theory provide a strong emphasis on the importance of early childhood. The School of Infant Mental Health in London is offering an online diploma […]
Continue readingDrumBeat
September 23, 2012 3 Comments
The DrumBeat programme was written by the Holyoake organisation in Western Australia
Continue readingTalking about Triple P
September 23, 2012 1 Comment
On Tuesday 18th September 2012, I presented at the Triple P Practitioners Development Day in Sydney NSW. For the past 12 months I have been facilitating Triple P groups (Positive Parenting Program) on a regular basis and exploring the support needs of parents during the group programme and after completion of the group. Below is […]
Continue readingHearts for Healthy Relationships
September 19, 2012 2 Comments
Hearts for Healthy Relationships was a project that I initiated in 2009. At the time I was facilitating a craft group for parents, and I wanted a gentle way to start talking about family violence. One in four families experience family violence, and it costs the Australian economy $13 billion per year. The following heart […]
Continue readingTeaching “special playtime” in the community
July 18, 2012 0 Comments
The following article was published in the March 2012 issue of the British journal “Counselling Children and Young People” under the title “PCIT at large”. Many thanks to the editor Eleanor Patrick. Narelle Smith describes her dilemma around introducing Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to a group of parents in a somewhat raw ‘no frills’ fashion, instead of […]
Continue readingSuperior parenting
February 18, 2012 3 Comments
There has been a lot of interest in an article circulating in the media about the difference between French and American parents. The article is titled “Why French Parents are Superior” by Pamela Druckerman and can be accessed here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577196931457473816.html. Dr Laura Markham provided a lengthy critique on the article http://www.ahaparenting.com/_blog/Parenting_Blog/post/Are_French_Parents_Better_or_Do_They_Just_Spank_More/ As a family worker, […]
Continue reading
Critical Companions 