I am a Professor and Senior Clinical Psychologist within the Department of Psychology. I am passionate about increasing access to effective psychological treatment, particularly for adults struggling with chronic physical health conditions.

I am a Director of the eCentreClinic (www.ecentreclinic.org); a research unit that develops and evaluates a range of psychologically-based treatments for common mental health and chronic physical health conditions. I have a strong interest in transdiagnostic treatments for anxiety and depression as well as treatments that support people with significant physical health conditions, including chronic pain, chronic kidney disease, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and various gastrointestinal disorders and diseases.

I have a strong interest in how we can use technology to increase access to effective psychological care, and in innovative forms of psychological treatment, which reduce the burdens of treatment for patients. 

I have a few streams of research interest:

1. Increasing access to care: Exploring the use of technology and innovation to improve access to evidence based psychological treatment – knowing many people experience significant barriers to effective psychological care. This research involves understanding what makes psychological care effective, what works for whom, and how we can improve the the quality of psychological care provided.

2. Improving care for people with chronic health conditions: Exploring the use of technology and innovation to provide psychological care for people with chronic health conditions - knowing that chronic health conditions can create real challenges for people, and affect their mental health. This research also involves understanding what makes psychological care effective, what works for whom, and how we can improve the the quality of psychological care provided.

3. Implementation into routine care. Exploring how innovative and technologically-based psychological treatments can be implemented and used within routine care settings (e.g., specialist hospital clinics, community mental health clinics, university counselling services) to improve access to and the reach of those services. My team therefore have a lot of national and international collaborations focused on implementation and the use of our treatments within their clinics.  

4. Therapist supervision and effects. Exploring issues related to the training and supervision of therapists, and the role of therapists in treatment outcomes, particularly in technology-based interventions.

5. Understanding non-specific effects. Exploring the role and contribution of non-specific or common factors, such as outcome expectations, treatment credibility, hope and remoralisation, in good mental health and the outcomes of psychological treatment.

6. Methods and Research Synthesis. Exploring methodological issues involved in psychological treatment research, and using systematic reviews and meta-analytic techniques to evaluate questions relevant to treatment delivery and evaluation, particularly concerning psychological treatment for people with chronic health conditions.

I supervise research aimed at improving access to psychological care, improving the quality of care provided, and understanding how psychological care works and what makes it effective.

I am Executive Member of Macquarie University’s Medical Human Research and Ethics Committee. I am Associate Editor of the scientific journal Behaviour Research and Therapy. I also serve as an international advisor to several international clinics and research groups. I regularly act as a reviewer for leading journals in my area.

I am a Director of the eCentreClinic (www.ecentreclinic.org) and on the Senior Leadership Team of the MindSpot Clinic (www.mindspot.org.au). In combination, these clinics provide free psychological screening and treatment services to more than 20,000 Australian adults per year.