Swinburne Psychology Clinic's Free E-Newsletter

Help is on the way: Support for individuals, couples and families in the community

The Swinburne Psychology Clinic’s electronic newsletter is designed to keep the general community, health professionals, past and present clients and counsellors informed about the Clinic’s upcoming events and activities. Over 700 community members, students and health professionals have already subscribed to receive this free service. If you would also like to subscribe, please send an email to the Project Officer at abrydon@swin.edu.au.

The May edition of our newsletter can be read below and can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here.

May Edition
This edition of the Psychology Clinic's newsletter profiles treatment options for families and couples seeking psychological support at the Clinic. It also promotes our upcoming ‘Beating VCE Stress' school holiday program and reviews our International No Diet Day celebration. This issue also includes a research call to our female readers who are in their 50s and 60s, and have recovered from depression to participate in a study that examines their experience of recovery.

Managing Study Stress Workshop: A 2-day holiday program for VCE students
In the July school holidays, the Swinburne Psychology Clinic will be running a 2-day workshop to help students de-stress before returning to school. The workshop will also teach students ways to stop stress getting the better of them during the remainder of the school year, how they can keep themselves on task by setting SMART goals and how they can avoid procrastination traps and keep motivated.

Date: Friday 11 and Saturday 12 July
Location: Swinburne University, Hawthorn
Register: Contact Aisha Brydon on 9214 5528 or abrydon@swin.edu.au
Cost: $120 per student

Review of International No Diet Day
On Tuesday 6 May the Swinburne Psychology Clinic successfully hosted a free public movie screening to celebrate International No Diet Day. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Naomi Crafti for hosting the event and Rebecca Wickham for conducting a mindful eating exercise with everyone who attended. We would love to know how you would like to celebrate International No Diet Day with the Psychology Clinic on Wednesday May 6 2009. Please send your suggestions by email to: abrydon@swin.edu.au

Supporting Families and Couples at the Psychology Clinic
In addition to providing psychological services to adults, adolescents and children on an individual basis, the Psychology Clinic is equipped to provide psychological services to families, couples and other groups that wish to access treatment. Two family rooms are located within the Clinic, one of which has been set up to accommodate young children. The Clinic takes a team approach to systemic work and all counsellors working with couples and families are provided with a high level of support from our supervision team, which includes our Clinic Director, Associate Professor Roger Cook, who is a registered family therapist as well as being a Clinical and Counselling Psychologist. Each year, the Psychology Clinic is also able to provide two families with the opportunity to have an initial assessment conducted by an experienced practitioner free of charge, if they are willing for their assessment to be observed for training purposes.

Some of the reasons people seek couple and family counselling include the need to address conflict in the family, to facilitate the discussion of difficult issues, to build better relationships, to promote understanding between family members and to prepare for life changes, such as births, deaths, illness, family separation and relocation. If you have any questions about the Psychology Clinic's couple and family counselling service, please call reception on 9214 5528 or visit our website: www.swin.edu.au/clinic

Opportunity to Participate in Research
The Swinburne Psychology Clinic is staffed by Masters and Doctoral Students completing degrees in Clinical and Counselling Psychology. As part of their degrees, postgraduate students conduct research to develop their expertise and contribute knowledge to the scientific community. Participating in research can be enjoyable, and a way to volunteer in the community and provide participants with an opportunity for personal reflection. This month, the newsletter is promoting research being conducted by Jenny Neale, who has previously worked as a counsellor at the Clinic.

Recovering From Depression: Exploring the experience of women in their 50s and 60s.
Jenny is seeking women in their 50s and 60s, who have recovered from depression, to share with her their experience of recovery. She is particularly interested in how mature women restore wellbeing and create meaning and purpose in their lives. It is hoped that the findings of Jenny's research contribute to developing better treatments for women living with depression.

To participate in this research, women are required to have been recovered from depression for a minimum of 12 months. If you, or someone you know, would like to participate in this research, or if you would like more information about this study, please contact Jenny Neale by email: 5418208@student.swin.edu.au

Important Dates and Upcoming Groups

Social Anxiety Group
Monday Nights in June
The assessment process for the next Social Anxiety Group is about to commence. If you, or someone your know, would like to participate in this group, please contact the Clinic on 9214 5528 or send an email to abrydon@swin.edu.au

Mindful Moderate Eating Group (MMEG)
Tuesday 17 June
The assessment process for the next MMEG is about to commence and if you, or someone your know, would like to participate in the next group, which starts on Tuesday 17 June, please contact the Clinic on 9214 5528 or send an email to abrydon@swin.edu.au

Beating VCE Stress Holiday Program
Friday 11 and Saturday 12 July
Two-day holiday program designed to help students keep on top of stress during VCE, set goals for 2009, learn how to avoid procrastination and keep motivated during the school year.

Alamein Depression and Anxiety Group
Friday 18 July
In 2009, the Clinic will again be working with the Alamein Neighbourhood & Learning Centre (ANLC) to run a 5-week depression and anxiety support group for members of the Boroondara community. For more information about this group, please visit the ANLC's website: www.alameinnlc.org.au/ or contact Mim on anlc@bigpond.com or 9885 9401.

ACT and Mindfulness PD Workshop
Saturday 2 August
In August ,the Psychology Clinic, in conjunction with Dr Russ Harris, will run an introductory workshop to using ACT and Mindfulness in therapeutic settings. The introductory workshop will be followed by a sequence of three development workshops. The training will be open to all counselling and health professionals. More information about these workshops can be found at the following link of the Psychology Clinic's website: www.swinburne.edu.au/lss/psychology/pc/mindfulness_and_acceptance_and_commitment_therapy_pd.htm

Monthly Joke
We hope you have enjoyed this edition of our newsletter. This month we have selected the following rhyme, which was collected from the internet, to continue the spirit of International No Diet Day.

Mirror, mirror on the wall
Do you have to tell it all?
Where do you get the glaring right
To make my clothes look just too tight?
I think I'm fine but I can see
you won't cooperate with me;
The way you let the shadows play
You'd think my hair was getting gray
What's that, you say? A double chin?
No, that's the way the light comes in;
If you persist in peering so
You'll confiscate my facial glow,
And then if you're not hanging straight
You'll tell me next I'm gaining weight;
I'm really quite upset with you
For giving this distorted view;
I hate you being smug and wise -
O, look what's happened to my thighs!
I warn you now, O mirrored wall,
Since we're not on speaking terms at all,
If I look like this in my new jeans
You'll find yourself in smithereens

If there is a seasonal or psychology-related joke that has made you smile, please share it with us by submitting it to: abrydon@swin.edu.au. Entries of less than 200 words will be considered for publication in upcoming editions of this newsletter.

Important Information
Telephone: (03) 9214 8653
Facsimile: (03) 9819 6857
Email: psychclinic@swin.edu.au
Web: www.swin.edu.au/clinic

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm
Saturday 9am to 1pm

Location
34 Wakefield St, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122. The Psychology Clinic is equipped with disability access and is located only a short walk from Glenferrie station.

About the Newsletter
This newsletter is an initiative of the Swinburne Psychology Clinic to provide you with the information you need to keep up-to-date with the activities and services we provide. Currently, over 700 community members, students and health professionals subscribe to this newsletter, which is produced by Aisha Brydon.

We welcome any feedback and ideas you have about this publication. If there is a topic, query or segment you would like to see in future editions please send an email to: abrydon@swin.edu.au.

To subscribe, send an email to: abrydon@swin.edu.au.