Nicky Johnston (Author & Mother)
Topic: "Go Away Mr Worrythoughts!" - a mother's story
Artist, teacher and mother Nicky Johnston now has author to add to her list of accomplishments. Being a mother of 3 young boys and having worked in the primary school education sector for the past 15 years prompted Nicky to publish her first book for children dealing with anxiety “Go Away, Mr. Worry thoughts!”. With her eldest son being diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder at only 5 years of age, and having suffered from Post Natal Depression and Anxiety herself, Nicky began researching anxiety in children and found that there was little published material to help children deal with their anxiety.
Being able to empathise with what her son was experiencing gave Nicky not only the motivation, but the background for her themes, text and illustrations in the book; that of isolation and despair. “Go Away, Mr. Worry thoughts!” is based on her son’s inspiring recovery; through identifying, taking control and managing the anxiety disorder that once governed his life. The story of “Bayden” portrays a boy who is overcome by ‘worry thoughts’ and unbearable anxiety and is designed to encourage children to manage and overcome their anxiety and fear.
Nicky also works for RACV as a Traffic Safety Educator, teaching primary school children the many aspects of road safety. She has also worked with children with Special Education needs in her 15 years of teaching, is an accomplished artist and a professional make-up artist.Maria will talk about the different types of depression, symptoms of depression in adults and the many treatment options available including evaluated complimentary treatments. She will also talk about the impact of depression on the family and friends of the depression sufferer. She will include in her talk some of the first person case histories that make the book so relevant and immediate for depression sufferers and their families.
(followed by)
Vanessa Carty (Clinical Psychologist)
Topic: Identifying and Treating Anxiety Disorders in Children: When do we need to intervene?
Vanessa Carty has worked for over 10 years as a Clinical Psychologist. Having completed her Masters of Clinical Psychology at the University of Adelaide in the mid 1990’s and since qualifying as a psychologist, she has worked with children, adolescents and adults in a therapeutic capacity. Vanessa begun work in the area of child abuse and trauma, and her qualifications also took her to the United Kingdom, where she worked with a child and adolescent mental health service and a major teaching hospital in the cognitive behavioural therapy sector. Now practising as a clinical psychologist in Melbourne, she has worked within the public and private sector, and currently works privately with children, adolescents and adults.
Vanessa is highly trained in cognitive behavioural therapy and integrates various therapeutic techniques in her treatment. She also draws on other therapeutic perspectives such as Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT), Narrative therapy and Mindfulness based techniques. Vanessa is experienced in treating many clinical problems, including a broad range of anxiety based disorders, Depression, PTSD and the psychotic spectrum. She works extensively with anxiety, trauma, managing stress and mood related problems.
In the lecture Vanessa will am to give an overview of the different kinds of anxiety disorders and how they present in children. She will focus particularly on the ways that anxiety can differ from the way it presents in adults. How to recognise when a child has an anxiety disorder rather than is undergoing a "difficult phase" will be discussed. When to intervene and what level of intervention is appropriate will be discussed. Finally, she will explore the subtle differences in the way that we treat different manifestations of anxiety and again highlight differences in the treatments depending on the developmental level of the child. Some time will be spent in exploring who we need to treat when working with anxiety in children. That is do we treat children alone, treat the parents or a combination of both? She will discuss the concept of skill transfer from therapist to parents of younger children.
