A joint seminar for the students of the NUI Certificates in Addiction Studies and Psychology will be held on Saturday 25 March. The theme of the seminar is Trauma Informed Care and it will be addressed by Dr. Brian McClean and Dr. Sharon Lambert. Registration will take place between 9.30 and 10.15. Light refreshments will be available. The seminar is geared towards the students on both our Addiction Studies and Psychology certificates and students will attend individual workshops in the afternoon. Members of the general public are welcome to the morning session. If you would like to attend as a visitor please e-mail: kay.loughlin@mu.ie
Dr. Brian McClean qualified as a Clinical Psychologist from the University of Surrey in 1987. His research interests include the effectiveness and maintenance of a positive behavioural support, service models for people with dual diagnosis and quality of life outcomes. He is currently Senior Clinical Psychologist with Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, where he provides Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Mindfulness Based Behaviour Support. Brian's talk will focus on Post Traumatic Stress. This is a condition of persistent emotional distress occurring as a result of severe psychological shock. It typically involve efforts to avoid reminders of the incident along with, paradoxically, intrusive and often vivid memories of it. As such, it may be a model for how anxiety develops. This presentation will explore neuropsychological, biological, cognitive and behavioural models of post traumatic stress, and will describe the assessment and treatment of post traumatic stress in clinical psychology practice. The old adage, What doesn't kill you makes you stronger will be examined.
Dr Sharon Lambert recently joined the teaching staff in the School of Applied Psychology in UCC following a number of years working with marginalised young people and their families. Sharon’s research interests revolve primarily around the psychological well-being of young people, the risk and protective factors, with a particular focus on trauma and consequent impacts on service design and delivery. Sharon worked as a lecturer on induction and training courses within An Garda Síochána and has also acted as a special advisor to Garda Working Groups, the UK Home Office the EU. Sharon's presentation at this seminar examines new thinking on the aetiology of addictive behaviour and will consider the relationships between trauma, mental health and addiction. Theories and research from developmental psychology and neuroscience will be explored with emphasis on how this recent advances impact on the ways in which we think about how we design and deliver services that are inclusive, evidence based and impactful.