Nicola Palfrey

headspace · headspace Schools

This report details findings from my Churchill Fellowship investigating how to make exposure to childhood trauma and adversity a public health issue. It reports in innovative practice in the health and education sector internationally, and offers recommendations to changes to and enhancing practice, policy and community wide responses to trauma and...

Exposure to childhood adversity is a prevalent and pressing issue due to its established links with poor physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. High rates of adversity have been found within young people attending mental health services, and the provision of trauma-informed care and trauma-specific therapies are therefore essentia...

This study examined the perspectives of clinicians who facilitate Circle of Security‐Parenting (COS‐P) groups in community health settings. The therapists were from two services: a specialist perinatal and infant mental health consultation service and a child at risk health service. In particular, we were interested in their perceptions of the stre...

As evidence continues to accumulate for the association between childhood trauma and long-term adverse outcomes, Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approaches are emerging as fundamental to contemporary mental health services. To evaluate a workshop designed to influence mental health practitioners in TIC principles and practices. Nursing, medical and alli...

Though many Australian infants and children experience mental health difficulties, these difficulties often go undiagnosed or the families lack access to appropriate services. This article describes the state of child mental health and the mental health sector in Australia then introduces a new initiative for improving workforce capacity: the Natio...

Although childhood trauma and family adversity can increase vulnerability to serious mental health problems, uncertainty exists about the nature and prevalence in a clinical population. This embedded research aims to establish the prevalence of trauma and adversity in young people seeking help from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS...