The eMHPrac team consists of clinical psychologists, researchers, and support staff, all with a commitment to promoting and supporting the integration of digital mental health into routine practice. The team is based at Queensland University of Technology in the Addiction and ePsychology Research Group. They are part of the Institute of Health & Biomedical Innovation and the School of Psychology & Counselling in the Faculty of Health. For more info see: https://research.qut.edu.au/aepr/about/
Meet the team
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) lead the eMHPrac consortium in partnership with other organisations. The eMHPrac team at QUT consists of clinical psychologists, researchers and support staff, all with a commitment to promoting and supporting the integration of digital mental health into routine practice nationwide. The team are part of the School of Psychology and Counselling in the Faculty of Health. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a major Australian University with nearly 50,000 students. They provide real-world teaching and graduate skills to the next generation of change-makers. In addition, they provide transformative research intensity and excellence relevant to our communities and the real world. For more information go to: https://www.qut.edu.au/research
Director
Ms Heidi Sturk
Heidi Sturk is the Director of eMHPrac (e-Mental Health in Practice) at Queensland University of Technology. Heidi is a strategic and collaborative leader who oversees the development, delivery and evaluation of training and support on digital mental health to health practitioners and service providers nationwide. She holds a Master of Organisational Psychology and has worked in applied mental health research and workforce training for the last 28 years. Heidi is a member of various Government advisory committees and has contributed to the development of national digital mental health safety and quality standards. She has an in-depth knowledge of the Australian digital mental health sector and is passionate about educating others how to safely utilise technology for mental health treatment, support and connection.
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Jennifer Connolly
Dr Jennifer Connolly is a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Research Fellow in the eMHPrac team at Queensland University of Technology. She has extensive experience in the development, delivery and evaluation of digital mental health programs and in delivery of CBT interventions via remote methods. She has trained and supervised clinicians in delivering psychological interventions using electronic means, including online and by phone.
Senior Research Officer
Dr Shelley Appleton
Dr Shelley Appleton is a Senior Research Officer with the eMHPrac team and a registered clinical psychologist and clinical supervisor. Shelley is passionate about facilitating access to mental health treatments and promoting mental health literacy in the general population. Shelley has over 10 years’ experience with the ePsychology research group where she has worked to evaluate apps, web programs and phone interventions addressing mental health and substance use disorders. Shelley also enjoys maintaining her role in private practice with children, adolescents, and adults.
Senior Research Officer
Dr Tania McMahon
Tania is a Senior Research Officer within the eMHPrac Team and a registered Clinical Psychologist. She has worked in psychology research for over 15 years, helping develop and test a range of innovative therapies and technologies, including telephone-based treatments, online programs and apps, to help improve mental health and wellbeing. In the eMHprac team, Tania develops, delivers, and evaluates training and education on digital mental health to health practitioners nationwide, and works closely with digital service providers to track trends in service usage. Tania is a passionate and enthusiastic advocate of blended mental health care, drawing on her years in clinical private practice where she had first-hand experience integrating digital tools into her work with clients to enhance their treatment and support.
Marketing Coordinator and Graphic Designer
Lauren Murase
Lauren Murase is the Marketing Coordinator and Graphic Designer on the eMHPrac (e-Mental Health in Practice) team. She holds a Bachelor of Business (Marking) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Interactive and Visual Design) from the Queensland University of Technology. Lauren to develops and maintains the various resources offered by the eMHPrac project across print and digital mediums. She has always had a lot of interest in mental health and loves working with the eMHPrac team to explore this passion further.
Research Officer
Kate Hatchman
Kate Hatchman is a Research Officer on the eMHPrac Project at the Queensland University of Technology. She holds degrees in Business (Marketing and Finance) and Psychological Science (Honors) and has experience in research across industry and university settings. Kate’s research interests focus on the intersection of social and clinical psychology, public health, and digital mental health. At eMHPrac, Kate plays a key role in publications, data management, resource development, and promotion. She is deeply passionate about contributing to the health and mental well-being of the wider community through her work.
Senior Training Facilitator
Carol Purtell
Carol is a Senior Training Facilitator within the eMHPrac team. Carol is an experienced Senior Executive, mental health specialist and Registered Nurse with a Masters of Social Science (Counselling) with over 30 years of leadership experience in Australia and abroad. Carol has extensive experience in the digital mental health environment having previously worked as the Clinic Director at MindSpot, a free national online/telephone digital mental health service funded by the Australian Government. Carol remains associated with the MindSpot team in the role of Senior Advisor. Carol is committed to improving access to mental health services by increasing the community’s awareness of innovative and evidence-based digital mental health services.
Consultant
Professor David Kavanagh
David is a Research Capacity Building Professor and Director of Research for the School of Psychology and Counselling at QUT, and an Honorary Professor at UQ. He is an Advisory Consultant for the eMHPrac project. As a psychologist, David has a strong commitment to improving outcomes for people with problems involving mental health or substance use. Over the last 11 years, he has been developing and testing web programs, apps and robotic interventions. With a keen interest in innovative solutions, David brings over 40 years’ experience in clinical psychology research, education and practice. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and the Australian Psychological Society and sits on the editorial boards of a number of top tier journals, including Addiction. David has made significant contributions to policy and strategic planning through participation in committees of Queensland Health, the Australian Department of Health and the Australian Psychological Society. He has also held leadership positions in community mental health and in universities.
Black Dog Institute
The eMHPrac team at Black Dog Institute consists of General Practitioners, clinical psychologists, program staff and support staff. They develop online modules, webinars and digital resources designed to introduce health professionals to online programs and tools, and to demonstrate how digital mental health technologies can be integrated into primary care. The team are based at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, Sydney. Black Dog Institute is dedicated to understanding, preventing and treating the significant mental health challenges that we face nationally and globally. For more information go to: https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
Head of Service Engagement and Operations
Sarah Connor
Sarah is a values driven leader with a strong track record of developing strategy and leading teams to achieve organisational goals and positive community impact. Sarah’s current role oversees the delivery of BDI’s evidenced based mental health programs and services at scale, across Australian workplace, healthcare, school and community settings.
GP Services Consultant
Dr Jan Orman
Jan Orman is a Sydney GP with a longstanding interest in primary care mental health. She has a Masters in Psychological Medicine (CBT) and has worked as a facilitator with the Black Dog Institute's Professional Education Team for almost two decades in tandem with her work in general practice. Jan's interest in practitioner mental health led her to founding membership and, for several years, presidency of the Australian College of (now Society for) Psychological Medicine (ASPM) and has seen her working to help establish the Creative Doctors networking group in Sydney. Since 2013 Jan has led the Black Dog Institute's e-Mental Health in Practice (eMHPrac) team, devising and delivering all the educational resources in that project. She is driven to help primary care providers become more confident and skilled in delivering mental health care, thus improving their own mental health along with that of their community.
GP Services Consultant
Dr Phoebe Holdenson-Kimura
Phoebe is a GP working in Sydney who is passionate about promoting mental wellbeing and supporting GPs to provide compassionate and comprehensive mental health care. She is a lecturer at Sydney University and is on the Executive Board of the World Organisation for Family Doctors Working Party on Mental Health. Having trained in rural Far North Queensland and worked Cambodia, she is interested in global perspectives on mental health and applying a generalist lens to mental health.
Education/Workplace Facilitator
Pam Withey
Pam Withey is a Clinical Psychologist working in private practice providing treatment for people with mental health conditions, and an education/workplace facilitator for Black Dog Institute. She has nearly 25 years experience working in government, private and corporate sectors. Working mainly in a CBT framework, Pam individualises her approach to better meet individual treatment goals and learning, and is utilising digital mental health resources more often to improve generalisation of skills outside of sessions. Pam has a special interest in promotion, prevention and early intervention of mental illness, and invites action for a mentally healthier world.
Clinical Psychologist
Sarah Barket
A Melbourne-based Clinical Psychologist, Sarah has been a facilitator in the Professional Education Team at Black Dog Institute for over a decade and part of the e-Mental Health in Practice Team since 2018. She contributes to the development of evidence-based digital health products and educational programs at Black Dog Institute, empowering clinicians and the community with effective e-mental health tools. Sarah moderates Black Dog Institute’s Expert Insights webinar and podcast series, which offers expert mental health knowledge and insights from professionals, researchers, and people with lived/living experience of mental health concerns. She also facilitates Black Dog Institute's eMHPrac webinars, which showcase Black Dog Institute's latest research on digital mental health resources as well as the best e-mental health products developed in Australia.
University Centre for Rural Health
The eMHPrac team at the University Centre for Rural Health (UCRH) consists of senior researchers and Indigenous program and support staff. The team manage the WellMob website and provide training to Indigenous health workers and non-Indigenous health practitioners about how to use digital social and emotional wellbeing resources. The team are employed by the University of Sydney and are based at Lismore in northern NSW. The University Centre for Rural Health (UCRH) conducts research relevant to the health needs of rural communities around Australia. For more information go to: https://ucrh.edu.au/about-research/
WellMob Director
David Edwards
David Edwards is a Worimi man who grew up in Turrbal/Jagera country and now lives in the Bundjalung lands of northern NSW. David works under the national e-Mental Health in Practice from University of Sydney’s University Centre for Rural Health (UCRH) in Lismore NSW as Director of the WellMob website program that provides a digital library of Aboriginal and Torres Strait specific wellbeing resources. David has a science and Indigenous health promotion background and is dedicated to working with community on looking after country, culture and community health and employment. David brings over 30 years of experience in contributing to the Dept of Health, Aging and Communities digital Mental Health Advisory Group and also represents on other national mental health and wellbeing Indigenous governance groups including Emerging Minds, Beyond Blue, Menzies School of Health Research (AIMhi-Y) and Inside Out. David also supports research work in First Nations health projects that meet community needs in partnership with the University of Sydney’s UCRH, Charles Perkins Centre and Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. David is also a volunteer trainer in the Core of Life program delivering interactive workshops to young people about pregnancy and birthing, and co-developed content for the Indigenous fathering text-based information service, #SMS4deadlydads in 2019-2022.
Senior Workforce Development Officer
Dr Mim Weber
Dr Mim Weber (PhD) is a Social Worker with 13 years in Mental Health policy, programs, and training in Northern NSW, Bundjalung Country. Prior to that she worked in child and family health and eating disorders. She has also worked in South Australia and in the Pilbara in Western Australia in education, disability, health, and welfare positions. She has worked with WellMob since July 2022.
Project Officer
Angela Sheridan
Angela Sheridan is a Wiradjuri woman from south central NSW. She has grown up in Lismore, Widjabul Wyabul country in the Bundjalung nation of northern NSW. Angela is a grass roots community member, and her lived experience has led her to find her passion of Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing. She has previously worked in Asset based Community development project work and as an Aboriginal health/community worker. She originally was involved in the community and health worker yarning circles with the WellMob project which informed the development of the WellMob project into its current form of a website library of resources. Now she is a project officer in the WellMob team and manages social media content creation.
Training and Engagement Officer
Sharnie Roberts
Sharnie Roberts is a proud descendant of the Widjabul Wia-bal clan of the Bundjalung Nation and works within the WellMob team as the Training Development Officer. Sharnie has recently obtained a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and is passionately pursuing a career that empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to build cultural resilience for generational healing whilst contributing to breaking down systematic barriers for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Workplace Development Support
Tiarnee Schafer
Tiarnee Schafer is a proud Kalkadoon woman from Mt Isa, Queensland, is a psychologist and works part time with the WellMob team. Tiarnee is dedicated to supporting individuals, families, and communities, particularly in rural and remote areas where access to services can be limited. In her work with the WellMob team, Tiarnee has a strong commitment to promoting digital tools that foster social and emotional wellbeing. She is passionate about empowering both Indigenous and non-Indigenous health professionals to integrate these tools effectively and respectfully, ensuring they align with Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing. Through her work, Tiarnee brings together aspects of the social and emotional wellbeing framework as well as and evidence-based practices to enhance wellbeing support and make these vital resources accessible to those who need them most.
Menzies School of Health Research
The eMHPrac team at Menzies School of Health Researchers consists of senior researchers and Indigenous training staff. The team have developed the AIMhi Stay Strong app and manage the Strong Country Strong People website. They provide training to health workers and organisations about culturally relevant digital wellbeing resources. Team members are based in Darwin, Alice Springs and Adelaide. Menzies School of Health Research are one of Australia’s leading medical research institutes dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For more information go to: https://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/
AIMhi Stay Strong Program Lead
Professor Tricia Nagel
Professor Tricia Nagel has thirty years of experience working in NT rural and remote mental health and substance use settings as psychiatrist and educator. Since 2003 Professor Nagel has led a research program based at Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin. The program promotes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives of mental health and access to culturally responsive services and treatments. It has transitioned over two decades from face to face, paper-based treatments and tools, to digital solutions that continue to embed holistic and empowering elements.
Principal Research Fellow
Associate Professor Kylie Dingwall
A/Prof Kylie Dingwall is a Principal Research Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research with the eMHPrac team. Kylie holds a PhD in psychology has lived and worked in Alice Springs for over 15 years, leading research in the areas of substance misuse and mental health. Over the past 10 years Kylie has been involved in developing, testing, and implementing digital-mental health resources in an Indigenous setting.
Project Coordinator/PhD Candidate
Josie Povey
Josie Povey is an Occupational Therapist, who has worked as a clinician and researcher in the NT since 2009. Her research interests include early intervention mental health care, the use of technology in mental health care and participatory research methods.
Senior Research Officer, Lead Trainer
Michelle Sweet
Michelle has worked for over 20 years predominately alongside Aboriginal controlled organizations and research Institutions in the Northern Territory. In the past 10 years this has expanded Nationally in a variety of roles as a Researcher, Trainer, Consultant and Manager. Her passions lie with advocating, exploring and developing innovative strategies to improve wellbeing. Training in intercultural communication utilizing the Stay Strong tools.
The information and materials provided throughout this website are for information purposes only and are intended for health professionals. Individuals should independently investigate, evaluate and verify the content and credentials of any service or resource before choosing to use it or refer a user to it. The services and resources listed on this website are not exhaustive and represent only Australian products.
eMHPrac acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters of Australia and the Torres Strait and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge the impact of colonisation and are committed to supporting the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of Australia’s First Nations People.
eMHPrac acknowledges people with a lived experience of mental illness and their significant contribution to the development of Australia’s digital mental health services.