Leading the way... Supporting children and adolescents after disaster

Leading the way... 

Supporting children and adolescents after disaster  

As a health professional, recovery worker, policy maker, or member of the school community responsible for wellbeing, you play a critical role in helping children and adolescents in your community cope with the impacts of trauma during disaster and beyond.

Join our next Leading and Way… webinar for an important discussion about supporting children and adolescents after disaster, exploring the psychosocial impacts experienced by school-aged children and adolescents, and the implications of those impacts at different phases of recovery and at different developmental stages. Our discussion will also explore the importance and value of empowering children and adolescents to be central to the healing process; as well as how effective collaboration across a network of services, including schools and health services, can be vital to supporting recovery.

The webinar will be moderated by Phoenix Australia’s Professor Patricia Watson, an international expert in disaster mental health who co-developed the principles of post-disaster psychosocial care that remain the foundation of disaster recovery efforts across the globe. The session will include a presentation by Phoenix Australia’s Head of Clinical Services, Jane Nursey, a clinical neuropsychologist with extensive experience in supporting children and adolescents after disaster, who will take us through the latest findings into psychosocial impacts of disaster on young people over the short and long term, and what these can look like in different stages of a child’s development.

Following the presentation, they will be joined for a panel discussion by Janette Cook, former Principal of Middle Kinglake Primary School, who led the school community throughout the destruction of the school during the Black Saturday fires and its subsequent rebuild, and Robyn Mansfield, an expert in international humanitarian settlement design, livelihoods, and children’s participation following disaster. The discussion will provide an opportunity to learn from the vast first-hand experiences, unique local and international perspectives, and valuable insights of our guests, through an in-depth and practical exploration of the critical issues.

In addition, we’ll share how you can access the leading-edge free resources and training available to you now through the Phoenix Australia Disaster Mental Health Hub. 

Who should participate?  

The webinar is designed for professionals who work in general practice or other health settings, recovery workers, policy makers, and members of the school community with responsibility for leadership and/or wellbeing.

Speakers / Panellists

• Professor Patricia Watson, Disaster Mental Health Consultant, Phoenix Australia, (moderator)
• Jane Nursey, Head of Clinical Services, Phoenix Australia
• Jeanette Cook AM, Member of the Children and Disasters Advisory Committee, Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety, University of Melbourne; and retired Principal of Middle Kinglake Primary School
• Robyn Mansfield, Consultant and Academic, expert in international humanitarian settlement design, livelihoods, and children’s participation following disaster

What is the cost? 

There is no cost to participate in this webinar.

Presented by Phoenix Australia

We’re Australia’s National Centre of Excellence in Posttraumatic Mental Health, the internationally recognised experts in trauma-related mental health and wellbeing. We build evidence and translate knowledge into action, such as improved treatment options and greater support for trauma-affected individuals, families, and communities.

We are Phoenix Australia. We understand trauma and renew lives.

Click here to access the Phoenix Australia Disaster Mental Health Hub: https://bit.ly/3v35ga6