Paula Nathan, Director
Paula Nathan is currently the Director of the Centre for Clinical Interventions (CCI) and adjunct senior Lecturer with the School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience of The University of Western Australia. She has a strong commitment to providing individuals who attend public mental health services with the most effective treatments possible. Since joining the Department of Health (DoH) her work has concentrated on the treatment and research of complex, severe psychiatric disorders involving disabling emotion and mood. As a result of the treatments she has developed and evaluated at CCI she has, in collaboration with her staff, produced therapist manuals for comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Before joining the DoH she has had many years experience as a lecturer in the postgraduate clinical psychology programme at The University of Western Australia. Whilst in that position, as well as her teaching and research commitments, she was responsible for practitioner training. She has extensive experience with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), an intervention shown to be highly effective, and has taught this treatment modality to the entire range of mental health practitioners. Together with her staff, she has developed a popular and well evaluated practitioner training programme at CCI.

Evidence supported treatments are a dynamic and evolving set of enterprises. Paula's research investigates the mechanisms of psychopathology and therapeutic change processes in order to develop improved and innovative evidence based interventions. These interventions are comprehensively evaluated. She is currently collaborating with colleagues from psychology and psychiatry in her research.

Dr. Anthea Fursland, Specialist Clinical Psychologist
Anthea is the Principal Clinical Psychologist of the Eating Disorders Programme at CCI. She has 29 years of experience in eating disorders, and has worked in both the UK and the US. In the UK she trained at St. George’s Hospital in London before moving to Berkeley, California, where she obtained her PhD. She then worked in the largest Health Maintenance Organisation in the US, which serves over 3 million patients. She was Chair of Best Practices in Eating Disorders, co-ordinating eating disorder services throughout northern California. Thus she has extensive clinical and managerial experience in the development of eating disorder treatment programmes.

In addition to her clinical work, Anthea's role at CCI includes service development, training and education (of doctors, mental health practitioners, consumer and carer organisations), clinical supervision, and applied clinical research. Anthea has presented outcomes data from the CCI Eating Disorders Programme at several national and international conferences, and provides advanced trainings in Enhanced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for eating disorders. She is Vice-President of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Eating Disorders and is on the Special Interest Group Oversight Committee of the International Academy of Eating Disorders.

Dr Peter McEvoy, Specialist Clinical Psychologist
Dr Peter McEvoy graduated with a Masters in Clinical Psychology and PhD from the University of Western Australia, after which he worked for 4 years as a clinical psychologist and service coordinator of the Anxiety Disorders Unit, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. Dr McEvoy’s role was to coordinate the clinical and research activities within the clinic and, as an accredited supervisor for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, to supervise psychiatry registrars in cognitive behavioural therapy. Dr McEvoy is currently a specialist clinical psychologist and research co-ordinator at the Centre for Clinical Interventions. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Anxiety Disorders and is an ad hoc reviewer for a number of national and international journals. Dr McEvoy has published articles relating to treatment outcome for anxiety and depression, has presented workshops on the treatment of emotional disorders, and supervises clinical psychologists and trainees. Dr McEvoy’s primary areas of interest are anxiety disorders and depression, and he specialises in the treatment of social phobia, generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, body dysmorphic disorder, and depression.

Dr. Susan Byrne, Specialist Clinical Psychologist
Sue is a NHMRC Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia, and is a sessional specialist clinical psychologist with the CCI eating disorders programme. Sue is a major holder of grants investigating eating and weight disorders in children and adults from Healthways, the Raines Foundation and The University of Western Australia. She also holds an honorary position with Fiona Stanley’s Telethon Institute for Child Health and Research. Sue was previously a Wellcome Trust Prize Student at Oxford University. Only one of these scholarships is awarded every 4 years. Whilst at Oxford University Sue worked with Dr Christopher Fairburn. Sue is a member of national committees specializing in eating disorders such as the Australian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network and the Australian Eating Disorders National Research Group.

Laura Smith, Senior Clinical Psychologist
Laura completed her Masters degree in Clinical Psychology at UWA in 1997, where her research focussed on cognitive processes in people with eating disorders. Laura’s current practice and research at CCI is focussed in the area of bipolar disorder. She is involved in running the ongoing CCI Bipolar Treatment Programme – which offers adjunctive psychosocial interventions for people with bipolar disorder. Laura’s particular research interests are in the areas of anxiety comorbidity in bipolar disorder, and self-efficacy for managing bipolar symptoms.  Laura has also worked on therapist manuals for group and individual treatment of anxiety and depression. Most recently she has completed a therapist manual entitled "CBT for Psychotic Symptoms: A Therapist’s Manual".

Laura is also the Principal Training Consultant at CCI. She is closely involved in developing and coordinating the CCI clinical interventions training programme, and in conducting training workshops for mental health professionals.

Dr. Lisa Saulsman, Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Lisa Saulsman completed her BA (Hons), Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Western Australia. Her PhD research focused on the application of the five-factor model of personality to conceptualising personality disorders. Some of her work in this area has been published, and presented at national and international conferences. Her particular research interest is the role of Agreeableness in personality disorders.

At CCI, Lisa is involved in research pertaining to personality and interpersonal factors in psychopathology and treatment. Lisa is also involved in the delivery of individual and group interventions for people with anxiety and depression, and in developing and conducting training workshops for mental health professionals. Lisa was also involved in writing the web-based information package "What Me Worry", available of the CCI website.

Dr Rebecca Anderson, Clinical Psychologist
Dr Rebecca Anderson completed her Masters in Clinical Psychology and Doctorate at Curtin University. Her PhD research examined case-complexity of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder presentations and compared the use of individual and group treatment formats for delivering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for adults experiencing this disorder. Rebecca conducted this research whilst working at the Curtin University Psychology Clinic delivering a specialist statewide service for individuals with Anxiety Disorders. Her research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at national and international conferences. Rebecca has also published book chapters on the clinical management of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Rebecca is the National President of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy, the peak body supporting CBT practitioners in Australia. At CCI, Rebecca provides individual and group based treatment to individuals with affective and anxiety disorders. Rebecca is also involved in developing consumer and clinician materials, developing and conducting training in CBT for mental health practitioners, and manages the CCI website.

Bruce Campbell, Clinical Psychologist
Bruce completed his Graduate Diploma in Psychology at Flinders University (Adelaide), and his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Western Australia. His Master’s research focussed on the comparative effectiveness of treating depression with either a combination of medication and psychotherapy, or psychotherapy alone. Bruce is also a practising registered pharmacist and brings to his clinical work over 15 years of experience in community healthcare. This background continues to foster Bruce’s research interest in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders with medication and with cognitive behavioural therapy. Bruce is involved with the general programme at CCI where he works with clients/patients in group programmes and individually.

Dr. Bronwyn Raykos, Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Bronwyn Raykos completed her BA (Hons), Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, and Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Her PhD research examined the role of attentional and interpretive biases favouring threat in anxiety-vulnerable individuals. Her work has been published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and international conferences. Prior to joining CCI, her experience included a post at the Institute of Psychiatry in London where she delivered individual Cognitive Behavioural Therapy interventions to adolescents with Major Depression as part of a clinical trial. Bronwyn has also been involved in several research projects and tutoring at UWA. At CCI, Bronwyn is involved in the delivery of individual and group interventions as part of the Eating Disorders Service. Bronwyn also has an interest in conducting research to evaluate and improve the treatment of eating disorders.

Dr. Amanda Swan, Clinical Psychologist
Amanda completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Teeside, UK, where her research focussed on the impact of mood disorders and health beliefs on Stroke Rehabilitation outcome. Her previous experience in the UK involved delivering individual, couple and ward based interventions for a range of psychiatric disorders affecting older adults and their families. She also developed and delivered training programmes for mental health professionals. Amanda’s current practice and research at CCI is focussed in the area of Quality of Life, Depression and Bipolar Disorder. She is involved in running the ongoing CCI Bipolar Programme - which offers adjunctive psychosocial interventions for people with Bipolar Disorder.

Dr Hunna Watson, Research Psychologist
Dr Hunna Watson completed her PhD, MPsych(Clinical), and BSc(Hons) at Curtin University, Western Australia. In 2008 she was awarded the Peter Beumont Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders Young Investigator Prize and an Early Career Researcher Award by the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development and Australasian Human Development Association. Her research at CCI is focused on understanding maintenance processes within eating disorders and clinical treatment applications for eating disorders, mood, and anxiety disorders. This research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences.

Dr Watson is the Research Coordinator of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration Project, a Commonwealth government-funded initiative to develop a national framework the promotion of positive body image and the prevention and management of eating disorders. She is also an adjunct research fellow at the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia.

Dr Marilyn Fitzgerald, Clinical Psychologist (Registrar)
Marilyn completed her Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology and a PhD at the University of Western Australia (UWA).  Her PhD research examined the association between anxiety-linked threat-biased attention and threat-biased interpretation.  Marilyn has previous experience in providing both inpatient and outpatient therapy for young people and adults with eating disorders and other psychological conditions.  As part of the Eating Disorders Programme, she provides therapy for individuals with eating disorders and is involved in the development of web-based resources for consumers and health professionals. 

Sharon Byrne, Clinical Psychologist (Registrar)
Sharon is part of the Eating Disorder team at CCI. Sharon joined CCI having completed her Masters in Clinical Psychology at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Her Masters research involved the evaluation of a questionnaire designed to assess eating disorder symptoms in children and adolescents. Sharon has previous experience in delivering individual and group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to children and adults with weight management difficulties and a variety of other psychological conditions.