School of Psychology

Dr Corinne Reid

Chair Counselling Programs, Senior Lecturer; Clinical Psychologist

Also see  caladeniacounselling.com.au and http://www.psy.uwa.edu.au/pkids

RESEARCH:
Investigating Therapeutic practice:
I am keenly involved in developing new ways of conducting research that are accessible to practitioners and reflect the practitioner’s commitment to keeping the client person clearly at the centre of our thinking. I have derived the person-centric research framework to support this process. This framework is driven by practitioner-derived values and guides practitioner-researchers in their thinking about methodological choices that uphold the real-world validity and relevance of their attempts to investigate therapeutic process and outcome. I continue to support students in utilizing this framework to evaluate a range of therapeutic programs being run by service providers in the community. Presently these include programs for children who have experienced sexual abuse, telepsychology services to rural clients, social skills programs for children with language impairment, depression programs for indigenous youth, domestic violence programs for men and substance use programs for women.

Children and their development:
I am also a founding member of PROJECT KIDS which is a research program exploring the social, emotional and intellectual development of children aged 7-11 years. PROJECT KIDS is uniquely built around a holiday activity program format using child-friendly assessment techniques to collect our data. Each school holidays, 120 children come along and participate in a range of games and activities that also constitute serious data collection opportunities. As part of this project, I am presently involved in a study with Prof Dorothy Bishop (Oxford University), A/Prof Mike Anderson (UWA) and Dr Alison Fox (UWA), which will involve using innovative techniques to measure the development of children's brains. The main aim is to assess the role cortical maturation plays in the development of children's intellectual and social abilities. For this project we have been awarded a $480,000 grant from the ARC and the project is titled "Maturation of the brain and the development of cognitive abilities". See the PROJECT KIDS website for more information http://www.psy.uwa.edu.au/pkids/  Currently we are following up children who came to our program over 10 years ago!

Working with indigenous communities:
I currently hold a grant with Dr. Libby lee from the School of Education. We are working with the Mungullah Aboriginal Community and the East Carnarvon Primary School to find better ways for the Mungullah kids to make the transition to school and to be part of a learning environment that recognizes and values different ways of learning. This involves looking at better ways of assessing how the kids are growing up and also how the teachers are finding ways to make connections with each child’s abilities and talents.

Working with rural and remote communities:Telepsychology
I am interested in exploring the potential for therapy to be provided to clients isolated by distance. We use video-based technology to provide counselling to people who live in geographically isolated areas. We are evaluating the effectiveness of this way of connecting with our clients.

Exceptional achievement:
My PhD explored the potential of person-centred theories of personality to enhance our understanding of exceptional human achievement, with a focus on the domain of Olympic sport.  I used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to build a model of personality development and individual growth based on the stories and personality profiles of more than 100 Olympians The resultant pathways framework highlights each individual’s unique journey to Olympic selection whilst also identifying a core role for the trait of hardiness in developing resilience in times of extreme stress. This model is intended to provide a framework for practitioners that will facilitate a person-centred approach to working with these exceptional individuals and teams.

PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION & ACTIVITIES:
Being a counselor is a privilege. Exploring aspects of our lives that are troubling to us requires great courage and personal commitment. Being invited to walk alongside someone as they stretch themselves in this way is a unique experience. My work with clients focuses on providing a safe space in which to explore their experiences or even concerns that they cannot yet name. Each client is different and brings a different style and set of priorities to counseling. My purpose is to enter into the world of each person and support them as they unfold towards new understandings of themselves and their relationships with others. As a person-centred therapist I believe that all of us grow as we move through life – that it is often in challenging times that we come to see with more clarity what is most important to us.

My training was initially as a clinical psychologist in a strongly cognitive-behavioural framework. Over time, my practice has evolved into more humanistic ways of working and has been increasingly influenced by person-centred theorists and practitioners – this is now my predominant orientation. Most importantly, I believe that the client-therapist relationship is the most influential factor in successful therapeutic outcomes, and that therapy is about providing a space in which the individual can become ‘freed up’ to engage with a continual process of growth, or self-actualisation.

I have worked in the area of child sexual abuse and family breakdown, acquired head injury, terminal illness, and gerontology. In each of these areas, I have been interested in individual work but also work that involves significant others in the client’s life. Such a systemic focus has also been heightened through my work with elite sportspeople and sporting organisations. I have been Psychologist for: the Australian Women’s Hockey Team (1992-2000), Australian Olympic Team (1996, 2000), and Commonwealth Games Team (1998) and continue to work with coaches, individual sportspeople and teams. This experience has induced a strong awareness of systemic factors that influence an individual’s ways of being.

TEACHING:
I am principally involves in training our postgraduate students to be therapists. As co-Chair of the Masters of Counselling program I am committed to providing an experiential and evidence-based learning opportunity for students from Psychology as well as a range of other disciplines. Much of this training takes place at our community-based counseling centre in Cottesloe. This centre is known as Caladenia House and can be found at caladeniacounselling.com.au as well as on the Murdoch School of Psychology website. I enjoy working with each student in a person-centred way that supports their development toward being able to assist others in times of distress and self-discovery. This is often a personal challenge for trainees as well as a professional challenge. Together we construct learning opportunities to develop their own strength and self-awareness so that they are able to be a support to others.

Masters level - Counselling Supervision; Masters level – Working with Organisations (working in teams, working with groups, coaching etc);
Masters level – Practicum placement co-ordination – finding learning opportunities for our students in the community across a range of setting

Undergraduate level – I contribute to a variety of units at undergraduate level, providing an introduction to Counselling

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Refereed Book Chapters:
  
  Reid, C.(2004). Losing to win: A clinical perspective on the experience of loss among elite athletes. In D.Lavallee (ed.) Emotion and Coping in Sport. Nova Science, NY.
  
  Anderson, M. & Reid, C.(2005). ‘I think therefore I am’: The nature of human intelligence. In M. Hewstone & F. Fincham. Psychology. Blackwells, Oxford, CH13.
  
  
  
• Refereed Journal Articles:
Reid, C.(invited paper submitted for review). Training evidence-based practitioners: Keeping the person at the centre. British Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy

 Fernandez, I., Reid, C. & Dziurawiec, S.(2006) Living with endometriosis: The perspective of male partners.  Journal of Psychosomatic Research , 61, 433-438 

Richardson, L., & Reid, C. (2006). I've lost my husband, my house and I need a new knee. Why should I smile?": An action research evaluation of a group CBT programme for older adults with depression. Clinical Psychologist, 10, 2, 60-66.

Reid, C., Stewart, E., & Thorne, G.(2004). Multidisciplinary health science teams in elite sport: Comprehensive servicing or conflict and confusion? The Sport Psychologist.

Anderson, M., Reid, C. & Nelson, J.(2001). Developmental changes in inspection time: what a difference a year makes. Intelligence, 29, 475-486

Full List of Publications