Bachelor of Counselling Staff
BA, MA, GrDipPsych, MScMarrFamTherapy, MATh, CertIVTAA, MTh(Hons), PhD
Casual Academic (Counselling)
John is a psychologist and marriage & family therapist with over 25 years of clinical practice, an experienced educator, and the Director of Mount Evelyn Counselling Centre. Therefore John is well placed to lead both Human Development, Personality, And Identity as well as What Is Abnormal?: The Individual, Diagnostics, And Society. In addition to his clinical experience John brings with him both cross-culture knowledge and an ability to integrate faith and practice. This he brought to the fore in his PhD which was about identity and shame within a theological framework. His understanding of shame is timely as this is a growing topic in both the literature and in clinical practice. Finally, John has served as the President of the Christian Counsellors Association of Australia, the Chair of the Board of Careline Connections, and on the Board of the Asia Christian Counselling Association.
BCouns
Casual Academic (Counselling)
Originally trained as a counsellor, Jen has since expanded her remit to include school chaplaincy and now hospital chaplaincy. Jen has a deep and abiding interest in how to integrate faith-based practices into mental health work. Extensive experience sitting at the bedside of people of all faiths and none has given Jen the ability to share deeply with students about how faith, religion, and spirituality influence one’s wellbeing.
M Psych (Ed & Dev), PhD, PsyBA Endorsed
Casual Academic (Counselling)
Jennifer is an Education & Developmental Psychologist in private practice with a special interest in spectrum-based disorders (e.g., ASD, ADHD, and learning disorders). She has published research in individual differences and community mental health and is a research supervisor with Monash University. Jennifer’s clinical experience and expertise is invaluable to our 3rd year students as they go beyond common client presentations and manualised counselling to engage “the real world”.
Casual Academic (Counselling)
Jim comes to teaching with a significant background in both counselling practice and scholarly pursuits. Having been a counsellor at QPASTT Jim has counselled people who have faced persecution, torture, and war-related trauma. Jim is also a lecturer at the University of Queensland where he is completing his PhD in how certain personal strengths (i.e., virtues) improve psychotherapy outcomes. Given his interest in virtues, and a background in philosophy more generally, Jim also teaches within The Human Condition, specifically highlighting to students the historical and social roots of a number of counselling modalities. Jim also has strong family ties to Australian Lutheran College and to Lutheranism in general.
