Mental health network

• Mental Health Peer Worker
• Lived Experience Advocate - founding member of the NT Lived Experience Network, a human rights-based advocacy and recovery movement that is determined to ensure Territorians with lived experience assume their rightful place in systemic decision making and supporting the recovery of others.
• Vocational Trainer and assessor
• Teen, Youth & Standard Mental Health First Aid Instructor
• Former Peer-Led Education Project Officer - Northern Territory Mental Health Coalition
• Former Psychosocial Support Lead - Northern Territory Primary Health Network
• Certificate IV Mental Health
  

Dr Caruana is a Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology at Flinders University (Adelaide) where he leads the HAVIC Lab for Human, Artificial and Virtual Interactive Cognition.

Over the past decade, Nathan’s research program has focused on understanding the brain processes that support human social interactions across the full spectrum of human neurodiversity, working closely with autistic people of all ages and adults diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was recently awarded the Paul Bourke Award from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in recognition of his pioneering work developing virtual interaction paradigms for studying social interactions in the lab.

Nathan’s research also examines how people perceive and interact with artificial agents, such as animated characters in virtual environments and physical social robots. He is currently collaborating with engineers and computer scientists to develop VR tools that support positive social outcomes for autistic people. Meanwhile, his work with social robots is exploring how they can be best positioned to promote learning and wellbeing in neurodiverse children experiencing literacy and emotional health difficulties. You can learn more about Dt Caruana’s research and the HAVIC Lab here.

Dr Chapman works part time as a Consultant Psychiatrist in private practice after nearly 20 years in the Top End Mental Health Service.
He has over 15years’ experience in Adult ADHD, which has been reinforced by attendance at many International and Australian conferences and is a member of the World Federation of ADHD and the Australian Association of ADHD Professionals. David is the NT representative on the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Bi-National ADHD Network Committee.

David is an Honorary Consultant in Women’s Mental Health at the Monash-Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, where he developed a further understanding of ADHD in Females in addition to gaining experience in the complex area of Women’s mental health. An outcome of this has been an appointment as a Collaborator in the ADHD in Females Special Interest Group of the HER Centre Australia. This complements a similar role in the Bellgrove Laboratory of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health of Monash University.

In undertaking clinical care of adults with ADHD, David also has some experience with those who have Asperger syndrome as a co-morbidity. This has brought some understanding of the under-diagnosis of women with both ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder, and a greater awareness of the range of presentation of these disorders. His learning and experience in women’s mental health has led to a wider understanding of the effects of hormones in ADHD in particular, but also to the inter-relationship of all body systems in mental health.

• BA(Hons), BSW (Acc), GCH, MMHS, GWLA
• PhD (Candidate) - Flourishing Neurodivergent Students – Promoting Well-Being and Thriving in Higher Education
• Senior Lecturer in the Counselling (Behavioural Health) postgraduate programs in the Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health
• Dual qualified Psychotherapist and Clinical Social Worker
• Experience in the implementation and translation of integrated models of care, psychological therapies and supervision, workforce diversification and innovative approaches to workforce training and development
• Read more about Paula Redpath