This is the first of a three-part series on the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF). Dr Averil Cook and Dr Melissa Connell will be our presenters for session 1, and Dr Catherine McCarthy and Carly Dober will present sessions 2 and 3. Each session is registerable separately - links for the following sessions are below.
Session 1: What is the Power Threat Meaning Framework?
Join us for an insightful webinar on the Power Threat Meaning Framework, a transformative approach in mental health. Discover how this framework shifts the focus from diagnostic labels to understanding personal experiences, power dynamics, and meaning-making, empowering psychologists to foster recovery and resilience in their clients.
We will cover the importance of this framework from a human rights approach and discuss how this can help clinical practice meet the changes to the code of conduct and registration requirements for psychologists.
Issues to be discussed:
- The limitations of traditional diagnostic approaches in mental health.
- How PTMF shifts focus from symptoms to the underlying sources of distress.
- The importance of understanding power dynamics, threats, and meaning-making in mental health.
Key Concepts:
- Overview of PTMF principles and origins.
- The role of power (e.g., social, cultural, relational) in shaping mental health experiences.
- How threat responses and meaning-making processes affect individuals' mental health.
What you will learn:
- The foundational elements of PTMF and how it differs from conventional diagnostic models.
- The significance of understanding clients' lived experiences through the lens of power and threat.
- Practical implications for fostering client empowerment and recovery.
Key takeaways across all sessions:
- A deeper understanding of PTMF and its application to both individual therapy and broader systemic issues.
- Tools for integrating PTMF into clinical practice to enhance client engagement and outcomes.
- Strategies for advocating for change within Australia's mental health system, using PTMF as a guiding framework.
About our presenters:
Dr Averil Cook is an innovative thinker and practitioner. Trained as a clinical psychologist and systemic family therapist, Averil has been a practitioner and held leadership roles in psychology training programs, academia, NSW health services and hospitals. As Director of Bodhi & Psychology Averil leads a service that works towards decolonising therapy and clinician practices through therapy, training, supervision and corporate consultation.
With a special interests in teaching and training emerging Psychologists, Averil has been a Board Approved Supervisor since 2013 years and has taught and supervised Psychologists, Psychiatrists and NSW Mental Health teams across metropolitan and rural NSW Local Health Districts, tertiary hospitals, private practices and NGO’s. Across her career Averil has been passionate about social justice and has woven this into her work with mental health organisations and in research.
Her current work includes research collaborations examining climate change on the mental health of diverse communities with NSW health, the Bureau of Meterology and the Ingham Institute, and consulting to the Human Rights Commission to support intersectional and embodied change through policy, politics and social- justice. Averil brings these concepts to her work supervising mental health teams and therapists wishing to engage on pathway of decolonising themselves and their therapeutic work with clients.
Dr Melissa Connell is a psychologist working in private practice and education and training in mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) services. Melissa has a broad range of experience in mental health and AOD wellbeing, working with public mental health and AOD services, non-government organisations, universities, and volunteer groups.
Melissa has a strong interest in trauma informed care (TIC), working with health services to develop policies and practices that are trauma sensitive, providing training in TIC to mental health and AOD services, and promoting approaches that are person centred and support human rights.
Other sessions in this series:
2. How to apply this framework with clients and looking at the Australian mental health crisis through PTMF lens - Wednesday 5 March 2025, 7:00 – 8:00 PM AEDT
3. How to apply the framework within systems and looking at Australian mental health crisis through PTMF lens - Wednesday 12 March 2025, 7:00 – 8:00 PM AEDT
Webinar timing: 7:00 – 8:00 pm AEDT
Access to the recording of this webinar: A recording of this webinar will be available through the CPD Webinar Library, but for the best experience and the opportunity to ask your questions, join us live. Everyone who registers will be advised via email as soon as the recording is available. Members have unlimited access to the recording, and non-members will have access for 6 months.