An innovative pilot treatment program was developed for problem gamblers living in rural areas of Australia using cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) modified from an established specialist therapy service. The standard 12 weekly group program was delivered on site by adapting it to two 1 week blocks with daily group sessions and 1 week of patient…

Few studies have examined the effectiveness of interventions to improve mental health in the unemployed. Current evidence points to interventions improving mental health but having little, if any, impact on reemployment. In the Australian context, psychological services continue to be delivered yet little is known about their effectiveness. This…

Survey-based research was conducted with Australian pre-service teachers to identify the classroom management strategies that they would employ, their confidence in employing them, and the effectiveness of the strategies. Furthermore, the study aimed to identify significant differences in these variables between pre-service teachers in the final…

The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) is an evidenced-based model of practice that occupational therapists employ to discuss and reflect on the occupational needs of clients. Custodial grandparents are one cohort of potential clients who experience considerable difficulty in adapting to the occupational challenges of their grandchild-rearing role,…

Increasingly, early childhood practitioners are faced with children who present with significant levels of oppositional and defiant behaviour. The management of this behaviour is often difficult and stressful. Efforts to minimise disruptive behaviour and to encourage more prosocial behaviour have very much revolved around the teaching of…

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy that predominantly teaches clients acceptance and mindfulness skills, as well as values clarification and enactment skills. Australian treatment guideline providers have been cautious in recognising ACT as empirically supported. This article reviews evidence…

This article describes steps of teaching problem solving to college students and provides examples in the context of a university course. The steps involve (1) identifying the types of problems and types of problem solving methods to be covered, (2) instructing the students in problem-recognition and problem solving methods, along with ways of…

Background: People with an intellectual disability whose behaviours are perceived to be of serious harm to themselves or others are at risk of being subjected to restrictive interventions. Prevalence rates are difficult to determine, as most research is unable to draw on the results of population-level data. Method: The current study reports on…

This article reports the findings of a one-year follow-up study of Australian beginning primary teachers' perceived preparedness to manage a variety of problematic student behaviours, and their confidence and use of behaviour management strategies based on their preservice coursework in classroom behaviour management. A total of 216 primary…

Disability support workers are the predominant workforce employed to support people with an intellectual disability in Australia. Many support workers are required to assist people they support to take psychotropic medications in the form of chemical restraint. Support workers in Australia receive limited education and training in this area and as…

Aboriginal children experience social and educational disadvantage and many are not engaged with schooling or learning, which results in significantly lower levels of educational attainment. The Aboriginal Education Program delivered by Scitech to remote Western Australian schools has been shown to significantly increase student ratings of their…

This evidence review synthesises the best available international evidence regarding approaches to behaviour in schools to: (1) Produce an overarching model or framework explaining why school pupils may misbehave (Review 1); (2) Review the effectiveness of classroom-based approaches to behaviour trialled in robust research studies (Review 2); and…

Background: LaVigna, Christian, and Willis (2005) reported on a project where Institute for Applied Behaviour Analysis (IABA) staff trained a professional team in New Zealand (NZ) to provide behavioural services that met defined criteria. The NZ team was then trained to train other practitioners to meet the same professional standards. However, no…

Background: Having an objective means of evaluating the quality of behaviour support plans (BSPs) could assist service providers and statutory authorities to monitor and improve the quality of support provided to people with intellectual disability (ID) who exhibit challenging behaviour. The Behaviour Support Plan Quality Evaluation Guide II…

Whole-School Professional Development (PD) days held regularly in schools are designed to promote and up-skill school staff on relevant areas of educational policy and practice. An aim of PD days is to empower participants with new knowledges and skills, and to confirm that current practices and interpretations of education policy and procedure…