Altering States Conference

Altering States 2012 - Working For Wellbeing

The theme for 2012 is Working For Wellbeing

7 and 8 June 2012

Brisbane

For more information contact Queensland Alliance for Mental Health on 07 3252 9411

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Keynote speakers include:

Ethan Watters

Ethan Watters (US) is an author and journalist who has spent the last two decades writing about psychiatry and social psychology. Most recently, he is the author of Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche. The book suggests that America is homogenizing not just the categorization and treatment of the mentally ill but the subjective experience of being mentally ill as well. He began his career writing about daycare abuse scares, satanic cult conspiracies, and other urban hysterias of the early 1990s. He was the first national magazine writer to expose therapists who lead their patients to uncover “recovered memories” of early childhood abuse. That work culminated in a co-authorship of Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy and Sexual Hyseria, a groundbreaking indictment of the recovered memory movement. Watters is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine, Discover, Men’s Journal, Details, Wired, and This American Life. His writing on the new research surrounding epigenetics was been featured in the 2003’s Best American Science and Nature Writing series. Watters is co-founder of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto, a workspace for journalists, novelists, poets and filmmakers. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and children.

Professor Dame Carol Black DBE MD FRCP FMedSci (UK)

Professor Dame Carol Black is the National Director for Health and Work, Chairman of the Nuffield Trust, President of the British Lung Foundation, and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Bristol. She is a past-President of the Royal College of Physicians, and immediate past-Chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. The Centre she established at the Royal Free Hospital, London is internationally renowned in the field of connective tissue diseases.

Since the early-1990s she has worked at board level in a number of organisations, including the Royal Free Hospital Hampstead NHS Trust, the Health Foundation, the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, and the Imperial College Healthcare Charity, and recently chaired the UK Health Honours Committee. She is a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, a member of the Committee for the Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service, chairs the governance board of the new Centre for Workforce Intelligence, and is on several national committees aiming to improve healthcare. She is a Foreign Affiliate of the Institute of Medicine USA, and has been awarded many honorary degrees and fellowships.

2009 Keynotes

Read Martin's keynote address [PDF - 333KB]

Read Neasa's keynote address [PDF - 3MB]

Read Deanne's keynote address [PDF - 1.2MB]

Read Leonie's keynote address [PDF - 2.6MB]

Martin Knapp is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. He is also Professor of Health Economics and Director of the Centre for the Economics of Mental Health at King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry.

Martin’s work has evaluated the economic benefits of different models of social care including early intervention and prevention services in mental health, cost savings from anti-discrimination campaigns and the efficiencies related to direct payments.

He was a key researcher in the production of UK Government’s Foresight Project, for Mental Capital and Wellbeing and an author of the evaluation of the Individual Budgets Pilot Project, the IBSEN report.

In 2009, he was appointed the inaugural Director of the NIHR School for Social Care Research in England.

He is a key advisor on mental health economics to the UK government, the European Commission and World Health Organization.

Neasa Martin has a multifaceted view on mental illness: as a family member, mental health professional and as a person who has had direct experience living with mental illness.

She has over twenty-five years of clinical, program management and consulting experience in the area of mental health and addictions.

As an Advisor for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Ms Martin has recently co-authored “A time for action: Tackling Stigma & Discrimination” for the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

She has coordinated a national stigma and discrimination research plenary session and an international research plenary forum on problem gambling and mood disorders.

Ms Martin has undertaken research for the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, to develop a Quality of Life Tool as defined by people living with schizophrenia and their families.

Ms Martin has a life-long interest in improving the delivery of mental health services and the importance of consumer-driven health promotion efforts. This increases personal responsibility and empower consumers in making informed health choices.

Throughout her life she has seen the harm inflicted by the stigma attached to mental illness and addictions and the value of timely intervention and effective treatment.

Deanne Hellsten is a Registered Nurse and endorsed and credentialled Mental Health Nurse. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing and an Masters in Mental Health Nursing. Deanne is currently undertaking research as a Masters of Health student. Of Indigenous heritage, Deanne has an intrinsic interest in the health of this population group. She also worked for four years on the predominately Indigenous community of Northern Queensland's Palm Island. Here, Deanne was the team leader of the mental health team, providing an important service to this remote community.

Deanne is a part time lecturer with the University of Southern Queensland in Indigenous mental health. She has also worked in the private sector, with Australia's youth mental health awareness project, Headspace.

Now employed in public mental health services, Deanne's interest areas are Indigenous mental health and general community care. Deanne is passionate about the provision of community care and the relationship between good community care and consequentially, improved outcomes for individuals and acute services.

Leonie Young, BHS, MAICD
Health Education, University of Canberra
CEO beyondblue: the national depression initiative

Leonie joined beyondblue as CEO in July 2003 with the responsibility of consolidating its development and leading the national, independent organisation through a successful evaluation to achieve a second funded term, to 2010.

Leonie was previously State Manager of the Northern Territory Office of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing and has a background in the public sector.

As CEO, Leonie has been instrumental in assisting beyondblue to expand its community activities and collaborations, across states, Governments and sectors, drawing on her considerable experience in population health, health service reform and community partnerships. With the goal of improving knowledge of depression and reaching people, however remote their base, Leonie is looking to build upon beyondblue’s considerable achievements in depression awareness, prevention and early intervention within the health, education and employment sectors.

Leonie aims to strengthen beyondblue’s national leadership, to increase the capacity of the community to prevent depression and respond effectively - opening eyes to depression across Australia.