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Indigenous Psychology within Australia reflects the traditional knowledges of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their understanding of the cultivation of relational social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB). However, these perspectives are poorly incorporated into dominant "Western" psychological theories and practice, such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). This represents a barrier to the cultural safety of current mental health practice and its decolonisation within Australia. This study brought together CBT Practitioners and Practitioners of an Aboriginal Wellbeing practice ("Wayapa") to engage in a series of yarns (guided focus groups) to share perspectives, insights, and stories on their own and each other's practices. Indigenous qualitative research approaches including Research Topic Yarning were engaged to decolonise the research environment and support dialogue at the cultural interface of the two practices. Through experiencing Wayapa, CBT practitioners reflected on gaps in their own practice, with an enthusiasm for the opportunities that Wayapa provided to decolonise their practice. Wayapa practitioners were able to celebrate the holistic nature of their practice and the possibility for it to inform dominant "Western" psychological theories and practice, such as CBT, and encourage a more connected and culturally safe way of working with First Nations peoples. Creating safe cultural interfaces between "Western" and Indigenous Psychologies, and building awareness of the value of Aboriginal grounded wellbeing models, can help to promote and expand culturally safe practices within Australian psychological practice. What is already known about this topic: The cultural safety and relevance of CBT for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples remains uncertain. There is limited knowledge of Aboriginal wellbeing practices and Indigenous Psychologies amongst non-Indigenous Australian mental health practitioners, including psychologists. Broadened understanding of Aboriginal wellbeing practices such as Wayapa Wurrrk, may contribute to decolonising psychology in Australia. What this topic adds: CBT and Wayapa share common and unique tools and concepts that can support the social emotional wellbeing of all Australians. Wayapa Wurrrk concepts such as earth mindfulness and the centring of Country as a foundation for wellness and social emotional wellbeing represent gaps in current CBT practice. Work at the cultural interface of "Western" and Indigenous Psychology offers a pathway to promote appreciation for, and active utilisation of, Indigenous psychologies including the social emotional wellbeing framework (SEWB). In this article, we recognise both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Nations of Australia. We acknowledge and pay respect to the knowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are unique, all with their own languages, knowledge systems, beliefs, and histories. We recognise the collective terms they prefer also vary. With respectful consideration to these preferences, typically we will specify Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples when referring to First Nations Peoples in this article. From time to time, we use the term Indigenous. However, we note that for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, this is not preferred. As such, we have only used this where we are referencing it's use from another source, or it is the established use of the term, such as its use in "Indigenous knowledges". Where referring to individual Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, we have endeavoured to incorporate their preferences, including for example, reference to the Country they are connected to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify in the Australian context: (a) treatment and support services that are accessed by people living with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and their carers, (b) perceived benefits and challenges associated with these services, and (c) changes these individuals would like to see with regards to service provision and access. Method: This project involved semi‐structured qualitative interviews with 12 participants (75% female, M age = 39.9, SD = 11.7), nine with lived experience of BPD, three carers and two identifying with both roles. Additionally, two online focus groups were conducted via online peer support communities involving 11 participants in total. Interview transcripts and focus group text were analysed thematically. Results: Participants described mixed experiences across a range of treatment types, locations and intensities. Themes were: identity and discovery, (mis)communication, complexities of care, finding what works (for me), an uncertain future, and carer empowerment. Participants described community‐based psychotherapy as being critical for reducing symptoms of BPD and improving quality of life, but reported challenges at the macro and micro level with regards to costs, service access, clinician factors and client factors. Experiences were often not aligned with a recovery model of mental health. Conclusions: The current Australian mental health system is not designed to best meet the needs of people living with BPD, which remains highly stigmatised and misunderstood. Future research should consider how the system could be modified or restructured to better support recovery for these individuals and others with complex mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study explored the experiences of trainee psychologists from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CALD) background in Australia. Although previous studies have documented the experiences of CALD trainees in the USA and UK, few studies have explored this issue in Australia. Findings from other countries may aid understanding, but could not be assumed to apply in Australia. The current study aimed to address this gap and explore what facilitated or hindered CALD trainee psychologists' progress during their training and to provide recommendations. Method: Fourteen CALD trainee psychologists, undertaking Clinical or Education and Developmental postgraduate training from four universities in southeast Queensland, attended an individual, semi‐structured interview. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the emerging themes across interviews. Results: Nine themes were generated, including cultural challenges, lack of acknowledgment and support from the training staff, effective supervision, strengths of a CALD trainee psychologist, language and communication challenges, limited training/understanding of issues about CALD clients, uniform approach of training, peer interactions: pleasant or unpleasant, and coping strategies. Conclusions: Findings provided not only an account of challenges CALD trainees encountered but also their strengths. CALD trainee psychologists faced extra difficulties and there is a need for increased awareness among trainers. Recommendations for trainers to increase facilitation and reduce hindrance to CALD trainees' training were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Despite the heterogeneity of Australian Aboriginal peoples, certain styles of relating are shared and are markedly different to the communication styles of non- Aboriginal peoples. These differences may affect the suitability of current investigative interview protocols to Australian Aboriginal children. This study aimed to qualitatively evaluate the applicability of an investigative interview protocol to Australian Aboriginal children and examine how it could be modified to better suit the communication styles in many Aboriginal communities. Method A diverse group of 28 participants who had expertise in Aboriginal language and culture, as well as an understanding of the child investigative interview process, each partook in an in-depth semi-structured interview where they were prompted to reflect on Aboriginal language and culture with reference to a current interview protocol (in the context of sexual assault investigation). Results Thematic analysis revealed overall support for the narrative-based structure of the interview protocol when eliciting information from Aboriginal children. A number of concerns were also identified, and these largely related to the syntax and vocabulary within the protocol, as well as the methods of questioning and building rapport with the child. Conclusions Directions for future research and potential modifications to investigative interview protocols to better suit Aboriginal children are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite assertions in the literature that psychologists adopt culturally inappropriate strategies for working with Indigenous clients, there is little empirical evidence about this. The aim of this study was to document the self-reported experiences of non-Indigenous psychologists working with Indigenous clients, the factors that they felt constrain these interactions, and the clinical, assessment and communication strategies they perceived as effective in Indigenous contexts. Structured interviews were held with 23 psychologists, 18 females and five males, with age groups ranging from 20-30 to 50+. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that participants experienced contradictions between the typical Western white psychologists' ways of interacting with clients, which they had been taught and the typical ways in which relationships are structured in Indigenous communities. The results suggest that the Western model of psychological training does not work very well in Indigenous contexts, and that psychologists working in Indigenous contexts have to work out their own methods on a trial-and-error basis. This points to the need for more systematic cultural competence training. However, there is a lack of research into the effectiveness of psychological intervention from the viewpoints of Indigenous clients themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Government's Better Access initiative was introduced in late 2006 to increase treatment rates for people with mental disorders. It provides for reimbursement of psychologists' services through Medicare. The current pilot study examines the experiences of psychologists with this initiative. A random sample of 204 of 4,235 psychologists in private practice was approached and 73 psychologists (36%) were interviewed. The current study suggests that psychologists have had positive experiences with Better Access. They have appreciated the greater security of income and greater variety of work afforded by the initiative, and they have observed flow-on benefits in terms of increased access and reduced stigma for their clients. Additional research is required to corroborate these findings with a larger sample of psychologists, but the current findings provide indicative evidence that Better Access is assisting psychologists to meet a previously unmet community need for mental health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a pressing need to address prejudice, racism, and discrimination against marginalised groups in Australia. This involves change from the structural to the individual level. In this article, we discuss the merits of individual anti-prejudice mechanisms within the Australian context. First, we expand on nine mechanisms described in a previous paper and then review five new mechanisms. We conclude that while some mechanisms are likely to be useful regardless of location, others need to be tailored to the local context. We also conclude that effective interventions need to utilise multiple mechanisms. It is hoped that the synthesis of the different mechanisms provided here will assist anti-prejudice researchers, practitioners, and policymakers striving to improve relations among different groups in our society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]