Psychologist selection made simple
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Elizabeth Benson-Stott is completing two projects as part of her doctoral studies
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Tuesday March 17, 2009
A Hervey Bay psychologist is writing a clinical manual to help people when it comes to choosing a psychologist to meet their needs.
Elizabeth Benson-Stott is also developing a forensic program to equip lawyers, psychologists and clients with knowledge to help them conduct assessments of people going through the court system.
The two projects are part of Ms Benson-Stott's doctoral studies. She is among the first group of students enrolled in the University of Southern Queensland Fraser Coast's new Doctor of Professional Studies degree.
Her work is being assisted with a $16,000 scholarship awarded by the Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health.
Ms Benson-Stott, who runs BetterLife Directions with husband James, will use autobiographical material in the clinical manual. Her own life has been anything but ordinary.
The Maryborough-born woman has lost two sisters in tragic circumstances. She has also been caught up in an immigration misunderstanding and forced to leave the United States, been harassed and threatened by drug dealers in Jamaica, and almost died in a French hospital from an unknown illness.
As a Psychologist, Ms Benson-Stott worked in the United States and Australia in the fields of clinical, educational, forensic, organizational, mental health, human resources and management.
Her travels have given her an insight into a broad range of cultures.
She has been a guest speaker at national and international conferences on suicide intervention and prevention.
In 2004 she won the Australian National Award for Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention.
The following year she was recognized by the Queensland Government as a semi-finalist for the Queenslander of the Year Awards.
Her ongoing contribution to mental health in the field of psychiatry was recognised internationally in 2006 by her peers with the presentation of the International Donald Cohen fellowship.
Ms Benson-Stott said her manuals would help clients, legal professionals, general practitioners, and allied health professionals.
Media Contact: Katrina Corcoran, USQ Fraser Coast Media Contact, Phone: 07 41943167