The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use

Mental and substance use disorders are the leading causes of disability among young people worldwide. In Australia, one in four young people will meet criteria for a substance use or mental disorder in any year. Our prevention research aims to reduce the occurrence and cost of these disorders, by developing, evaluating and translating innovative approaches to prevention in schools and communities. 

Director: Associate Professor Nicola Newton

One in every two people will develop a mental or substance use disorder during their lifetime. Our treatment research aims to develop and evaluate the efficacy of novel interventions to treat these disorders as well as their combination. Our research thus far has focused on the testing of psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for individuals who have both a substance use disorder and the most common mental disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depressive and psychotic disorders.

Director: Associate Professor Katherine Mills 

Epidemiological studies of mental and substance use disorders are vital to understanding the size and nature of the health challenges posed by these disorders. Our epidemiology research aims to carry out epidemiological studies, both cross-sectional and longitudinal, examining the prevalence, correlates and natural history of mental and substance use disorders. We also aim to refine and improve the ways in which mental health and substance use disorders are diagnosed and classified.

Director: Associate Professor Tim Slade

Poor communication of research findings is a significant barrier to population-level dissemination. Our technology, Innovation and Translation research aims to address this barrier through a multi-modal translation and community engagement model. With a Focus on leveraging responsive and flexible technology targeted to clinicians, practitioners, policymakers and end users to facilitate knowledge exchange. A strong aim of our research is to increase dialogue between end users, policymakers, researchers, professionals and practitioners.

Director: Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin

Effective prevention, early intervention and treatment can significantly reduce disease burden by halting, delaying, and interrupting the onset and progression of disorders. Despite this, Australia spends only 1.7 percent of total health expenditure on prevention, fewer than two-thirds of all other OECD countries. To change this, we need initiatives which present genuine innovative partnerships across researchers, health providers and philanthropy and across our research programs. Our research development and strategy activities aim to develop these key partnerships and build bridges across our research streams to contribute to a diverse and world-leading mental and substance use research program. 

Director: Associate Professor Cath Chapman

We provide a challenging and supportive environment for postgraduate research students. With access to internationally recognised researchers for supervision, candidates will work at the cutting edge of prevention, treatment and epidemiological research on co-occurring mental and substance use disorders.

Our academics provide supervision to Masters of Research and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students wishing to obtain advanced training in the fields of mental health and substance use.

Download the PhD handbook (pdf, 1.1MB) for more information.

We aim to provide postdoctoral researchers with world class training in the prevention, treatment and epidemiology of mental and substance use disorders. Our Early-career researcher (ECR) training program provides early career researchers the foundations upon which they may build their own successful programs of research.

Working alongside internationally recognised leaders in the field, members receive training in a variety of methodologies used to undertake research across each stream. In addition, researchers are provided with opportunities to develop their leadership and management skills.

The ECR Training Program is delivered through a series of seminars and workshops tailored specifically to the needs of its members, formal and informal mentoring from senior academics, and participation in our grant development program.

Download the ECR training program handbook (pdf, 725KB) for more information. 

The Matilda Centre is committed to delivering evidence-based training and for professionals undergoing training or working in fields that play a key role in the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders. The training programs will be useful for professionals from a range of backgrounds, from primary school teachers to experienced drug and alcohol workers and clinicians.

Find out more about the comorbidity online training program.

Webinars for Primary Health Network clinicians

Sydney North Health Network (SNHN) has funded researchers at the Matilda Centre to present a series of webinars on alcohol and other drugs (AOD).

The next webinar is scheduled for the 26^th February at 7.30pm, and will be Part 2 of smoking cessation. Register now for this webinar.

You can find recordings and PDF handouts from our previous webinars below:

• Part 1 Smoking Cessation: What, Who and particularly why. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 2.2MB)
  
• Alcohol use in pregnancy: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 3.6MB).
• Substance use and young people. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts.
• Motivational interviewing. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handout (pdf, 2.2MB)
• New and emerging psychoactive substances. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 3.3MB).
• Substance use and physical health. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 567.7KB).
• Substance use in our community: identifying commonly used substances and their effects. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 4.3MB).
• Co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders: implications for managing and delivering best practice healthcare. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 4.9MB).
• Identifying mental disorders and related conditions among patients with alcohol and other drug conditions. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 4.8MB). 
• Managing and treating co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 7.9MB).
• Managing the physical health of people with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. Watch the webinar or download a copy of the handouts (pdf, 5.6MB).

Preventure is a school-based intervention aimed at reducing adolescent drug and alcohol use in high-risk teenagers. Students with high-risk personality profiles as identified by a screening questionnaire are invited to participate in two 90-minute group workshops. The Preventure program has proven both feasible and effective when delivered by trained school staff. The Preventure materials were developed in Canada by Professor Patricia Conrod but have been culturally adaptable for implementation in Australia.

In order to implement the Preventure program, it is necessary to attend a 2-3-day training workshop. The next workshops will be held in 2019, with exact dates still to be announced.

• Register your interest in Preventure training.

The Australian Government Department of Health funded National Comorbidity Clinical Guidelines, or Guidelines on the management of co-occurring alcohol and other drug and mental conditions in alcohol and other drug treatment settings (2nd edition), aim to provide alcohol and other drug workers with evidence-based information on the management and treatment of co-occurring mental conditions in alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment settings. The guidelines are currently being disseminated to AOD services Australia-wide in the form of hardcopy, online, and via an online training program.

Visit the Comorbidity Guidelines website.

Senior leadership team

• Professor Maree Teesson
• Associate Professor Cath Chapman
• Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin
• Associate Professor Katherine Mills
• Mr Paul Newman
• Associate Professor Nicola Newton
• Associate Professor Tim Slade

Academic leadership team

• Dr Emma Barrett
• Dr Louise Birrell
• Dr Marlee Bower
  
• Dr Katrina Champion
• Dr Alana Fisher
• Dr Lauren Gardner
• Dr Erin Kelly
• Dr Steph Kershaw
• Dr Christina Marel
• Dr Smriti Nepal
  
• Dr Natalie Peach
• Dr Katrina Prior
• Dr Louise Thornton
• Dr Mieke Snijder
• Dr Lexine Stapinski
• Dr Matthew Sunderland

• Ms Jasmin Bartlett
• Ms Julia Boyle
• Mr Zachary Bryant
  
• Ms Jo Cassar
• Ms Chloe Conroy
• Ms Katie Dean
• Ms Jennifer Debenham
• Ms Hannah Deen
• Ms Katherine Dobinson
  
• Ms Ainsley Furneax-Bate
• Ms Sophia Garlick Bock
• Ms Melissa Gray
• Ms Olivia Green
  
• Ms Lucinda Grummitt
• Ms Katherine Haasnoot
  
• Ms Annalise Healy
• Ms Ashling Isik
• Ms Phoebe Johnson
• Ms Madeleine Keaveny
  
• Ms Ivana Kihas
• Ms Siobhan Lawler
• Ms Briana Lees
• Ms Samantha Lynch
• Ms Erin Madden
• Mr Marius Mather
• Ms Bridie Osman
• Ms Kate Ross
• Ms Olivia Schollar-Root
• Ms Anna Smout
• Ms Scarlett Smout
• Mr Joel Tibbetts
• Ms Rachel Visontay
• Ms Caitlin Ward
• Mr Jack Wilson
  

• Mr Peter Clay
• Ms Jennifer Debenham
• Ms Clara Fritchley
• Ms Lucinda Grummitt
  
• Mr Logan Harvey
• Ms Ivana Kihas
• Ms Siobhan Lawler
• Ms Briana Lees
• Ms Samantha Lynch
  
• Mr Daniel McFadden
• Ms Anna Smout
• Mr Jack Wilson
  

• Positive Choices
• The Cracks in the Ice Community Toolkit
• eCliPSE – NSW Health

Climate Schools program

The Climate Schools programs are universal, web-based programs designed to prevent substance use and related harms among secondary school students. The courses are based on realistic cartoon scenarios about teenagers and are designed to impart education about the use of alcohol and others drugs, the responsible consumption of alcohol, and ways to reduce alcohol and drug-related harms. Through six randomised controlled trials, including 14,169 students from 157 schools, the Climate Schools programs have been found to be effective at reducing alcohol use and binge drinking, reducing alcohol and drug-related harms, reducing cannabis and ecstasy use, and increasing knowledge about alcohol and other drugs.

Pure Rush: online drug education game

Pure Rush is an educational game that offers a unique, interactive and fun approach to drug education. Players learn about the negative effects of illegal drugs as they navigate through suburban, outback and cityscapes to get to a music festival. Avoiding drugs is the key to success as players race for the best time. Secondary school teachers will find this game useful in supporting health and physical education lessons, and feedback from students indicates they love playing it. The game was developed by CREMS researchers and educational game designers 2and2 in consultation with young people and funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.

To read the facts behind Pure Rush and access additional drug education resources, visit the Positive Choices and the Climate Schools Website. Click here to play Pure Rush

Family and friends support program

The Family and Friends Support Program was funded by the Australian Government in 2016 as an enhancement to the Cracks in the Ice Online Toolkit. The FFSP is an online resilience and wellbeing program to support affected friends and family members of people who use methamphetamine.

It aims to provide affected family and friends with a tailored, evidence-informed website that addresses their needs in supporting a loved one using crystal methamphetamine ‘ice’. It also aims to provide health workers with access to training, information, and a referral pathway which assists affected families and friends they encounter as part of their usual practice.

Breaking the Ice

Breaking the Ice is an internet-based brief early intervention for psychostimulant use, including ice (crystal methamphetamine). The intervention draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Motivation Enhancement Training. Breaking the Ice was originally developed in collaboration with researchers from the ANU, UNSW Sydney and Curtin University. CREMS, in partnership with NSW Health and Curtin University, re-developed the program in 2016 based on feedback obtained by young people at risk of, or already using, ice.

Healthier drinking choices

Healthier Drinking Choices program has been designed to give people the information they need to make careful choices about the role alcohol plays in their life.

Published in 2014 and funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, this series of fact sheets provides up-to-date, evidence-based information for the public about drugs and their effects. Access the free booklets below: 

• Alcohol (pdf, 340KB) 
• Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs during pregnancy (pdf, 893KB)
• Benzodiazepines: what you need to know about sleeping pills (pdf, 819KB) 
• Cocaine (pdf, 311KB) 
• Drugs and the law (pdf, 655KB)
• Ecstasy and pills (pdf, 397KB)
• GHB (pdf, 340KB) 
• Hallucinogens (pdf, 283KB) 
• Heroin (pdf, 590KB) 
• Inhalants (pdf, 295KB) 
• Ketamine (pdf, 340KB) 
• Methamphetamine: what you need to know about speed, ice, base and meth (pdf, 414KB) 
• New psychoactive substances (pdf, 1.5KB) 
• Polydrug use: what you need to know about mixing drugs (pdf, 2.3MB) 
• Tobacco: health effects of smoking (pdf, 2.5MB)
• Tobacco: nicotine addiction (pdf, 942KB) 
• Tobacco: quitting smoking (pdf, 967KB) 
• Tobacco: teenagers and smoking (pdf, 1MB)
• Tobacco: smoking and teenagers - parents factsheet (pdf, 340KB) 

Drug education booklets for teachers, parents and students

These booklets for teachers, parents and students contain evidence-based information on illegal drugs. For parents and teachers, the booklets include guidance about how to talk to a young person about illegal drugs, common reasons for drug use, how to help someone who has taken a drug, and information about school-based prevention programs. The student booklet provides accurate information on ways to prevent related drug-related harms and make informed choices.

View and order copies of the free booklet.

Comorbidity booklets

These booklets are written for people who use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs and who have experienced depression, anxiety, psychosis or trauma. Download the free booklets:

• Anxiety and substance use (pdf, 2.1MB) 
• Mood and substance use (pdf, 2.1MB) 
• Psychosis and substance use (pdf, 987KB) 
• Personality and substance use (pdf, 868KB) 
• Trauma and substance use (pdf, 3.6MB) 
• National Comorbidity Clinical Guidelines

Concurrent treatment of PTSD and substance use disorders using prolonged exposure (COPE): a treatment manual 

Based on a study conducted by our researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, we’ve developed the Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE) Program. This is a cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy program designed for patients who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a co-occurring alcohol or drug use disorder. The therapist guide (for clinicians) and patient workbook are available to order online.

Comorbid mental disorders and substance use disorders: Epidemiology, prevention and treatment

Published in 2003, this monograph provides a review of the evidence base and the discussion of the complex issues around comorbidity.