Simon Crisp

Simon has been working with people of all ages for over 30 years, and has been a practicing Clinical Psychologist since 1990. As well as extensive experience working with adults, he has advanced qualifications and expertise in child, adolescent and family psychology, including a broad training that includes Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), psychodynamic psychotherapy and family therapy. Simon has an international reputation for pioneering Wilderness Adventure Therapy® in Australia, as well as developing the nation's first, and highly acclaimed adolescent mental health day-program: The Brief Intervention Program (BIP) at the Austin Hospital, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service. Here he held the position of Senior Clinical Psychologist and Director of Adolescent Day-Patient Services. He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1996 to study other innovative therapy approaches overseas. Through his career, he has worked intensively with a variety of many hundreds of young people, their parents and families.

In his commitment to constantly improving services for young people, Simon has researched the innovative crisis counselling model he developed in 2002 - Psychological First Response® – for teachers and youth professionals at Monash University. Simon has been a lecturer in post-graduate Counselling and Ethics & Professional Issues at Monash University and at the School of Business at La Trobe University. Simon is a frequent conference presenter nationally and internationally, and runs courses, professional development and supervision for mental health professionals and teachers. A past columnist in the national Teacher Magazine, he also regularly appears for expert comment in print media and television.