Introduction to Clinical Psychology

Blake McKimmie is a Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at The University of Queensland, where he has established himself as a leading expert in psychology and legal decision-making. His distinguished career is marked by numerous teaching accolades, including a Faculty Teaching Excellence Award in 2010 and a University of Queensland Teaching Excellence Award in 2016, while his teaching team earned the prestigious AAUT Higher Education Teacher of the Year award in 2019 and the edX Prize in 2018. As a social psychologist, he has authored over 80 research publications focusing on jury decision-making and the influence of gender-based stereotypes in legal outcomes, while also exploring group membership dynamics and attitude-behavior relations. McKimmie leads significant educational initiatives, including the acclaimed CRIME101x course and the PSYC1030x Introduction to Developmental, Social & Clinical Psychology XSeries Program on edX.org. His research has attracted funding from the Australian Research Council, and he actively collaborates with the Queensland Police Service Special Investigations Training team to improve responses to child sexual abuse cases. At UQ, he teaches core psychology courses, including a large introductory psychology course and a second-year elective on psychology and law, while maintaining involvement in police officer training and contributing valuable insights to law reform commissions, making him a influential figure in both academic psychology and practical legal applications.

Nancy A. Pachana serves as Professor of Clinical Geropsychology in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland, where she has established herself as an international authority on geriatric mental health. After completing her AB from Princeton University and PhD from Case Western Reserve University, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute and the Palo Alto Veterans Medical Center, she has built an impressive career focusing on aging and mental health. As co-director of the UQ Ageing Mind Initiative and Program Lead of the Age Friendly University Initiative, she has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles and secured more than $25 million in competitive research funding. Her most significant contribution includes co-developing the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, now translated into over two dozen languages and used globally. Her expertise spans late-life anxiety disorders, psychological interventions for Parkinson's Disease, nursing home interventions, assistance animals in later life, and healthy aging strategies. Pachana's academic excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including Fellowship in the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (2014), the Australian Davos Connection Future Summit Leadership Award, and the M. Powell Lawton Lifetime Achievement Award (2020) from the American Psychological Association's Society of Clinical Geropsychology. Beyond her research, she maintains an active role in shaping policy as a member of various international committees, including the WHO Consortium on Metrics and Evidence for Healthy Ageing and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Taskforce on Brain Health.

Vanessa E. Cobham serves as a Professor in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland while maintaining roles as a Clinical Psychologist at Children's Health Queensland's Child and Youth Mental Health Service and Principal Research Fellow at the Mater Research Institute. Her research has significantly advanced understanding of child and adolescent mental health, particularly in post-disaster contexts, where she has developed innovative stepped-care models for psychological intervention. She has pioneered research on post-disaster mental health programs, including school-based screening and treatment approaches for children experiencing PTSD following natural disasters. Her work spans various areas including child and adolescent psychopathology, family functioning after disasters, and the impacts of maternal stress on child development. Cobham has published extensively on psychological interventions for children, with recent work focusing on developing scalable psychosocial interventions for youth affected by disasters. Her contributions to the field have included developing screening tools, implementing parent effectiveness training programs, and creating trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy approaches. Beyond her research, she maintains an active clinical practice and contributes to mental health intervention programs, making her a leading figure in both the academic and practical applications of child and adolescent mental health care.