A social worker since 1995 and private practictioner since 2002, I am a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AMHSW.)  I am also a level 4 member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and a registered member of the ACA College of Supervisors.

In 2002, while working as a counsellor, I was invited to provide group supervision to a newly developing drop-in service.  This began my own development as a supervisor.  Since then, I have trained in supervision and debriefing and increased my experience by providing both group and individual supervision to a growing number of individuals and welfare agencies.

This has resulted in my private practice, which specialises in:

• Individual supervision and debriefing to organisations - primarily provided online but also face-to-face from rooms in Melbourne metro 
• Group supervision to organisations - provided on-site or online, as negotiated
• Private individual supervision - primarily provided online but also face-to-face from rooms in Melbourne metro 
• Workshops on issues related to worker self care and sustainability, managing difficult clients and on the Alcohol and Other Drug sector
• Individual counselling

Philosophy/Way of working
Clear and transparent communication is very important to me and it is an essential element in any helping role. I aim to build warm, supportive, collaborative relationships with my clients and supervisees, creating a space where it is safe to be open about difficulties and to have honest conversations.

Well-being is a particular focus of mine– the well-being of the my supervisees, my workshop participants, of their client groups and the well-being of my own counselling clients.  In my role as a clinical supervisor, I am passionate in supporting workers to develop the skills and confidence to be sustainable in their roles.

Using a broad range of social work, family therapy and psychotherapeutic theories and supervision and debriefing training allows me to work effectively with my counselling clients and supervisees. 

Past roles
In 1995, my first social work role was as a case worker at Hanover Southbank, which is an emergency accommodation service in Melbourne.  I worked there for three years, before travelling to London and working for some months as a case worker with asylum seekers for the London Borough of Greenwich.  After travelling for a while, I returned to Melbourne and began work for North Richmond Community Health Centre, setting up the program of Alcohol and Other Drug Counsellor at the centre and working in this role as an Alcohol and Other Drug counsellor for four years.

Other past roles include presenting an Alcohol and Other Drug unit at Box Hill TAFE and working as a sessional counsellor for what was then the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre (now known as Thorne Harbour Health.)

Before studying to become a social worker, I trained as a telephone counsellor for Crisisline and was involved with that service for eight years, first as a counsellor and then as a trainer of other telephone counsellors. In this period, I also spent a year as a volunteer at the Women’s House - a women’s drop-in service at Sacred Heart Mission in St. Kilda.

Fields of practice include:

• Homelessness
• Substance abuse/Addictions
• Refugee and asylum seeker issues
• Culturally and ethnically diverse communities
• Sexuality/Gender identity
• Family violence/Sexual assault
• Drop-in centres
• Community health
• Welfare and Social Work within the School/Education sector

Qualifications and training
In 1991, I completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree, followed by a Bachelor of Social Work Degree in 1994, both at the University of Melbourne. I received a Graduate Diploma in Family Therapy from Swinburne University of Technology in 2001. In addition, I have an Advanced Certificate in Supervision from The Supervision Centre, training in debriefing, and more recently, I completed a year-long Introduction to Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. I have had some training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and I am an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker.

The AASW and other roles
Between 2011 and 2018, I was a co-editor of Social Work Connect, the Victorian branch newsletter of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW.)  This publication reported on the doings of social workers in Victoria with a particular commitment to showcasing the varied roles of social workers and to encouraging social workers to reflect on their own and others’ practice.

Between 2009-2014 I was a member of the Victorian Branch Management Committee of the AASW and I held the New Social Work Graduates portfolio.  My role included organising and presenting the annual session the Victorian branch ran for new graduates, “Seeking your first social job and thriving in it”.  A filmed version of this session can be found on the AASW website.  I also  developed a second session, “Reflecting on your first social work job”,which has been run by the Victorian branch a number of times.  This session aimed to improve the well-being of new graduates, particularly in their first year. It encourages self-monitoring of stress levels, an awareness of developing work/home routines that protect them and minimising the impact of burnout and vicarious trauma.

From 2017 to 2019, I had involvment in the development and on-going support of the AASW Victorian Branch Mentoring program, which links early career social workers with more experienced social workers.  This program was piloted in 2017 and then launched more broadly.  I have also been a part of multiple panel discussions run by the AASW Victorian branch to support new social work graduates and I have more recently become a Mentor in the University of Melbourne Alumni Mentoring program.

Book chapter on supervising students on placement

Continuing on with my specific interest in the learning and development of new graduates - in 2018 I was invited to contribute a chapter to the text book Field Education: Creating Successful Placements, which is edited by Fiona Gardner, Jacqui Theobold, Natasha Long and Helen Hickson. My chapter is titled Providing Effective External Field Education Using Technology and it reflected on my experiences and ideas from supervising rurally based social work students on placements. 

I have included a link to the book.  I don't profit from any sales but I have found it to be a very useful collection of writings, which I highly recommend to social workers and field educators, as well as to students who are going on placement.

https://www.oup.com.au/books/higher-education/health,-nursing-and-social-work/9780190310059-field-education

If you would like to know more, please email questions to lisa.derham@bigpond.com or ring during business hours on 0402 759 286.