Stephen Spencer
Dr. Stephen Spencer (PhD) is EquiEnergy Youth’s Co-Founder and Clinical Director. He has worked extensively in Acute Child and Adolescent Mental Health services. Stephen’s PhD research project was titled: Nursing responses and interventions for episodes of adolescent distress in an acute mental health inpatient unit.
Stephen is an experienced mental health nurse and his early career clinical experience included working in a medium-secure adult Forensic mental health unit, followed by 12 years working in an acute child and adolescent mental health inpatient unit. His last role in that setting was as a Clinical Nurse Consultant, with experience working in CAMHS Paediatric Consultation Liaison Services, and Clinical Nurse Education. Stephen has been a Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression (PMVA) trainer since 2006 and has taught into both the Undergraduate and Post-Graduate Nursing programs at the University of Newcastle. He is trained in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Psychosis in Young People, and Family Systems modalities. He still works clinically in private practice and at the HNE residential Eating Disorder Centre (REDC).
Stephen has developed EquiEnergy Youth’s Coach 2 Cope programs which have been presented to over 15,000 clinicians, educators, child and family sector professionals, and parents and carers across NSW, ACT, Tasmania, and Victoria. In addition to the Coach 2 Cope programs, Stephen through his work with EquiEnergy Youth, co-developed the web-based TAR3 Collaborate Support ("safety") Planning platform, and the TAR3 Connect App which has been offered at no cost to all Australian families to connect with services and organisations who support their child's developmental journey.
Abstracts this author is presenting: