The Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care (CETC) is engaged in ongoing research to understand how positive, trusting relationships and social connections can be fostered...
Lynne McPherson
Director of Research
Lynne is our Director of Research. She leads the research agenda at the CETC in conjunction with her role as Associate Professor with Southern Cross University based in the Centre for Children and Young People in the Faculty of Health.
Lynne publishes and teaches widely in child protection supervision, child, youth and family issues, and therapeutic care. She is currently leading a significant research project, funded jointly by the Australian Research Council and the CETC, to explore what practices contribute to positive identity formation in therapeutic care contexts.
Lynne has spent more than 25 years as a senior social work manager and practice leader in child protection and the child, youth and family sector. She has been a practitioner, manager, training consultant and senior policy advisor. For over a decade, she was senior manager of the State-wide Professional Development and Workforce Strategy Unit for the Department of Human Services, Victoria, Australia. In 1997, she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to examine international best practices in child protection. In 2017, Dr McPherson and Noel Macnamara released the book ‘Supervising Child Protection Practice: What Works?’ An Evidence-Informed Approach.
Lynne lives on Bundjalung country.
Articles written by
Lynne McPherson
Foster carers are a crucial human resource in responding to children and young people who have experienced abuse, neglect, and trauma. The design and implementation...
The significance of sibling relationships for children and young people in out-of-home care is well documented by national and international scholars (Luu, Conley Wright, &...
Kinship care placements in Australia are now more prevalent than foster care. They are the fastest growing form of out-of-home care in this country (AIHW,...
What is this research about? Young people in residential care face major challenges that can prevent them from forming healthy relationships and a strong personal...
This research briefing aims to define and clarify what trauma, complex trauma and trauma informed care are. Extensive literature has now surmised that exposure to...
It is generally accepted that child welfare professionals are at high risk of experiencing vicarious trauma: the manifestation of traumatic symptoms resulting from working with...
As far back as 2002 in the creation of the Catalyst Program, Mitchell developed what was Australia’s first therapeutic foster care program and one of...
Many young people in out-of-home care are at an elevated risk of self-harm and suicidality. The reasons range from early exposure to abuse, disconnection from...
Indigenous children and young people face unique challenges in the child welfare system. The dimensions of this problem are complex and multifaceted. Providing culturally safe...
The literature on how young people participate in decision-making in residential care identifies three main aspects of participation: being able to access information to take...
The research is clear: young people do not fare well when they leave care. Study after study, both in Australia and internationally, tells us that...
There is a nexus between living in Out of Home Care (OOHC) and being involved with the criminal justice system. In NSW children and young...
In 2016, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Australia noted that Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) was a significant issue of...
Young people who are in, or have been in out-of-home care, particularly those with experience of living in residential care, are vulnerable to a number...
This research briefing provides an overview of the current literature reporting on young people who engage in harmful sexual behaviours. Workers at the front line...
Young people who are same sex attracted, trans or gender diverse – a population who will be referred to in this document as LGBTIQ (lesbian,...
The move to independent living is challenging for any young person, requiring the exercise of many new skills and navigation of a range of social...
The NSW Government has undertaken major reforms over the past two years aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care. Following...
This research briefing is an introduction to therapeutic care as a preferred response for children and young people who have experienced complex trauma and are...