In this episode, I catch up with Dr Marissa Edwards to hear about her journey advocating for better academic mental health and lessons she has learned along the way.

We discuss:

• What academic mental health advocacy is and why it is important
• Our own personal challenges working in academia
• The difference between individual characteristics and systemic issues when it comes to academic mental health
• The importance of sharing success and failures
• Ways to safeguard your time and wellbeing as an academic.

Dr Marissa Edwards is Senior Lecturer in the School of Business, University of Queensland, Australia. To see more about Marissa's work, you can follow her on X/Twitter (@DrMarissaKate) or connect on LinkedIn.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Voices of academia blog

The Australian University Staff: Work, Digital Stress and Wellbeing Survey report

Research Handbook of Academic Mental Health

Emotions and failure in academic life: Normalising the experience and building resilience

Sensitive content warning
In this episode, we talk about the mental health challenges that academics face. We speak briefly about an example of an academic who experienced suicidal ideation when faced with perceived failure. Please take care while listening and if you are feeling discomfort and think you would benefit from some support, please reach out to your GP or contact a service like Lifeline.

If you are based in Australia, this resource links to helplines, telephone and online counselling services for children, young people and adults.

Cite this episode

MacDonald, J. B. & Edwards, M. (2024, July 3). Academic mental health (No. 19) [Audio podcast episode]. In Psych Attack. www.psychattack.com

Transcript
The transcript for this episode was developed using transcription software. There may be some errors in the content as I do not have capacity to review for accuracy.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Dr Marissa Edwards for sharing your time and expertise. Psych Attack is created and hosted by Dr Jasmine B. MacDonald. The audio for this episode was edited by Morgan McRae.

In this episode, I catch up with Dr Sarah Ashton to hear about her work in the area of sexual health and intimacy. In particular, we focus on kink and paraphilias, where they come from, as well how to treat a paraphilic disorder and work with clients experiencing shame.

Dr Sarah Ashton is a registered psychologist, Board Approved Supervisor, training author, and the Director and Founder of SHIPS.

Sexual Health and Intimacy Psychological Services (SHIPS) is a progressive psychology organisation in Melbourne, Australia. They provide sex, intimacy and mental health treatment & training.

You can follow SHIPS’ work on LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, and their blog.

Sensitive content warning
The episode focuses predominantly on the importance of understanding the whole person, including their erotic experiences and desires. We talk about a wide range of erotic experiences and the conversation covers experiences that are fulfilling and pleasurable, as well as some examples of disorders where harm is done. This episode refers to sexual assault, pedophilia and exhibitionism. Specific case examples and lived experience are not discussed. Please take care while listening and if you are feeling discomfort and think you would benefit from some support, please reach out to your GP or contact a service like Lifeline.

Cite this episode
MacDonald, J. B. & Ashton, S. (2024, June 5). Sex therapy, kink and paraphilias (No. 18) [Audio podcast episode]. In Psych Attack. www.psychattack.com

Transcript
The transcript for this episode was developed using transcription software. There may be some errors in the content as I do not have capacity to review for accuracy.

In this episode, I catch up with Associate Professor Lindsay Malloy to hear about her research in developmental psychology and the law. In particular, ways to improve investigative interviewing with people who have experienced maltreatment and. In this discussion, Lindsay explains some developmental differences when interviewing children, adolescents and older adults. Much of the conversation focuses on reasons why children might recant disclosures of maltreatment.

Dr Lindsay Malloy is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Ontario Tech University, Canada. To follow Lindsay's work, you can visit the Development, Context, and Communication Lab website or reach out on Twitter (@LMalloy).

Research papers discussed in this episode
Malloy, L. C. & Mugno, A. P. (2016). Children’s recantation of adult wrongdoing: An experimental investigation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 145, 11-21.

Wyman, J. & Malloy, L. C. (2023). Increasing disclosures of older adult maltreatment: A review of best practices for interviewing older adult eyewitnesses and victims. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2023.2192260

Sensitive content warning
This episode refers to maltreatment experienced by children, adolescents and older adults. The episode focuses predominantly on barriers to disclosure and issues in investigative interviewing. Specific case examples and lived experience are not discussed. Please take care while listening and if you are feeling discomfort and think you would benefit from some support, please reach out to your GP or contact a service like Lifeline.

Cite this episode
MacDonald, J. B. (Host). (2024, March 2). Developmental insights for investigative interviewing about maltreatment with Associate Professor Lindsay Malloy (No. 17) [Audio podcast episode]. In Psych Attack. www.psychattack.com

Transcript
The transcript for this episode was developed using transcription software. There may be some errors in the content as I do not have capacity to review for accuracy.

In this episode, I team up again with Dr Rachael Fox (journal editor and academic). We reflect on our publication experiences to share insights that will be especially useful for listeners new to publishing.

We discuss:

· choosing a journal

· the importance of scope, formatting, and proofing

· what to consider when converting a dissertation or thesis into a publication

· getting support from colleagues

· communicating with journal editors

· the mechanics of submission portals

· receiving and responding to reviewer feedback.

Dr Rachael Fox is Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Rachael is Editor of the Australian Community Psychologist, an open access peer-reviewed journal. If you want to keep up to date with Rachael, you can reach out via her university profile page.

Resources mentioned in this episode

The following two tools may be useful in findings suitable journals for your work:

Master Journal List (Clarivate)

Jane (Biosemantics)

Cite this episode

MacDonald, J. B (Host). (2023, August 3). Tips and tricks for publishing in psychology with Dr Rachael Fox (No. 16) [Audio podcast episode]. In Psych Attack. www.psychattack.com

Audio edit

The audio edit for this episode was completed by Amy Edwards. Dr Jasmine B. MacDonald did a final edit for content.

Transcript
The transcript for this episode was developed using transcription software. There may be some errors in the content as I do not have capacity to review for accuracy.

In this episode, I am have an artificial conversation with a researcher I refer to as Dr Chat GPT. If you haven't already come across Chat GPT, it is open access software online where you can type anything in and it will use artificial intelligence to feed a response back to you. When you give it some context, it can give you some really cool responses.

I have given Dr Chat GPT the context of being an Australian psychology researcher, working at a university, who I want to interview for my podcast. What you hear in this episode is a weird experiment where the conversation is based on the text-based interview I had with Dr Chat GPT, voiced by myself and my better half, Tim.

I ask Dr Chat GPT:

· What is Chat GPT?

· What first made you interested in psychology?

· What makes a good psychology researcher?

· What are some tips for successful and enjoyable collaborations with other researchers?

· What kind of psychological research do you do?

· If you had limitless budget, what study would you conduct and why?

Cite this episode

MacDonald, J. B (Host). (2023, April 28). Psychological research and collaboration with Dr Chat GPT (An AI experiment) (No. 15) [Audio podcast episode]. In Psych Attack. www.psychattack.com

Acknowledgment

Dr Chat GPT was voiced by Tim MacDonald. The audio edit for this episode was completed by Dr Jasmine B. MacDonald. The transcript for this episode was checked for accuracy by Dr Jasmine B. MacDonald.

In this episode I catch up with Dr Rachael Fox, journal editor and academic, to discuss what publishing in psychology is and take a critical lens to highlight some issues and barriers to publishing.

We discuss:

· critical and community psychological approaches to research

· why people publish in psychology

· common ways quality is thought about in psychological research and publishing

· kinds of journals and how they are ranked

· how research either about or conducted by certain groups of people can be excluded through mainstream publishing practices.

Dr Rachael Fox is Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Rachael is Editor of the Australian Community Psychologist, an open access peer-reviewed journal. If you want to keep up to date with Rachael, you can reach out via her university profile page.

More info about the ideas covered in this episode

Contesi, F. & Terrone, E. (2018). Introduction. Philosophical Papers, 47(1), 1-20.

Fox, R, Nic Giolla Easpaig, B. (2021). Engaging critical methodologies in qualitative research methods with undergraduate psychology students. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(1), 228– 240.

Hagve, M. (2020). The money behind academic publishing. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening.

Tracy, S. J. (2012). The toxic and mythical combination of a deductive writing logic for inductive qualitative research. Qualitative Communication Research, 1(1), 109-141.

Van Noorden, R. (2013). Open access: The true cost of science publishing. Nature, 495, 426–429.

Cite this episode

MacDonald, J. B (Host). (2023, March 13). A critical look at publishing in psychology with Dr Rachael Fox (No. 14) [Audio podcast episode]. In Psych Attack. www.psychattack.com

Audio edit

The audio edit for this episode was completed by Amy Edwards. Dr Jasmine B. MacDonald did a final edit for content.

Transcript
The transcript for this episode was developed using transcription software. There may be some errors in the content as I do not have capacity to review for accuracy.

This episode focuses on Dr Abigail Alfrey’s research and practice on the ways animals can be involved in mental health practice. We discuss: (1) the significance of pets for people experiencing psychosis, (2) including dogs in cognitive assessment to improve testing experiences and outcomes for child clients, and (3) reducing practitioner burnout by promoting animals in the workplace. We touch super briefly on other creative methods, like poetry, in therapy.

Dr Abigail Alfrey is Senior Clinical Psychologist at KMPT Early Intervention in Psychosis Service in England, and Sessional Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University. If you want to keep up to date with Abi, you can reach out on LinkedIn.

Research papers discussed in this episode

Alfrey, A. (2021). The influence of dogs’ presence on children’s performance on cognitive tests: Implications for clinical practice. Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin.

Alfrey, A., Church, S., Christodoulou, N., & Harding, E. (2022). “Why should the fish feel safe? I don’t feel safe!”: An Audit of Pet Ownership within an NHS Service for Adults with Severe Mental Illness, with Lessons for Service Improvement. People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 5(1).

Alfrey, A., Field, V., Xenophontes, I., Springham, N., & Holttum, S. (2022). Identifying the Mechanisms of Poetry Therapy and Perceived Effects on Participants: A Synthesised Replication Case Study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 78, 101882.

More info about other stuff mentioned in this episode

The International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO) is the global association of organizations that engage in practice, research and/or education in animal assisted activity, animal assisted therapy, and service animal training.

A short news article about Canterbury Christ Church University work with justice dogs.

A short article about the global trend of pets in the workplace.

Sensitive content warning

This episode refers to suicidal ideation in the context of mental health practice with clients who experience psychosis. However, suicide is not the focus of the episode and lived experiences are not discussed in detail. Please take care while listening and if you are feeling discomfort and think you would benefit from some support, please reach out to your GP or contact a service like Lifeline.

Cite this episode

MacDonald, J. B (Host). (2022, December 30). The role of animals in mental health practice with Dr Abigail Alfrey (No. 13) [Audio podcast episode]. In Psych Attack. www.psychattack.com

Audio edit

The audio for this episode was completed by Amy Edwards. Dr Jasmine B. MacDonald did a final edit for content.