Family violence
The severe mental health impacts of family violence and trauma are common presentations at HER centre Australia's Women’s Mental Health Clinic, led by Professor Jayashri Kulkarni. Professor Kulkarni provides expert opinion and presents as an invited speaker at numerous conferences to advocate for the safety of women, and to educate on the impact of violence and trauma as underlying factors in the development of mental illness in women. She also provided a witness statement to the Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2015.
Professor Kulkarni, along with the Women’s Mental Health Team, is using several research and training approaches to improve outcomes for women and children who suffer from family violence.
We currently have several studies underway to better understand:
- Health practitioners’ current practices and barriers to identifying and responding to family violence suffered by their patients
- The extent to which mental health clinicians elicit a history of previous trauma in female psychiatric patients
- The association between early life trauma and polycystic ovary syndrome in patients with borderline personality disorder (complex trauma disorder)
- The effects of a new medical treatment approach to improve symptoms of borderline personality disorder, or complex trauma disorder.
We also hold an annual conference to improve medical practitioners' knowledge about women's mental health, and the management of complex issues resulting from family violence and trauma across the lifespan.
We have developed a resource for health practitioners, for use in the course of their work when family violence is suspected.