BTeach(Prim.), BEd, GCEdRes, MCouns, Ph.D (Counselling Psychology).
ACA –Level 4 and College of Clinical Supervisors, VIT, ANZMH, ARCAP

Sophie is a lecturer, counsellor, teacher and clinical supervisor with 20 years experience, working in therapy and educational settings in Australia and overseas.

She currently works as a lecturer in the School of Educational Psychology and Counselling at Monash University and as a clinical supervisor for therapists and a consultant for schools. Her current research fields are in healthcare design, trauma-informed therapy practices, stigma reduction in youth help seeking and counsellor education.

Sophie has spent her whole working life in the helping professions, initially as a teacher and then a school counsellor in specialist and independent schools, as well as working in private practice as an adolescent and family counsellor.

She is a content writer and editor for healthcare, education and community service settings and an advisory board member at Resilient Youth Australia.

Sophie is passionate about implementing and contributing to the future mental wellness needs of our young people and creating evidence-based programs that support growth and self-understanding within the mental health fields.

When time allows, she will be found either painting to music in her studio, attempting to grow heirloom tomatoes in the garden or walking her dog by the beach.

BA, LLB, PhD (Melb)
Director, Resilient Youth Australia Pty Ltd
Adjunct Research Associate, University of South Australia

Andrew is Adjunct Research Associate at the University of South Australia and an alumnus of the Stanford Business School Executive Non-profit Leaders Course.

He recently co-authored the book ‘No Bullying: A Bullying Prevention Manual for Principals and Teachers’ (2021) with Professor Ken Rigby, and ‘Establishing norms for mental well-being in young people (7–19 years) using the General Health Questionnaire-12’, Australian Journal of Psychology (2018).

As Resilient Youth Founding Director, Andrew has developed online resilience, bullying and wellbeing surveys used by over 750,000 young people and more than 2,500 schools, state and local government departments, and national agencies. Andrew presents regularly at national and international forums.

Andrew’s considerable experience analyzing and communicating wellbeing data in the school context made clear the need for a ‘back to basics’ wellbeing philosophy predicated on kindness. This has led him, in partnership with colleagues, to develop the Kind Schools Program, as a way to deliver quality low-cost wellbeing support to schools and communities.

Favourite kindness quote:

“It's a little embarrassing that after 45 years of research & study, the best advice I can give people is to be a little kinder to each other.” - Aldous Huxley

B.A. Dip. Ed. (Monash)
Adjunct Industry UniSA Justice and Society

Peter began his career as a secondary school teacher before joining the Omega Watch Company in Australia, which included 9 months training in Switzerland and the UK. Later, Peter owned and managed his own businesses in the watch and jewellery sector, and continues to do so.

Whilst his 3 sons were at school Peter served on the Mentone Grammar School Board in a range of committee roles including marketing, finance, governance, and as Chair of the Foundation for more than 16 years. This experience led Peter to develop an online measure of student wellbeing resulting in the founding of Resilient Youth Australia. More than 900,000 Australian students aged 8-18 years of age across more than 3,500 schools have now been surveyed.

The survey measures student resilience, hopefulness, relationships, mental health, and because of its scale establishes Australian norms for females and males. It is widely used by Principals and wellbeing staff to make data-informed decisions for the benefit of their students. This large dataset led Peter to establish productive relationships with a professorial team at UniSA and collaborate in writing peer-reviewed papers with them.

With concern for rising mental health issues in society, Peter and his wife Meredith founded the 'Deep Spring Counselling Centre’ located in Beaumaris Victoria, established to make counselling more widely available by offering clients a low-cost professional counselling service option. The service remains a sought-after alternative some 20 years after its establishment.

In 2021 Peter was awarded an OAM for service to education, and to youth mental health.