Support for mothers with severe mental illnesses and a greater understanding of young autistic LGBTQA+ people will receive funding, after Embrace’s PhD scholarship recipients were announced this month.
Two scholarships, funded at $30,000 per year for three years, were awarded to UWA students Lisa McGivern and Larissa Marion following a competitive application process.
Lisa, whose PhD project is titled Supporting mothers with severe mental illness to prevent intergenerational trauma, said her project has two aims: prevention and education.
I believe these aspects not only help in breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma but also empower ‘vulnerable’ parents to help achieve positive physical and psychosocial outcomes for both themselves and their children.
A trauma-informed parenting program for infants and caregivers will be produced at the conclusion of the research to reduce the transmission of intergenerational trauma.
Lisa joined Embrace @ The Kids Research Institute Australia as a childhood trauma research assistant in August 2022. She said that the team’s diverse research, including medical trauma, trauma in schools and within vulnerable and marginalised groups, enabled a unique opportunity to “focus on developing world-first treatment and prevention interventions for children who have experienced, or are at risk of experiencing trauma.”
Lisa will continue to do some work with the childhood trauma team while focusing most of her time on her PhD.
Larissa decided to focus her PhD research on autistic LGBTQA+ young people’s experience of trauma after she “became aware of the high co-occurrence of these identities and the high likelihood these young people have experienced significant and complex trauma as members of multiple minority groups,” she said.
Larissa’s application is titled Understanding autistic LGBTQA+ young people’s experiences of trauma: An intersectional approach.
“I greatly admire the Embrace childhood trauma team’s focus on early intervention and support,” Larissa Marion said of the team she has been with for approximately 18 months.
Embrace’s 2022 PhD scholarships will be funded by Principal Partner Rio Tinto.
Embrace PhD scholarship recipients Larissa Marion and Lisa McGivern.