Jeneva Ohan
Head, Healing Kids, Healing Families; Honorary Research Fellow
Hon BSc, MA, PhD
she/her
Jeneva completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, and clinical psychology internship at the University of Washington's Medical School in Seattle, USA. She is an endorsed clinical psychologist in Australia, and is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia, where she directs the clinical psychology programs.
At The Kids Research Institute Australia, Jeneva is leading a team looking at children’s and parent’s mental health and wellbeing. Her research focuses on understanding when and how to best provide children with access to prevention and intervention (treatment) services to better their mental health and wellbeing, especially after experiencing trauma. As children grow, they and their parents face a range of emotional and social challenges, and we have effective therapies to help those who need support. Unfortunately, only a fraction of children in need get these services. Understanding why some children do – and do not – receive services will help us to better provide and engage children, youth, and families in therapy in the future and improve their mental health and wellbeing. As stigma is often a reason that families are deterred from seeking support, she also researches stigma, how it impacts children and parents, and ways in which stigma can be addressed.
Her research has been referenced in public policy, policy advisory documents or working papers, government/public inquiry submissions, and government reports in Australia and abroad, such as the Australian Government’s ‘Health of the Children’ Report and Snapshot, and the Organization for Economic and Co-operative Development’s (OECD’s) report on ‘Measuring What Matters for Child Well-being and Policies.’