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Professor Helen Herrman

Helen Herrman is Professor of Psychiatry at the Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Mental Health in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is Secretary for Publications for the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), and Regional Vice-President Oceania for the World Federation for Mental Health.  In her role as an officer for WPA, Professor Herrman has convened a WPA taskforce to develop guidelines on best practices in working with service users and carers. She also leads a WPA program to develop peer support for editors of psychiatric journals in low and middle income countries to assist research dissemination.

From 1992 to 2005, she was Professor and Director of Psychiatry in St. Vincent’s Health, Melbourne, during development of an integrated hospital and community area mental health service in inner Melbourne under Australia’s national reform of mental health care.  In 2001-2002 for a period of 12 months she was Acting Regional Adviser in Mental Health for the WHO’s Western Pacific Region. For several years she served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) and has been involved in collaborative activities between WHO, VicHealth and the University of Melbourne in the field of mental health promotion. Her other interests as a psychiatrist and public health physician include community mental health care for people with psychosis, the management of depression in primary health care and the assessment of outcomes and quality of life for people with disabilities.

Recent publications include: 

  • Chandra P, Herrman H, Fisher J, Kastrup M, Niaz U, Rondon M, Okasha Q (Eds). Contemporary Topics in Women’s Mental Health. WPA Series. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2009.
  • Herrman H, Maj M, Sartorius N (Eds). Depressive Disorders, Third Edition: WPA Series Evidence and Experience in Psychiatry. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2009
  • Chandra P, Herrman H, Fisher J, Kastrup M, Niaz U, Rondon M, Okasha Q (Eds). Contemporary Topics in Women’s Mental Health. WPA Series. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-75411-5
  • Tyano S, Keren M, Herrman H, Cox J (Eds). Parenthood and Mental Health: A bridge between infant and adult psychiatry.   WPA Series. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2010
  • Ghodse H, Herrman H, Maj M, Sartorius N (Eds). Substance Abuse. WPA Series Evidence and Experience in Psychiatry.  Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2010

 

Research Interests: 

Depression in primary health care. Assessing outcomes and quality of life in mental health care in the community. Promoting mental health in young people and vulnerable populations