Chris is a Clinical Psychologist based in Perth WA. He has extensive experience in public and private settings, working with clients with complex psychological presentations. Since 2005, Chris has been practising as an accredited advanced Schema Therapist, supervisor, and trainer after having completed certification in Schema Therapy at the Schema Therapy Institute in New York City (USA) with Dr Jeffery Young. He has presented workshops throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia and is the Director of Schema Therapy Training Australia. Chris was employed as a Clinical Psychologist at the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) - a specialist service for those who have experienced recent or childhood sexual trauma - at the WA Health Department for more than eight years. In this role, he was heavily involved in implementing the Imagery/EMDR for Childhood Trauma (IREM) research trial (Boterhoven De Haan, et al., 2020). He has previously served as Secretary of the Board for the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST); and co-produced two video releases, ‘Fine Tuning Imagery Rescripting’ and ‘Fine Tuning Chair Work in Schema Therapy’. Both are the first of their kind internationally and come highly recommended. Chris is the co-author of ‘The Cambridge Guide to Schema Therapy’ textbook scheduled for release in late 2022. 

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Anna has worked as a Counselling Psychologist for more than 18 years, in private practice, in the community, and in prisons. She has extensive experience working with complex trauma, PTSD, self harm and suicide, substance misuse due to trauma or stress, relationship breakdown, family stress, grief and loss, disordered eating, and mental illness as it affects individuals and those close to them. She is an accredited Gestalt therapist having completed a further four years of study after her Masters with the Gestalt Institute of WA.

Maree has 25 years of psychology experience. During this time she has worked for both community and government agencies in the areas of mental health, alcohol and other drugs, corrections, women's services, and research. She practices from a psychodynamic/attachment perspective; and is in the final year of further post-graduate training in the Masterson Approach which focuses on understanding and working with relational trauma and personality. Maree is a published author on Attachment Theory and Neuroscience. Her main areas of work include emotional difficulties, intimacy issues, developmental/complex trauma (e.g. childhood emotional neglect, sexual abuse), addictions, highly sensitive people, and those wanting to connect to themselves and others in a more real and full way. Maree utilises a trauma-informed approach and psychological methods that assist with the embodiment of the real self.

Katrina Boterhoven de Haan (PhD) qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in 2016. Since then, she has worked across both government and not-for-profit sectors, including community mental health, child protection and specialised services such as at the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC). She is an accredited EMDR therapist and consultant and is working towards accreditation as a Schema therapist.

Katrina specialises in the treatment of trauma and has extensive experience in treating individuals with trauma and complex trauma experiences. She completed her PhD through University of Western Australia where her research focused on treatment of adults with childhood trauma-related post-traumatic stress disorder. She has published several articles and a book chapter about treating complex trauma presentations, and her research has seen her present her work at several international conferences. In 2017, she was the primary researcher in an internationally acclaimed study on comparing the efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Imagery Rescripting treatment for adults with childhood trauma-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr Adrian Lopresti is a Clinical Psychologist with more than 20 years of clinical experience working with children and adults; as well as a senior researcher at Murdoch University in Western Australia, and Managing Director of Clinical Research Australia.

Adrien's clinical expertise is focused on integrative evidence-based treatments for mental health difficulties - these include lifestyle, nutritional, psychological, and herbal therapies. He has conducted several randomised-controlled trials on herbal and nutraceutical interventions for depression, anxiety and ADHD. He regularly publishes in peer-reviewed journals on the effects of diet, nutraceuticals, sleep, and exercise for the treatment and prevention of depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and bipolar disorder.

Adrian developed an evidence-based personalised integrative approach to psychotherapy that targets small, achievable, and sustainable changes in people's diet, nutritional status, lifestyle habits, social connections, psychology, spiritual health, and physical health.

He regularly conducts educational workshops both nationally and internationally.

In George's role as a Registrar of the District Court in Western Australia, he is responsible for a range of administrative and clerical court matters, including:

• Arranging listings and court sittings, including circuit sittings
• Maintaining court records, arraigning accused, empanelling juries, administering oaths, managing exhibits, and filing and lodging legal forms
• Liaising with the judiciary, legal profession, litigants, witnesses and other court users to ensure efficient court hearings
• Legal and research services
• Helping members of the public with queries

George has been involved in dispute resolution for more than 30 years; and brings significant knowledge about the legal process for survivors of historical abuse. 

Renêa is an Assessor of Criminal Injuries Compensation appointed in April 2019. Her background is as a solicitor in personal injuries, having worked in the area since 2001. Prior to joining the office of Criminal Injuries Compensation she was head of the Sexual Abuse team at Bradley Bayley Legal.

Geoff was admitted to legal practise in 1981 and has spent all of his professional life representing the interests of parties in litigation arising from personal injury - initially plaintiffs, but for most of that time, defendants.

For the first 35 years, his involvement was as solicitor, primarily on instructions from insurers.

In 2016, he joined the independent bar and since then has operated solely as a barrister. In that role, since 2018, he has been involved in the conduct of claims by survivors of complex trauma.

Geoff, together with Tim (see introduction below) will introduce attendees to the inner workings of the Civil Court process

Tim's litigation background is predominantly in the area of of civil litigation with a focus on on personal injuries compensation.

He has expertise acting in medical negligence claims, workplace, motor vehicle and catastrophic injury cases and in employment & industrial relations matters. He specialises in representing victims of asbestos disease and also represents survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

From 2016 to 2018, Tim was the Federal Member for Perth.

knowmore is a free and independent legal service, with offices across Australia.

The service was established by the Australian Government in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Childhood Sexual Abuse, to provide advice to survivors of child sexual abuse about justice and redress. The knowmore team also helps survivors to apply to the National Redress Scheme; or refer them to a panel of reputable law firms for advice on other options and avenues for compensation.

knowmore stands out with their multidisciplinary approach, including the services of a lawyer, a counsellor/social worker, an Aboriginal Engagement Adviser, and Financial Counsellor.

A number of survivors have bravely agreed to talk about their lived experiences with complex trauma, and the ways in which they have navigated the legal process.

As a survivor, they each bring a unique perspective. Their varied experiences will give anyone supporting a survivor through a legal process some insight into what helped and what hindered.