Families in Perth’s southern corridor will benefit from $400,000 in joint research funding from the WA Department of Attorney General and Murdoch University to provide psychological support for at-risk youth.

Staff from the Murdoch Psychology Clinic, Masters students and interns will work with high schools in the City of Rockingham, City of Mandurah and City of Kwinana.

The funding has been awarded to implement and evaluate The Behaviour Exchange and System Therapy (BEST) program.

An eight-week multi-family group clinical psychology training program for at-risk youth, BEST targets familial relationships. It focuses on family communication patterns, parent-child boundary setting, parenting styles, family stress, family goals, parental self-care, and family cohesion.

Murdoch Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Andrew Lewis, who developed the intervention in Victoria, said it was being offered for the first time in Perth.

“This means we can assist many hundreds of families and it could help change pathways for many young people in the southern suburbs of Perth,” Professor Lewis said.

“When an adolescent has their first mental health episode, it’s important to treat the problem as soon as possible and reduce the period of time that the teenager is affected.

“When adolescents experience mental health symptoms there are major impacts on the family. Parents and siblings will also present in a state of distress and despair.”

Mental health issues in young people include depression, drug dependency and suicidal thoughts.

“This research shows the full circle of research translation; from developing new ideas for psychological intervention, trialling these to show they work and now rolling them out to the communities which need them,” Professor Lewis said.

“There will be more clinicians and young graduates coming out with good skills having worked with clients on the ground in the clinic and having a hands-on role in the development, evaluation and implementation of new interventions.”

Professor Lewis added that the funding would also allow Murdoch to lift the intensity of its engagement with schools and families in the southern metropolitan region.

“Our commitment to the southern suburbs remains strong and builds on the efforts of those who implemented Murdoch's Aspirations and Pathways for University Project,” he said.

“We have been able to leverage off the very substantial activities of Murdoch’s Psychology Clinic, which is led by Amanda O’Donovan and Dr Renita Almeida, who are also investigators on the grant.”

The Murdoch Psychology Clinic will receive $200,000 from Murdoch University to implement the BEST program. The WA Department of Attorney General has awarded the project $200,000 as part of its $2m program of funding to 13 not-for-profit groups.