—–Original Message—– From: Grace Da Camara
Sent: Monday, 31 October 2022 10:59 AM
To: Select Committee into Child Development Services sccds@parliament.wa.gov.au Subject: submission
To whom it may concern
My name is Grace da Camara and | am a psychologist practicing in the field of ADHD. | had a meeting with Minister Amber Sanderson back in August about my OnTrac program, explained below. She was very receptive and | subsequently had a meeting with Sue Kiely from CAHS, who suggested that | make this subnissicr
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As a clinician, I’ve always believed in the benefits of group therapy for children with ADHD, as a component of a multimodal approach to treatment. Not only is the associated cost less than that of individual therapy, but the child has an opportunity to interact with other children who have similar types of challenges, learn how others cope, and potentially develop new friendships. Developed and piloted over a period of 5 years, in its current format, the program comprises six weekly sessions of 2 hours with not more than 10 children per group.
The program was piloted with children aged 11-13 and adapted for different age groups and cohorts as follows:
Combined Parent-Child (CPC) -7-10 yrs (workbook to be published by UWAP early next year) Tween ( 11-13 yrs) & Teen (14-17 yrs (workbook to be published by UWAP early next year) Parents of children with ADHD (workbook to be published by UWAP early next year) Adults 18+ Therapist Guide
Each program above has a participant workbook, titled ’What Lies Beneath Matters’ co-authored by my daughter Dr. Bennett.
Since 2020 the program is part of the service-learning projects for third-year medical students from UWA, who facilitate as mentors. This mentor component in my view is vital to the success of the program.
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The above is but a sample of the many testimonials that we’ve received over the piloting phase of the program.
I strongly feel that OnTrac is an all-encompassing, well-structured, and easy-to-implement program that could fill the current gap in a ‘multimodal’ intervention for ADHD across the lifespan in Australia.
I have attached one of the covers of the workbooks for your perusal.
Looking forward to hearing from you
Thanking you in advance.
Grace da Camara Psychologist SafeZone Counselling
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This unique mother/daughter combination brings together the knowledge and experience of a psychologist who specialises in working with children, adolescents, adults and families affected by ADHD, and a general practitioner with a focus on a multidisciplinary approach to treatment.
As a GP, Madalena recognises the need for education on ADHD for mental health professionals, including GPs. She is a member of the RACGP specific-interest ADHD, ASD, and neurodiversity group and is engaged in upskilling fellow GP colleagues in this area.
Both Grace and Madelana support and endorse the need for greater knowledge and education about the condition, with a focus on interventions targeted to individuals and families living with ADHD.