Research and treatment clinics

The Kidman Centre UTS runs specialist treatment and research clinics aimed at improving the available evidence-based treatments for young people aged 5 to 25 and their families.

Through the clinics, we deliver treatment, assess the effectiveness of the treatment model, which then informs the treatment to be delivered in future research trials.

Disseminating this research to the young person’s support system is key to the process, as is sharing our research with other mental health and youth-serving organisations to improve the treatments on offer for the benefit of all.

Side-by-Side Research Trial

Our most recent study, called Side-by-Side, was a randomised comparison trial conducted over five years involving 130 families with children aged 7 to 14 with oppositional defiant disorder. In this study, we compared two therapies - Parent Management Training (PMT) and Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) - to determine their effectiveness when delivered in community clinics in Australian settings.  

The Side-by-Side study is now complete. Results showed that children in both the CPS and PMT condition improved significantly after treatment to an equal degree.

What does this research mean? That an alternative treatment exists for families who don't respond well to, or who don't agree with, the standard, established Parent Management Training model.

Results from the Side-by-Side study were presented by Dr Rachael Murrihy and Anna Dedousis-Wallace at the 9th World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies in Berlin in July 2019.

Download Dr Rachael Murrihy's full presentation here.

Our Collaborative and Proactive Solutions clinic is available for families wishing to undertake this therapy.

Check back here for research updates, or email us at kidmancentre@uts.edu.au to register your interest in opportunities to be involved in future research trials.

We also post updates about our research on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.