Projects and grants
Select the (+) to view the research projects within the research subject areas.
Commissioned by the Australian Defence Force, we conducted a four-part review to better understand the impacts of military service on family functioning and child/spouse relationships. This research-informed policy priorities for the sector and provided recommendations for effective support for Defence families.
In partnership with Beyond Blue, we conducted two rapid systematic reviews on the effectiveness of brief DMHIs (e.g., phone, web-based support) for youth (12 – 25 years) and adults (≥25 years) experiencing mild-to-moderate mental health concerns.
Mapping the influence of infant–parent relational quality on life course relationships
This systematic scoping review forms a part of a broader series (The Nurturing Early Relational Health Review Series), funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation, aimed at advancing our understanding of early relational health and its impact on human development.
A project collaboration between La Trobe’s Business School and The Bouverie Centre.
Psychotherapy concepts can also apply to business‑to‑business relationships, so the researchers adapted a marriage‑therapy instrument to create a new Business Relationship Health Index (BRHI) based on the Global Assessment of Relational Functioning. Testing it on 500 U.S. B2B relationships, they found the BRHI to be a valid and reliable measure alongside established constructs such as satisfaction, trust, commitment, and performance.
The Bouverie research team conducted a systematic review of family-inclusive approaches in the treatment of patients with a dual diagnosis (i.e., co-occurring mental health concerns and alcohol and drug-related problems). The review summarised the treatments’ impact on the underlying conditions as well as the impacts on the relational wellbeing of both clients and their families.
The impact of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) on families is well documented and there have been long-standing calls for a family focus in treatment. While there are useful frameworks to guide interventions with families in the context of ABI, there are no agreed-upon clinical guidelines to support practitioners in health and community services to deliver ABI-informed family-inclusive practice.
In collaboration with the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC), this feasibility study explores families’ experiences of the Walk-In Together (WIT) single session family therapy service for families referred to the Victorian Early Assessment Clinic (VEAC), as they progress through or complete an autism assessment for their young child.
This project is funded by an Australia Research Council Linkage Grant (LP210100181) and involves collaboration between La Trobe University, Relationships Australia South Australia, and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (the Courts).
The project harnesses the opportunity to learn prospectively from separating families engaged with the Courts. In a suite of studies, we are examining risk pathways, burdens, and costs of post-separation family violence, and the relative efficacy and cost-benefits of early family safety risk-screening and triage processes.
This project was carried out in partnership with Family Safety Victoria and was funded by the State Government of Victoria.
A range of programs and services are in place in Victoria’s women’s prisons to identify and support both victim-survivors of family violence (FV) and women who use violence. However, there is significant variability in access and uptake of these services.
This innovative project builds on The Bouverie Centre’s ongoing work in Single Session Thinking (SST) and the Walk-in Together (WIT) family therapy model to co-develop a First Nations–led WIT clinic. The initiative brings together First Nations Elders, family therapists, and researchers to create the WIT Workin’ with the Mob framework
The Family e‑Hub was developed through a dedicated PhD research program that set out to address a significant gap in mental health support for families. While decades of research show that family‑inclusive and systemic approaches can improve outcomes for many mental health conditions, access to family therapy is often limited by long wait times and service availability.
While the role of family relationships in trauma recovery is being increasingly recognised, few structured models exist to guide systemic family work in this context. This project explored how Single Session Thinking (SST; a brief, strengths-based therapy approach) can be adapted to support families recovering from traumatic experiences.
The Family Stories Study follows family members from 12-months after they begin their family therapy journey at Bouverie. We talk with adults, parents, and children about their needs and what’s most helpful for families during challenging times. These research insights will help ensure that families receive maximum benefit from our service.
Funded by the Department of Justice and Community Service, the Centre was funded to develop, pilot, and evaluate a family therapy service in Victoria’s two women’s prisons. The project offered evidence-based family-centred education and therapeutic services for women in prison and their families, to promote healing and consolidation of close relationships, in turn nurturing safe and secure environments for women to return to on release from prison.
MERTIL for Parents is a brief, universal online program developed to help parents understand the importance of relational trust in their child’s emotional and social development. This pilot project (the first evaluation of the parenting program) was led by researchers at The Bouverie Centre in collaboration with child and family service partners across New South Wales, Australia.
This project was funded by an internal La Trobe University Early Career Researcher Grant (ABC Grant) and was conducted in collaboration with Deakin University.
Adolescence marks the beginning of sexual and reproductive maturity, the start of the biological pathway to becoming a parent. However, the impact of the quality of first- and second-generation (G1–G2) parent-adolescent relationships on third-generation (G3) attachment status remains unclear.
The Bouverie Centre was funded by the Young People in Nursing Homes National Alliance (YPINHA) to conduct two qualitative studies to understand and help address the needs of young people living with and potentially supporting a parent with young-onset dementia (YOD).
In partnership with the Satellite Foundation and the Victorian Department of Health, the Bouverie research team completed a two-part study identifying the supports available for young people (≤25 years of age) whose home life included caring responsibilities for a family member with mental health and/or substance use issues.