ACER Psychology

ACER welcomes you to this summer edition of Psych LiveWire.

The ACER psychologists – Eirini Lammi in NSW, Margaret McFarland in Queensland and myself in Victoria – thank you for your support during 2009.  We look forward to assisting you with your assessments and resources in Psychology in 2010.

As psychologists we face many issues in the appropriate selection, use and interpretation of assessments.  The government’s mooted removal of qualifications for the use of psychology assessments is a significant challenge many currently face.  As an employee of a publisher as well as a registered psychologist, I consider this to be a worrying proposal.  ACER – like other test publishers and distributors – takes much trouble to ensure assessments are sold only to properly accredited customers. Should this proposal be successful, it will provide significant challenges to us in our ethical practice.

If you have thoughts/concerns about this – or any other issue – please feel free to email them through.

Thank you, and a happy and safe holiday season to you all.

New Psychology Consultant, Queensland

Welcome to Margaret McFarland, our new psychology consultant based in Brisbane, Queensland.

Margaret has joined the organisation after several years as an educational psychologist in the school, health and university sectors in Queensland, South Australia and New Zealand. Her most recent position involved research and development of funding and reporting mechanisms for students with disabilities in Queensland schools. Margaret's clinical experience includes assessment and intervention with children and young people with disabilities and mental health disorders, how schools can best help all students to access curriculum, and family psychology.

In her new role at ACER, Margaret will support psychology practitioners in Queensland. She liaises with psychologists in private practice, public agencies and universities to identify their needs in relation to high quality, evidence-based professional resources and assessments.

Margaret McFarland | t: 07 3238 9044 | e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

44th APS Annual Conference 2009

Our consultants would like to thank everyone who visited the ACER stand at the 44th APS Annual Conference. We would also like to thank those who attended the book signing with Jeannette Milgrom, co-author of Towards Parenthood: Preparing for the Changes and Challenges of a New Baby, and who attended Marian and Eirini’s poster presentation on ACER Screening Tools:
Neuropsychiatry Unit Cognitive Assessment Tool (NUCOG); PsychProfiler and; Autism Detection in Early Childhood.

Congratulations to Margaret Johnson, of Margaret Johnson Psychological Consultancy Services, who was the winner of our iPod competition at the APS Conference.

Pictured Feelings Instrument Presentation

Beth A Stone, author of the Pictured Feelings Instrument (ACER Press, 2004), recently presented at the Sydney APS branch meeting on the clinical applications and use of her publication. The premise of the tool is that many people have difficulty communicating their feelings in words.

Investigating the psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent PsychProfiler (CAPP) using the Rasch model

The Child and Adolescent PsychProfiler (CAPP) is an easily administered, psychometrically approved screening instrument to identify children and adolescents with psychological disorders. It is a criterion-referenced screener oriented to the DSM-IV-TR. (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders, fourth edition, text revision, 2000) The psychometric properties of the CAPP (e.g., inter-rater reliabilities, Cronbach alphas) have been supported using classical test theory (Langsford, Houghton & Douglas, 2007). To date, however, this test has not been subjected to Rasch analysis. The main purpose of this study was to use the Rasch measurement model to investigate the psychometric properties of the CAPP. Download the research report

Majors Personality Type Inventory training

The Majors PTI is a brief, accurate assessment which assists team members to work with their strengths and to value their differences. Your team will become more self-aware and recognise the different gifts team members offer by completing the Majors PTI.

Majors PTI Training Dates:

To find out more about this training or to register, please visit: Institute for Type Development.

For further information about Majors PTI or to order, please visit: Majors PTI or contact Marian Power e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To find out about more Personality Type support material, please visit: Personality Type support material.

Griffiths Mental Development Scales Accredited Course

The Griffiths Mental Development Scales are widely regarded as the single most useful test for the comprehensive assessment of the development of infants and young children.Doctors and psychologists are required to complete an accredited course before they are entitled to use the test and order test equipment.

An accredited course will be run at Tumbatin Developmental Clinic, Sydney Children's Community Health Centre in March 2010. The course will consist of tutorials on the theoretical and practical aspects of the Griffiths Scales as well as opportunities for supervised practice in the administration of the scales to normally developing children and children with developmental problems. Those who successfully complete the course will obtain a certificate and be registered as accredited Griffiths users by ACER and The Association for Research in Infant and Child Development.

The course will be run by Ms Kerry Schweigert, Senior Psychologist, Dr Debbie Perkins, Child Health Doctor, and Dr Vivian Bayl, Specialist Paediatrician.

Venue: Tumbatin Developmental Clinic, Sydney Childrens Community Health Centre
Date: 15–19 March 2010
For further information or to register contact:
Kerry Schweigert | t: (02) 9382 8196 | e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For further information about Griffiths Mental Development Scales or to order, please visit: Griffiths Mental Development Scales.

New Resources to ACER                                                         

Cognitive Therapy: Techniques: A Practitioner's Guide

Counselling Children - Third Edition: A Practical Introduction

The Therapist's Toolbox

Brain-Based Therapy with Adults: Evidence-Based Treatment for Everyday Practice

Brain-Based Therapy with Children and Adolescents: Evidence-Based Treatment for Everyday Practice

FREE Screen Savers

You can download a FREE screen saver of beautiful images from ACER to liven up your workspace!

Invitation to participate in ACER Focus Group

Would you like a chance to win a $50 ACER Bookshop voucher?

We are seeking participants for our ACER Focus Group.

If you live in Melbourne and can spare a maximum of two hours to participate in various focus group exercises at our Camberwell office, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your name, age, occupation and contact phone number.

Your details will be kept strictly confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.

Our Consultants Out and About

If you or your Cluster would like to learn more about our psychology product range, please contact on of our consultants.

Marian Power, Consultant Psychologist, Victoria | t: 03 9277 5411 | e : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Eirini Lammi, Psychology Consultant, New South Wales | t: 02 8338 6804 | e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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