Oriana has worked within the Community Services Sector for the last five years and has provided service coordination to clients from an Italian background. She has worked within AOD Treatment and Support services across a variety of program areas including intake and assessment, specialist pharmacotherapy service, outpatient withdrawal and counselling services, and with diverse client groups including mandated clients and those presenting with dual diagnosis. Oriana continues to work within Clinical Services at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre on a part-time basis and is currently studying for a Masters in Social Work.

Topics of interest:
· The role of spirituality in counselling
· Social action and direct service provision

Caroline Clark, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, BA(Hons), GradDipHlthCareHistory, MA(AppSocResearch)
Senior Education & Training Officer

For a number of years Caroline taught philosophy and history of science at Melbourne University, RMIT and Swinburne. After five years in community development work in the alcohol and drug field she worked in project development and management in a division of general practice before moving to Turning Point where she has worked for five years, mainly undertaking needs analyses, managing projects and developing materials for the Education and Training Program. Caroline is now undertaking the research for her PhD on the social and medical history of alcoholism in Australia at the Centre for Health and Society at the University of Melbourne.

Topics of interest:
· History of drug and alcohol use and treatment
· Drug use and women

Kieran Connolly, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, HND, GradDipTrain&Dev, MA(PrimHlthCare)
Program Leader, Training and Information Resources

Currently enrolled in a Doctorate of Health Science, Kieran is an experienced educator with more than 15 years in adult education. For the last 12 years he has specialised in the alcohol and drug sector, designing, delivering, evaluating and managing a broad range of education and training programs in a variety of health and welfare settings including the tertiary sector and the VET area.

Kieran is a Board member of VAADA and the Victorian representative on the Workforce Development Reference Group of ADCA.

Topics of interest:
· Workforce development issues in the AOD area

Darryl Coonan, MA(Couns&Human Services), AdvDipGestaltTherapy, GradCertPsychNursing, RN, GradDipDrugDep, CertIVTraining&Assess
Education and Training Officer

Darryl has a background in general & psychiatric nursing. During the past 10 years he has worked in the AOD sector in a variety of clinical settings. He has a particular interest in counselling interventions that support clients to make change and to develop skills to improve long-term outcomes.

Topics of interest:
· Relapse prevention counselling interventions
· Mindfulness practice for AOD clients
· Management strategies for anxiety, depression and anger

Wendy Dodd, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, DipWelStud, GradDipVocEduc&Train, MA(TrainDev)
Program Leader, Vocational Education and Training

Wendy has worked in the community sector, particularly with young people, for the past 20 years. Various positions have included outreach, housing, program model design and program development in response to the Children and Young Persons Act, policy development and managing youth services. In the last 10 years she has worked in education and training - as an Educator at Victoria University (VU) in Welfare Studies and Youth Work and in the position of the Drug Education Officer. At Turning Point, Wendy designs, delivers and evaluates AOD training programs to other organisations locally and internationally.

Topics of interest:
· Workforce development – alcohol and other drug sector and other sectors
· Vocational and technical education
· Communities of Practice

Malcolm Doreian, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, SRN, RPN, GradCertAODStud
Senior Education & Training Officer

Malcolm has a nursing background spent mostly in the alcohol and drug field across a full range of services. He worked on the Departmental Steering Committee on the development of the home based withdrawal model currently used in Victoria as well as a Harm Reduction/ Duty of Care based model for those outside the criteria. He has spent the last five years in Education and Training at Turning Point, providing a range of training courses to the AOD sector and broader health and welfare workers. Mal is a registered CPR trainer and pre and post HIV test counsellor and is currently enrolled in a Master of Addiction Studies. He is also Turning Point’s resident illustrator, having designed and illustrated many publications as well as The Adventure of Opie.

Topics of interest:
· Pharmacology of drugs
· Pharmacotherapy options

Shirley Gill, BA(Hons), DipEd, MPsych(Couns), MAPS
Education & Training Officer

Shirley is a registered psychologist who was awarded an Australian Psychological Society College of Counselling Prize for Excellence for her Masters thesis on the training of counsellors in experiential psychotherapy. Shirley has more than ten years clinical experience in addictive behaviours including alcohol, drugs and problem gambling. This is coupled with a background in education as well as in the training and supervision of professional counsellors.

Topics of interest:
· History and philosophy of counselling and psychotherapy
· Web-based counselling
· Pain management

Matt Gleeson, DipAODWork, CertIVTraining&Assess, GradCertSocSc
Education & Training Officer

Matt has worked in the community services sector for the past nine years in a variety of capacities including the provision of support to complex needs young people, the development and delivery of community development programs catering to the needs of marginalised populations, and the provision of AOD specialist telephone counselling and AOD specialist assessment, case management and support. More recently Matt has worked in the family violence sector providing telephone counselling information and referral for men. He has also had experience developing and delivering a variety of vocational training and education courses for AOD students - both in classroom settings and online.

Topics of interest:
· Vocational training and education in the AOD sector
· Workforce development
· Health and safety in community services workplaces
· Working with men who use violence in their families

Matt is involved with all the flexible learning components at Turning Point. He assists Ray Stephens in designing, developing and maintaining all the online learning in Education and Training.

Topics of interest:
· Graphic design
· HTML, CSS
· Frisbees and human powered vehicles

Michelle Iannacone, CertIVTraining&Assess, CertIIOffice&Admin
Senior Student Administration Officer

Michelle has over twenty years experience in educational institution environments. Michelle has been with Turning Point for five years coordinating all of the student administration activities for Education and Training Services. Michelle’s extensive experience extends into both vocational and technical education and tertiary program standard requirements.

Topics of interest:
· Vocational and technical education
· Tertiary programs

Sharon Patterson, CertIVWorkplaceAssess&Training, BA(SocSc), RPN, GradDipHealthEd
Senior Education & Training Officer

Sharon has worked in the drug and alcohol sector for twenty years and has extensive experience as a drug and alcohol clinician. During this time she has worked in a wide range of clinical settings including inpatient withdrawal, specialist methadone services, rehabilitation and group therapy, counselling and assessment, drink driver education programs and women's drug and alcohol services. Sharon has been employed by Turning Point since 1995 as a Senior Education & Training Officer. Her work at Turning Point has had a major focus on working with GPs and other primary care workers.

Topics of interest:
· Alcohol related harm
· Alcohol and substance related brain injury
· Sociology of drug use

Margret is a registered psychologist and a member of the APS College of Counselling Psychologists. She has 20 years counselling experience having worked across a range of health and education settings including palliative care, telephone counselling, community health, TAFE and Higher Education counselling services. In the AOD sector, Margret has worked in intake, assessment and counselling with a diverse range of people including those with specific needs such as dual diagnosis, ABI and mandated clients.

Topics of interest:
· Counselling and psychotherapy
· Training and supervision of professional counsellors

Topics of interest:
· Dual diagnosis
· Counselling interventions

Phoebe has worked in the alcohol and drug field for sixteen years and has experience in both clinical and community settings. Her community experience includes alcohol and drug consultancy roles in Community Health Centres and peer education coordinator at Juvenile Justice Service. Her clinical experience expands across various settings including Intake and Assessment, residential and outpatient withdrawal, specialist pharmacotherapy, CCCC, and Needle Syringe Programs.
For the past 12 years she has been employed in the clinic at Turning Point, her primary role over the past 5 years has been in Intake and Assessment. She commenced work in Education and Training in February 2007.

Topics of interest:
· Working with families affected by alcohol and drug use
· Working with CALD clients
· Alcohol and drug treatment options

Ray has extensive community nursing experience with some graduate experience in acute inpatient settings, 5 years with the Royal District Nursing Service and over 4 years clinical experience with Turning Point in a variety of alcohol and other drug settings. Ray is Turning Point’s flexible learning provider administrator and is responsible for the design, development and maintenance of all online learning. He is qualified in training alcohol and other drug workers, nurses, and other community health providers and has completed his Master of Nursing by Research investigating smoking amongst alcohol and drug workers.

Topics of interest:
· Online education in alcohol and drug issues
· Smoking amongst alcohol and drug workers