From her base in Brisbane, Dr Paula Barrett teaches kids, their families and adults the skills to be resilient and overcome anxiety, depression and stress.
She is the one they turn to around the world if the kids are not coping and stressed out.
She's petite and softly-spoken but behind her Portuguese accent, she is a determined campaigner and eager to see more Australian children access her Friends for Life program.
Her centre, Pathways Health and Research Clinic, was also a recent finalist in the Telstra Business Awards for Queensland.
And she is also among the Queenslanders named in Qweekend magazine's 2008 Best and Brightest issue, which appears in The Courier-Mail this Saturday.
Qweekend's annual review looks at 50 people from the "smart state" who, not content with success at home, are taking their inspiration and innovation to the world in fields ranging from fashion and the arts to medicine, science, sport and business.
Dr Barrett's Friends course is the only one endorsed by the World Health Organisation, as well as a number of top-ranking journals, for its treatment of anxiety in children and adolescents.
Despite this, the boffins at Education Queensland won't implement her course in the state schools where it teaches kids to stay focused, work together and builds their confidence.
However education bureaucrats in Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Germany, Thailand, Norway, Japan and New Zealand have all embraced her skills, research and successful programs.
And work is ongoing to have the program implemented in even more countries.
In British Colombia, Canada, every Grade 5 student, some 65,000 kids, will do Dr Barrett's Friends for Life course this year.
Brisbane-based Dr Barrett, 46, has unlocked some of the mysteries of childhood and adolescent anxiety through two decades of research, and the intervention strategies she's developed have earned international recognition.
Her Friends for Life program is used in schools and clinics in 15 countries including New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong, the US, Britain, China and Saudi Arabia.
She is the one they turn to around the world if the kids are not coping and stressed out.
She's petite and softly-spoken but behind her Portuguese accent, she is a determined campaigner and eager to see more Australian children access her Friends for Life program.
Her centre, Pathways Health and Research Clinic, was also a recent finalist in the Telstra Business Awards for Queensland.
And she is also among the Queenslanders named in Qweekend magazine's 2008 Best and Brightest issue, which appears in The Courier-Mail this Saturday.
Qweekend's annual review looks at 50 people from the "smart state" who, not content with success at home, are taking their inspiration and innovation to the world in fields ranging from fashion and the arts to medicine, science, sport and business.
Dr Barrett's Friends course is the only one endorsed by the World Health Organisation, as well as a number of top-ranking journals, for its treatment of anxiety in children and adolescents.
Despite this, the boffins at Education Queensland won't implement her course in the state schools where it teaches kids to stay focused, work together and builds their confidence.
However education bureaucrats in Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Germany, Thailand, Norway, Japan and New Zealand have all embraced her skills, research and successful programs.
And work is ongoing to have the program implemented in even more countries.
In British Colombia, Canada, every Grade 5 student, some 65,000 kids, will do Dr Barrett's Friends for Life course this year.
Brisbane-based Dr Barrett, 46, has unlocked some of the mysteries of childhood and adolescent anxiety through two decades of research, and the intervention strategies she's developed have earned international recognition.
Her Friends for Life program is used in schools and clinics in 15 countries including New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong, the US, Britain, China and Saudi Arabia.
Source : Paula Barrett, child psychologist is Businesswoman of the Year
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