Professor Ian Shochet

Biography

Shochet has an international reputation in resilience research, developing nationally and internationally recognised interventions that promote resilience.  His research on school-based approaches to promoting resilience and preventing depression in young people represented the world’s first successful trial in this area, cementing his position as a pioneer in this field.  His work has attracted over $4 million of external funding and hundreds of citations. He has held leadership and academic positions at prestigious organisations both overseas and in Australia, and has continued his practice as a clinical psychologist. Shochet commenced work at the Queensland University of Technology in 2004 and brought with him a highly successful research endeavour; the Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP) – his multifaceted resilience program for adolescents. Shochet founded RAP in 1996 and remains the Director of RAP, providing ongoing consultancy on national and international dissemination.  RAP is endorsed by the Commonwealth Government as an evidence-based intervention for adolescent depression, and is listed in numerous Commonwealth and State Government publications.  RAP has been translated into four languages and has been disseminated into 17 countries. Approximately 100,000 adolescents have received the program and over 7000 professionals have been trained in the use of the RAP resilience building interventions. Shochet has also worked to implement RAP with population groups at greater risk for depression e.g. partnering with Aboriginal communities, contributing to the implementation of RAP in low socio-economic urban schools, and partnering with community organisations to develop flexible delivery of the RAP in remote areas and adolescents with Diabetes.  Shochet has extended the resilience work to adult populations, including the development and randomised controlled trial of the Promoting Resilient Officers (PRO) programs for police recruits, the Promoting Adult Resilience (PAR) Program and the development of a resilience intervention for Indigenous Australian job seekers (Horizon; Moving forward with resilience). A current research focus is on promoting resilience and wellbeing for adolescents diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Shochet has also done pioneering work on interpersonal predictors of depression.  In particular his research on the link between school connectedness and adolescent depression has been extensively cited. Shochet is also regarded as a leader in the field of depression and promoting positive mental health, evidenced by numerous invitations to participate in projects targeting depression.  He was invited to be a member of the National Think Tank on Depression, and to attend the National Depression Workshop, a gathering of leading figures in the field.  Shochet was a consultant on the MindMatters Plus project, the Beyond Blue National School-Based Initiative, and has consulted to assist impoverished communities in South Africa.  Shochet has also been a member of an expert working group to develop a framework for promoting Social and Emotional Wellbeing for Indigenous communities in Queensland.  In 2011 he was invited by the Australian Defense Force Director General for Mental Health to provide the opening address to a National Operational Mental Health Training Forum. From 2006 to 2011 Professor Shochet was the Head of School of Psychology and Counselling at QUT. In this role he provided academic and professional leadership to the School while continuing to conduct research and manage large external grants. Shochet successfully fostered a steady increase in the research efforts of the School and presided over the doubling of student numbers. Shochet’s current and recent research grants and research focus include:

• Autism Cooperative Research Centre Grant to promote wellbeing and school connectedness for adolescents with ASD.
• ARC Linkage to build capacity for online interventions for adolescents
• ARC Discovery to promote resilience in people with intellectual disability