Meet the Speakers
Confirmed Keynote Speakers
Deidre Quinlan
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Deidre Quinlan
At Circle of Security International (COSI) Deidre Quinlan, LICSW, IMH-E, is part of the second generation of leadership. Her daily stewardship focuses on the fidelity and future of COSI, considering personal impact, professional development, and global relevance. In partnership with her co-owners, she directs the day-to-day operations and plans for the future of the company. In addition, she provides international training, clinical supervision, coaching, and consultation with professionals around the world. Since 2012, Deidre has led many COSI projects including the development of the Fidelity Coaching model, Path to Secure Hands Learning Series, and the COS Classroom Approach.
Like many providers, learning about Circle of Security began a journey of self-discovery for Deidre. She has been passionate about the model since she was first introduced in 2007 at the University of Minnesota IECMH Program. She continues to deepen her learning in both her personal and professional life journeys. This includes years of clinical supervision, mentorship, love, and friendship with the COS originators for which she is truly grateful. She is particularly interested in resilience and the ability of the developing person to persevere and overcome childhood risks and adversities. As legacies go, supporting our children’s developing capacities for caring and kindness, self-reliance, and resilience leave Deidre filled with hope for the possibilities of what could be.
Ashley McCormick
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Ashley McCormick
Mike Sherman
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Mike Sherman
A licensed clinical psychologist and NAPA/UC Davis Infant-Parent Mental Health fellow, Dr. Mike Sherman has expert training and experience in the field of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. For more than 15 years, he has worked at the nexus of community mental health and child welfare programs, including direct service provision, supervision, training, consulting, program development, and administration. Dr. Sherman’s training, clinical practice, and administrative experience have given him a deep understanding of the needs and barriers in our systems of care. Dr. Sherman is the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Clinical Consultation Manager for Safe Babies, a program of ZERO TO THREE. His goal is to broaden the capacity of providers, programs, and systems to foster children’s social, emotional, and behavioral health and development.
Professor Andrew Whitehouse
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Professor Andrew Whitehouse
Andrew Whitehouse is the Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at the Telethon Kids Institute, Professor of Autism Research at The University of Western Australia, Director of CliniKids, Research Strategy Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), and Adjunct Professor at Curtin University and Edith Cowan University.
Andrew has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and attracted over $60 million in competitive research grants. Among his many areas of work, Andrew has led research into pre-diagnostic therapies for infantas showing early behavioural signs of autism. This therapy – called iBASIS-Inklings (‘Inklings’) has established efficacy through clinical trials and cost efficiency, and is now being piloted by the Federal Government in jurisdications across Australia.
In acknowledgement of his achievements, he has been awarded a Eureka Prize and a Paul Harris Medal, and has been elected to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2023, he was the Western Australian of the Year (Professions category).
More keynote speakers to come.
Conference Dinner Speakers
Anne Buist and
Graeme Simsion
About the Authors
Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion
Anne Buist has been a Professor of Perinatal Psychiatry at Austin Health for over 25 years, and ran the beyondblue Postnatal Depression program resulting in routine perinatal screening for mood disorders. She’s written four psychological crime novels (Natalie King series) a standalone thriller, The Long Shadow and (with Graeme Simsion) the Two Steps novels of walking and rediscovery.
Graeme Simsion has written seven novels, including the Rosie Project series, which has sold over six million copies in forty languages, with sixty-five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He and Anne are married and have two adult children.
Psychiatry registrar Doctor Hannah Wright, a country girl with a chaotic history, thought she had seen it all in the emergency room. But that was nothing compared to the psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital.
Hannah must learn on the job in a strained medical system, as she and her fellow trainees deal with the common and the bizarre, the hilarious and the tragic, the treatable and the confronting. Every day brings new patients: Chloe, who has a life-threatening eating disorder; Sian, suffering postpartum psychosis and fighting to keep her baby; and Xavier, the MP whose suicide attempt has an explosive story behind it. All the while, Hannah is trying to figure out herself.
With intelligence, frankness and humour, eminent psychiatrist Anne Buist tells it like it is, while co-writer Graeme Simsion brings the light touch that made The Rosie Project an international bestseller and a respected contribution to the autism conversation.
‘Highly engaging. Brings alive the frontline of mental health care.’ Prof Patrick McGorry AO
‘Gripping, informative…(gives) voice to the experiences of those impacted by mental illness.’ Ariane Beeston, Author of Because I’m Not Myself, You See.
