Vanessa Cobham

Dr. Vanessa Cobham is a Clinical Psychologist and a Professor, with continuing appointments in both Children’s Health Queensland’s Child and Youth Mental Health Service and the School of Psychology, The University of Queensland. Dr. Cobham has continuously maintained both clinical and academic appointments, making her a true clinician-researcher. Dr. Cobham is regarded as an international expert in child and adolescent emotional disorders. Her research is characterized by a family-centric, consumer-focused approach to the treatment of youth experiencing mental illness. Dr. Cobham’s research has focused on improving our understanding of the ways in which anxiety and depressive mental health conditions develop; the development and evaluation of models of care and interventions for the treatment of these conditions; understanding the intersection between physical and mental health conditions; and bridging the evidence-practice divide that exists in child and youth mental health. She is also the lead author of internationally disseminated clinical programs, such as Fear-Less Triple P (for parents of anxious children). Dr. Cobham has led numerous child and adolescent mental health responses following natural disasters in Australia; and is regularly invited to consult to government agencies in other countries following community-wide traumatic events (e.g., 2020 Nova Scotia shootings, Canada; 2019 Christchurch Mosque Attack, NZ). Often this consultation involves providing training and supervision to clinicians working with children and families.