Born
Hopetoun, Victoria on October 10th, 1932
Qualifications
Dip.Occ.Thy
Training and career
She attended the Occupational Therapy School of Victoria, which included anatomy and physiology at the University of Melbourne where she later studied Psychology.
She first worked for the (then) Mental Hygiene Department, and after four years overseas when she worked as an OT at general, psychiatric and aged care hospitals and the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada, she returned to Australia and joined the RCH.
Eileen first worked as an O.T. and then transferred to the Dept. of Psychiatry where she was trained as a child psychotherapist by Dr Winston Richards. For a time, she was the Senior Child Psychotherapist.
A memorable time in her life was when she went to the Tavistock Clinic in London for a year. The Tavistock Clinic is the ultimate in child psychotherapy training and practises a Kleinian philosophy. This was made possible by a Creswick Foundation scholarship and the RCH.
Another memorable moment was when she was appointed to the Gatehouse Centre for two days a week. A visit to Chicago for a Child Abuse conference followed.
Her clinical interests included child abuse, trauma to children, difficulties of the young child and the children of the mentally ill.
After 32 years she retired from the RCH and spent the next four years as manager of the Child and Adolescent Unit of the Lakeside Psychiatric Hospital in Ballarat.
Outside interests
Eileen has many outside interests which she can't pursue of late. They include the National Trust, Heritage watch, cooking, gardening, crosswords, Scrabble, the U3A and reading.
Current health
Eileen, with a diagnosis of cerebellar ataxia, now lives in an aged care facility in Ballarat.