I am a clinical psychologist and clinical neuropsychologist with a background in public mental health and clinical academic positions.   I am also an active member of the Australian Psychological Society, the APS College of Clinical Psychologists and the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists.

 I am Co-Director of the Neurosurgery and Neuropsychology Research Group (NNRG).  Our research focusses on understanding health outcomes following neurological disease and injury (eg. chronic subdural haematoma, tramatic brain injury, dementia).  We use a positive health framework that considers health assets in the assessment and management of health-related outcomes.

As a positive psychologist, I also have a large focus on well-being research, including the demographic factors that influence well-being, models of well-being, psychometric evaluation of well-being measures and their clinical application, and the meaning of life. We also have a number of projects investigating positive psychology interventions eg. Mindfulness Based Strengths Practice, Three Good Things that support a strengths-based approach.

 

Teaching

• PY4114: Operationalising the Scientific Practitioner Model (Level 4; TSV)
• PY5001: Psychological Assessment (Level 5; SIN & TSV)
• PY5003: Adult Psychopathology (Level 5; SIN & TSV)
• PY5006: Clinical Neuropsychology (Level 5; TSV)
• PY5013: Working With Clients (Level 5; SIN)
• PY6010: Evaluation and Research (Level 6; SIN)

Interests

Research

• Positive Psychology
• Clinical Neuropsychology
• Positive Health
• Professional Training
• Well-being
• Rehabilitation
• Traumatic Brain Injury

Experience

• 2012 to 2016 - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Townsville, QLD)
• 2013 to 2015 - Associate Professor, Research Leader, Community Rehabilitation North Queensland & MICCRH, JCU (Townsville, QLD)
• 2010 to 2012 - Health Research Fellow, Queensland Health (Townsville, QLD)
• 2006 to 2012 - Director of Psychology Services, Townsville Health Service District (Townsville, QLD)
• 2004 to 2006 - Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, University of Tasmania (Hobart, TAS)
• 2003 to 2004 - Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Mind, University of Sydney (Sydney, NSW)
• 1997 to 2003 - Lecturer in Psychology, James Cook University (Townsville, QLD)
• 1995 to 1997 - Casual Lecturer and Tutor, Griffith University (Brisbane, QLD)
• 1993 to 1995 - Clinical Neuropsychologist, Princess Alexandra Hospital (Brisbane, QLD)
• 1991 to 1993 - Casual Lecturer and Tutor, University of Tasmania (Hobart, TAS)
• 1991 to 1992 - Research Assistant, Psychiatry, Royal Hobart Hospital (Hobart, TAS)
• 1990 to 1991 - Research Assistant, Psychology, University of Tasmania (Hobart, TAS)

Fellowships

• 2010 to 2012 - Queensland Health Research Fellowship

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Marshman L, Jakabek D, Hennessy M, Quirk F and Guazzo E (2013) Post-traumatic amnesia. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 20 (11). pp. 1475-1481

Book Chapters

• Hennessy M (2013) Understanding mental health outcomes following traumatic brain injury. In: Health and Healing after Traumatic Brain Injury: understanding the power of family, friends, community, and other support systems. Disability Insights and Issues. Praeger, California, USA, pp. 121-138

Other research outputs

• Hennessy M, Hunt N, Morris K and Sealey C (2016) Investigating the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) as a rehabilitation outcome measure. Abstracts from the Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Special Interest Group of the WFNR Conference. In: 13th Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Special Interest Group of the WFNR Conference, 11-12 July 2016, Glasgow, Scotland
• Birtles E and Hennessy M (2014) Evaluating participation in interprofessional community rehabilitation. Annals of the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, 15 (3). p. 64
• Hennessy M and Birtles E (2014) Understanding positive health outcomes and unmet needs after traumatic brain injury in The Townsville Hospital and Health Service. Annals of the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, 15 (3). p. 66
• Hennessy M (2014) Using positive psychology measures in clinical practice: a new way forward. Annals of the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, 15 (3). p. 68
• Hennessy M (2014) Using positive psychology measures in clinical practice: reliability and validity in an Australian population. Abstracts from the 28th International Congress of Applied Psychology. In: ICAP 2014: 28th International Congress of Applied Psychology, 8-13 July 2014, Paris, France
• Hennessy M (2014) Using positive psychology measures in clinical practice: reliability and validity in an Australian population. Abstracts from the 7th European Conference on Positive Psychology. In: ECPP 2014: 7th European Conference on Positive Psychology, 1-4 July 2014, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Jakabek D, Marshman L, Quirk F and Hennessy M (2013) Assessing the end of post-traumatic amnesia from an executive attention paradigm. Brain Impairment, 14 (1). p. 191

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Development of a positive health framework to improve the understanding of recovery after chronic subdural haematoma: A prospective study. (PhD , Primary Advisor)