Research & Writing

I contribute to academic and media publications on the topics of mental health, mental illness, psychology, and therapy.

My academic research interests include clinical and health psychology, resilience, and training and wellbeing of health professionals. I am an ad hoc reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals and assessor for higher degree research theses.

I hold undergraduate degrees in history and psychology, a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, and also completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in psychology. My doctoral research focused on psychological aspects of end-stage organ failure and organ transplantation.

I indulge my preoccupation with all things therapy and bibliotherapy here.

Books:

'Talk to me: Lessons from patients and their therapist.' (2025). Routledge.
'The how-to of psychotherapy: A practical guide for therapists.' (2025). Routledge.

Media:

'The ‘immoral, unthinkable’ political dispute rupturing a friendship requires a delicate therapeutic approach' The Guardian, 27 October 2025
'Ladies who doth protest too much: The telling inner world of TERFs' Griffith Review Online, 16 October 2025
'Julie was smart and competent, yet her less qualified colleagues surpassed her. Imposter syndrome held her bac k' The Guardian, 18 August 2025
'Narcissism can’t always be fixed – but you can heal after being hurt by it' The Guardian, 26 May 2025
'Alex felt demoralised by the suggestion he should ‘be more resilient’. He learned that it is an ongoing process' The Guardian, 30 March 2025
'As a psychologist, I help others recognise gender-based violence. Then my friend had the same conversation with me' The Guardian, 5 February 2025
'The biggest problem with trigger warnings? They’re quite triggering' The Age Opinion piece, 14 October 2024
'It’s a nice idea, but more therapy won’t fix our growing mental health crisis' The Age Opinion piece, 8 September 2024
'Yes, they make us feel better. But your pet is not your therapist' The Age Opinion piece, 11 August 2024
'Love him or hate him, Scott Morrison's mental health was none of our business' The Age Opinion piece, 30 April 2024
'Men aren’t all bad – many are just confounded by the new rules' The Age Opinion piece, 4 April 2024
'Is a person speaking ‘their truth’ different from the truth? It’s complicated' The Age Opinion piece, 9 January 2024
'In a time of pervasive uncertainty, we mustn't be tempted to take refuge in absolute certainties' ABC Religion & Ethics, 19 December 2023
'Self-diagnosis is on the rise, but is TikTok really to blame?' The Age Opinion piece, 9 November 2023
'How shame influences the decisions we make, and compounds the harm we do to others' ABC Religion & Ethics, 6 November 2023
'Silverchair, take it from a psychologist – rehashing your breakup won’t help anything' The Age Opinion piece , 5 October 2023

Book chapters:

Denny, B. (2019). Ethical issues associated with competence and limits of confidentiality. In N. Pelling & L. Burton (Eds.), The elements of ethical practice: Applied psychology ethics in Australia (pp. 131-139). Oxon: Routledge.
Denny, B., & Gavidia-Payne, S. (2018). Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for health-related adjustment disorder. In N. Pelling & L. Burton (Eds.), The elements of psychological case report writing in Australia (pp 145-152). Oxon: Routledge.
Gavidia-Payne, S., & Denny, B. (2017). Other conditions that may be the focus of clinical attention. In N. Pelling & L. Burton (Eds.), Abnormal psychology in context: The Australian and New Zealand Handbook (pp. 276-287). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Peer-reviewed journal articles:

Denny, B., Brown, J., Kirby, C., Garth, B., Chesters, J., & Nestel, D. (2019). “I'm never going to change unless someone tells me I need to”: Fostering feedback dialogue between GP supervisors and registrars. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 25(4), 374-379.
Denny, B., Chester, A., & Brown, J. (2016) “Let’s not reinvent the wheel”: A qualitative investigation of collaboration in the Australian GP education and training sector. Focus on Health Professional Education, 17(1), 45-48. doi: 10.11157/fohpe.v17i1.121
Denny, B., Kienhuis, M., Gavidia-Payne, S. (2015). Explaining the quality of life of organ transplant patients by using crisis theory. Progress in Transplantation, 25(4), 324-331.
Denny, B., Chester, A., Butler, M., & Brown, J. (2015). Australian GP registrars’ use of e-resources. Education for Primary Care, 26(2), 79-86.
Gavidia-Payne, S., Denny, B., Francis, A., Davis, K., & Jackson, M. (2015). Parental resilience; A neglected construct in resilience research. Clinical Psychologist, 19(3), 111-121. doi: 10.1111/cp.12053
Gavidia-Payne, S., Denny, B., Francis, A., Davis, K., & Jackson, M. (2014). Children’s self-concept: Parental school engagement and student-teacher relationships in rural and urban Australia. Social Psychology of Education, 18(1), 121-136. doi: 10.1007/s11218-014-9277-3
Denny, B., Gavidia-Payne, S., Francis, A., Davis, K., & Jackson, M. (2014). Strengthening Australian families: Socioeconomic status, social connectedness, and family functioning. Australian Social Work, 67(3), 438-450. doi: 10.1080/0312407X.2014.911927
Chester, A., Clarke, A., Wingrove, D., & Denny, B. (2013). 'Talking about teaching: empowering staff through peer partnerships.' in Andrea Nolan (ed.) Proceedings of the 10th Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education conference, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 11-13 June 2013, pp. 568-575.
Chester, A., Burton, L., Xenos, S., Elgar, K., & Denny, B. (2013). Transition in, transition out: A sustainable model to engage first year students in learning. A practice report. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education. 4 (2), 125-130.
Denny, B., Kienhuis, M., & Gavidia-Payne, S. (2013). Promoting the quality of life of organ transplant patients. InPsych, 35 (1), 14-15.
Denny, B., Beyerle, K., Kienhuis, M., Cora, A., Gavidia-Payne, S., & Hardikar, W. (2012). New insights into family functioning and quality of life after pediatric liver transplantation. Pediatric Transplantation, 7, 711-715. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3046.2012.01738.x
Denny, B., & Kienhuis, M. (2011). Using crisis theory to explain the quality of life of organ transplant patients. Progress in Transplantation. 21 (3), 182-189.

Conference presentations:

Kirby, C., Brown, J., Denny, B., Garth, B., & Chesters, J. (2019, September). Fostering feedback dialogue between general practice supervisors and registrars. GPET Convention, Melbourne.
Denny, B. (2014, October). Fostering resilience: Enhancing the fourth year psychology experience through stress inoculation training. 2014 APS Annual Conference, Hobart.
Denny, B., Chester, A., Brown, J., & Butler, M. (2014, October). Academia meets industry: Conducting psychological research in a non-academic setting. 2014 APS Annual Conference, Hobart.
Xenos, S., Chester, A., Burton, L., & Denny, B. (2014, February). Transition In Transition Out (TiTo): Using peer mentoring to assist graduating students’ transition beyond university. Graduate Psychology Skills Australia Conference, Melbourne.
Brown, J., Denny, B., Butler, M., & Chester, A. (2013, September). Sharing online educational resources, platforms and practices for eTraining in GP registrar education. GPET Convention, Perth.
Denny, B., Gavidia-Payne, S., Francis, A., Davis, K., & Jackson, M. (2013, July). Does it take a village to raise a resilient child? The role of teachers in fostering positive self-concept in advantaged and disadvantaged children in Australia. World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference, Peru.
Denny, B., Gavidia-Payne, S., Francis, A., Davis, K., & Jackson, M. (2013, July). Strengthening families: The Australian experience of family resilience. World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference, Peru.
Gavidia-Payne, S., Denny, B., Francis, A., & Jackson, M. (2013, July). Who are resilient parents? How psychological well-being and social connectedness contribute to quality parenting. World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference, Peru.
Chester, A., Burton, L., Xenos, S., Elgar, K., & Denny, B., (2013, July). Transition in, Transition out: A sustainable model to engage first year students in learning. International First Year in Higher Education Conference, Wellington.
Chester A., Clarke, A., Wingrove, D., & Denny, B. (2013, June). Talking about teaching: Empowering staff through peer partnerships. International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education, Glasgow UK.
Denny, B., Kienhuis, M., & Gavidia-Payne, S. (2013, April). From paper to practice: The role of health professionals in promoting the quality of life of organ transplant patients. APS Health Psychology Conference, Cairns.
Denny, B., Beyerle, K., Kienhuis, M., Cora, A., Gavidia-Payne, S., & Hardikar, W. (2012, September). Quality of life and family functioning following pediatric liver transplantation. 2012 APS Annual Conference, Perth.
Denny, B., Kienhuis, M., & Gavidia-Payne, S. (2011, October). Using crisis theory to explain the quality of life of organ transplant patients. RMIT Higher Degrees by Research Student Conference, Melbourne.