Draft:Carolyn Quadrio

Carolyn Quadrio, AM, MBBS, DPM, FRANZCP, PhD (born 5 January 1943) is an Australian academic, educator, practising Forensic and Child and Family psychiatrist. Awarded an Order of Australia on the King's birthday, 10th June, 2024 for "significant service to psychiatry as a clinician, academic and mentor".

Currently, Adjunct Professor at the University of New South Wales, Quadrio is well known for her work in women’s mental health and for introducing a feminist and gender analysis to mainstream psychiatry in Australia through her research on women in psychiatry - as patients, practitioners and victims of therapist abuse. Quadrio was the first female Director of Mental Health Services, Correctional Health Services in New South Wales. She was a founding member and secretary of the Western Australian Association of Psychologists before becoming president in 1981. Quadrio held an honorary appointment on the Australian Medical Association's Ethics Committee from 1989 to 1991.

In 2021, Quadrio received the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Psychiatry NSW Meritorious Service Award. Recognised for "a distinguished and extensive career as a clinician, academic, therapist, forensic psychiatrist, promoter of women's rights and supporter for victims of abuse, especially childhood sexual abuse".

Quadrio was an expert witness at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse held in Ballarat, Victoria in 2015. It was the first time the commission "heard evidence from a psychiatrist with particular expertise in the consequences of sexual abuse including by clergy."

Education
Born in Perth, Western Australia, 5th January 1943, Quadrio was an only child, raised by a single Greek mother. Inspired by texts authored by William James and Freud she went on to study Medicine and Surgery at The University of Western Australia. She was awarded a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 1966.

Quadrio was the first extramural student accepted into the Diploma in Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She completed with Distinction in 1971. She became a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of

Psychiatrists in 1973 and a member of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) in 1987. In 1998 Quadrio completed her Doctoral dissertation at the University of Sydney.

Early career in psychiatry
Quadrio sought to change the dominant, masculine-centred paradigm in psychiatry. A perspective that pervaded the 1960's theories and methods of family therapy, in particular the Freudian model which saw children separated from parents during therapy sessions. Quadrio invited parents to sessions in order to understand their broader social context and insisted that females in therapy needed different considerations. Consideration of women's unique health needs is prescient. Previously (and concurrently), clinicians "characterised male attributes as the norm and female attributes – like emotionalism – deviant behaviour, neurosis, so called", when assessing patients. Quadrio stated that discovering family therapy was critical to her professional development.

The marginalisation of women in psychiatry was impetus for Quadrio's future research on female representation in her field. She continued to advocate for women in the profession/s and following the 1988 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Annual Congress she publicly raised the issue by criticising the lack of female plenary speakers. At the 1990 Congress, Quadrio was invited to present Development, Gender and Psychotherapy. Very few women in that 26-year history received that opportunity.

Quadrio is known for research mentorship, advocacy and therapy on injustice and ethical issues, particularly those involving boundary violations, such as sexual abuse by therapists and within institutions, including the Catholic Church. Stating in an interview; "if you don't (speak up) then you're part of the collusion and you're part of the conspiracy of silence, so if you do nothing then you're really part of the problem."

Since 2022, Quadrio continues working part-time in private practice as a Consultant Forensic and Child & Family Psychiatrist. Quadrio is Adjunct Associate Professor within the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales, where she continued to educate students up until late 2021.

Appointments

 * Founding Member and Secretary Western Australian Association of Psychotherapists (1974-77).
 * President, Western Australian Association of Psychotherapists (198l-84).
 * Executive Council and Teaching Faculty, Australian Institute of Family Therapy (1985-96)
 * Deputy Medical Superintendent, Dept. Psychiatry, Prince of Wales Hospital (1987-1989).
 * President, Editorial Board, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (1988-92)
 * Ethics Committee, Australian Medical Association (1989-91)
 * Director of Mental Health Services with New South Wales Correctional Health Services (1998-2001)
 * Sex Offenders Ministerial Advisory Group, New South Wales (1998- 2003).
 * Chairperson of the Bi-national Committee for Advanced Training in Psychotherapy for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.


 * Professional Advisory Panel, Victims Services, Department of Justice, New South Wales (1988- present).
 * Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA ) Advisory Panel (2012-present).
 * International support and information for survivors of therapist abuse, Advisory Panel (1991-present).
 * Blueknot: Empowering recovery from complex trauma. Advisory Panel (current)

Teaching

 * Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry & Coordinator, Post-graduate Psychotherapy Program, School of Psychiatry University of New South Wales and the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney (1986-1991)
 * Lecturer and Supervisor, NSW Institute of Psychiatry: Postgraduate Program in Psychiatry (1990-2021).
 * Lecturer and student Supervisor in Psychotherapy and Family Therapy at each of the five major teaching centres in Sydney: Westmead Children's, Royal North Shore, Prince of Wales and Royal Women's (Paddington) Hospitals; also Rivendell and Arndell Child and Adolescent Units (1990 to 1998).

Awards

 * 2024, Order of Australia (AM) in the general division - King's birthday honours list
 * 2021, NSW Meritorious Service Award Recipient RANZCP.


 * 2013, Journal Award of Excellence: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy.

Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse
Quadrio was an expert witness at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse held in the Australian country town of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia in 2015. Established by then Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the commission ran between 2013 and 2017. Cardinal George Pell gave evidence on three occasions at this commission. Quadrio's expertise lay in the assessment and management of trauma and abuse. She was qualified to address the consequences of child and adult sexual abuse, including by clergy and religious institutions.

Case Study No. 28. Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat
Quadrio's evidence revealed "the extensive effects (of sexual abuse) on every aspect of a child's development. Their capacity to form relationships, their ability to function at school, their ability to progress in education and their ability to progress in employment are all affected". Quadrio went on to describe a variety of behaviours seen in children often associated with sexual abuse and how these are frequently misunderstood. Stating that such behaviours are "easier to spot in little children, as older children are more likely to cover it up" as a form of shame and self-blame. Quadrio went on to tell the Commission that not all children of sexual abuse will show symptoms. A-symptomatic children account for 20 to 40 per cent, with some becoming symptomatic later on. She referred to this as the 'sleeper effect'. Survivor witnesses at the commission described this effect. One witness said it took 26 years before "he fell apart and broke down". Quadrio reported that the effects of trauma on children, both physical and psychological, can impact longevity.

Quadrio's report stated that about 30 per cent of girls and 20 per cent of boys in institutional care were abused. Quadrio was quoted on numerous occasions for stating that she did not believe celibacy drives child abuse. Men who are already attracted to children as sex objects were more likely to be drawn to the priesthood; a respected profession that also offered access and authority. During the commission Quadrio, with her particular expertise, was able to detail the complications of the specific trauma inflicted on a victim of sexual abuse within a religious context.

Publications
For a full list of Quadrio's fifty seven publications see: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carolyn-Quadrio

Books

 * Women working and training in Australian psychiatry (1997). Doctoral dissertation, Department of Women's Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Sydney.

Chapters in books

 * Psychiatry and the Depressed Woman (2010) in Hussin, I., (ed.), Women and Depression. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne UK.
 * Criminalisation of Post-Therapeutic Relationships in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (1998). In: Smith, RG., Health Care, Crime and Regulatory Control. Sydney: Hawkins Press.
 * Three Generations of Greek Brides in Western Australia (1994). In: Weddings and Wives. Spender, D., (ed), Penguin, Sydney.
 * Family Therapy: Clinical Aspects (1991). In: Mental Health and Illness. Kosky,R., Eshkaviri, H., and Carr,V.,(eds), Butterworths, Australia.
 * The Mid-Life Transition for the Homemaker (1990). In: Women and Health. Saltman,D., (ed), Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Sydney.
 * Incest that continues into adult life (2019). In: Benjamin, R., Haliburn, J., & King, S. Humanising mental health care in Australia : a guide to trauma-informed approaches. Routledge.ISBN : 9780429021923

Conferences organised
Sexual Abuse within a Religious Context, held at the University of New South Wales prior to the Royal Commission on 21st June 2008. Quadrio, in collaboration with NSW Health, The RANZ College, the Cannan Institute- via Professor Warwick Middleton.