Emeritus Professor Graham Martin

Emeritus Professor

Royal Brisbane Clinical Unit
Faculty of Medicine

Overview

Professor Graham Martin OAM, MD, FRANZCP, DPM works as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with skills in individual and family therapy. His research interests have been in Early Intervention and Promotion of Mental Health with special reference to prevention of suicide in young people and non-suicidal self-injury.

Professor Martin was Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at The University of Queensland, and Clinical Director of RCH Health Service District Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS) (2001-2014). He now works part time in private practice, but continues to supervise students and publish regarding his research interests.

From 1986 to 2001 he was Clinical Director of Southern Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Adelaide, and is a clinician, researcher, writer and commentator. Thirty years of clinical immersion in direct clinician work, supervision, systemic practice, and child psychiatry and family therapy teaching, underpins development of preventive programs in mental illness, and programs for promotion of mental health in families, communities, schools, the defence force cadets and other systems.

Graham has been dedicated to suicide prevention since 1987, and is a member of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the International Association for Suicide Research. He was a member of the Advisory Council Australian National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy and Evaluation Working Group (1994-99), the writing team for the Australian Suicide Prevention Strategy (2000, 2007), the National Advisory Council for Suicide Prevention (2003-8), and was a National Advisor on Suicide Prevention to the Australian Government (2009-2012). Graham is Director of the Centre for Suicide Prevention Studies in Young People at UQ (http://www.suicidepreventionstudies.org/index.html).

Graham was Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) chairman (1995-2001), convening 6 national suicide prevention conferences, led the team developing the first Media and Suicide Resource Kit (‘Achieving the Balance’, 1998), became a Life Member of SPA (2004), was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (2006), a ‘Jackstar’ award for 10 years contribution to Inspire Foundation’s ‘ReachOut’ program (2007), the 2008 SPA ‘Lifetime Contribution to Suicide Prevention Research’ award, and the Rowe-Zonta International Prize 2010. Graham was Catholic Education Queensland Travelling Scholar (2008-9). In 2014, Professor Martin was awarded the SPA ‘Lifetime Contribution to Suicide Prevention’ award, and in 2015 was awarded a Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Citation for his contributions to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Graham was an originator of the Australian Network for Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention program (Auseinet, 1997-2009), and Director until 2001. He is Editor in Chief for the online journal AMH (Advances in Mental Health, 2009 to date), formerly the Australian eJournal for the Advancement of Mental Health (1999-2009). Graham chaired the Queensland Mental Health Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention committee, and was a board member for Mates in Construction, an industry leader in suicide prevention for the construction industry.

Graham is one of the editors of “Mental Health Promotion and Young People: Concepts and Challenges” (2001, McGraw Hill, Sydney), published in English, Italian and Korean. He is the author of "Taking Charge: A journey of recovery" (2013); "Sensual Haiku" a book of poetry for lovers (2013), and "Essays on Prevention in Mental Health" (2014), and is currently writing a biopic: "The Making of a Child Psychiatrist" (in draft, 2015).

The main focus of Graham’s work is the area of self-injury in young people, with clinical, community, therapy and research programs. His team has recently completed the largest ever, national survey of self-injury for the Department of Health and Ageing (The Australian National Epidemiological Survey of Self-Injury).

In his spare time he trained for 20 years in Karate, and was a Nidan black belt, and Sensei, with Hoshindo Karate International (from 2003-2009).

Research Interests

  • Group Therapy for repeated self harm in young people
    Randomised controlled trial of a manualised short term program based on a Cognitive Behavioural Model (with Prof. Phillip Hazell, Newcastle University)
  • Attitudes to Drug Use and Abuse in Australia
    Funded by the Australian National Council on Drugs, this national study focuses on young people aged 12-18 years
  • Early Detection of Depression in High School
    Bayside project funded by Queensland Health, using tiered model of intervention from 'Universal' (year 1 high school), through 'Selective' to Indicated
  • Suicide and its Prevention
    Main focus is Suicide Prevention in Young People (aged up to 24 years) which includes addressing biological, family, social and cultural risk factors. Current interest focuses on Mental Health (as health) and its Promotion as a major preventive strategy
  • National Study of self harm in Australia
    Epidemiological study across all ages to inform reserachers and policy makers of the incidence and prevealence of Self-Injury and its role in Deliberate Self Harm

Research Impacts

Professor Martin received more than $14m in collaborative research grants during his career, and was known for his ground-breaking research in Prevention of Suicide in Young people, with particular reference to schools. His collaborative research work in Non-suicidal Self-injury has been at the forefront of thinking and program development in Australia. Professor Martin has published over 200 individual and collaborative research papers, 60 books and training resources and other reports, 18 chapters in books, 46 Editorials in journals. He was the creative force behind, and then an editor of, 8 journals.

His work has been cited 3866 times (2939 times since 2012, with an h-index of 31, and an i-10 index of 68).

Qualifications

  • Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
  • Doctoral Diploma of Medicine, Flinders University
  • Postgraduate Diploma
  • Postgraduate Diploma, Flinders University
  • Postgraduate Diploma, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
  • Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and Medical Science, University College London

Publications

View all Publications

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Featured Publications

Book

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Edited Outputs

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Note for students: Emeritus Professor Graham Martin is not currently available to take on new students.

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

Completed Supervision