Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
PhD, FRANZCP, MRCPsych, PGCertHealthSci, BM, BS, BMedSci (Hons)
Dr Parkin is a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist with extensive experience in England, New Zealand and New South Wales. He qualified as a psychiatrist in the UK in 1990 and has over 30 years’ experience in child and adolescent mental health. He is a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK), a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and a member of the College’s Faculty of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
After completing a Wellcome Research Fellowship at the University of Leicester, UK, he was appointed a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant there in 1996. He completed his PhD on children’s perception of the emotional quality of relations. He worked in Auckland between 2001 and 2009 in a range of clinical services and held a position as Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, where he was Programme Coordinator of a Postgraduate Certificate in Child & Adolescent Mental Health and a PhD supervisor. He worked at Western Sydney Local Health District from 2009-2015 in the community and on the adolescent inpatient and day patient units at Redbank House, where he was unit head on the Adolescent & Family Unit for 2½ years.
He has published 14 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, co-authored a book for front-line professionals on child mental health, presented 25 papers at international and national conferences, and was a working party member of the NSW CAMHS Competency Framework. A more detailed CV can be found on LinkedIn.
Dr Parkin believes in working holistically with children, adolescents and their families to assess and treat the medical, psychological and social aspects of a mental health presentation. He employs a range of models, including medical, family systems, attachment, behavioural, cognitive, dynamic, and trauma-informed approaches. He works with family members together and individually, and will (with consent) liaise with other professionals involved when this is helpful. He applies knowledge and skills from clinical practice and research to bring the best-informed approach from the current evidence base. He works with compassion and respect for dignity and diversity.