Melissa Petrakis

Associate Professor Melissa Petrakis is Group Director of Social Work Innovation, Transformation and Collaboration in Health (SWITCH) Research Group in the Department of Social Work, Monash University, Australia. She has worked in mental health services for over 25 years, as a clinician then a service manager, then a practice-based researcher. She has authored over 80 publications and delivered over 100 national and international conference presentations. In 2016 she was awarded The Tom Trauer Evaluation and Research Award at the Australian and New Zealand TheMHS Awards, acknowledging excellence in her approach to research, championing co-design, co-production and co-authorship, with clinicians, people with lived experience of mental illness and families.

A/Prof Petrakis is editor of the textbook: Petrakis, M. (2018). Social Work Practice in Health: An introduction to contexts, theories and skills. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. In the text, she brought together 24 authors, predominantly clinicians in the field, to share their expertise and experiences to enhance student knowledge and preparedness for practice.