Dr John Ashfield is a bestselling author, known across Australia and internationally for his writing in the fields of applied psychology, mental health, and male psychology.
- Psychologist & Mental Health Practitioner
- Student and Professional Supervisor
Qualifications and Professional Membership
PhD MCS BA BPTh BSS Grad Dip GW ASS Dip SW. PACFA Reg Clinical. MCCAPE
Key areas of experience
Clinical
- General psychotherapy (psychological therapy/counselling)
- General mental health
- Couples therapy
- Palliative care and psycho-oncology (psychological therapy/counselling)
- Suicide risk assessment, suicide prevention, and post-suicide attempt intervention
- Male psychology
Educational and primary health
- Tertiary educator – undergraduate and postgraduate, and research fellow
- Community health promotion and community development – including addressing social determinants of health
- Mental health and suicide prevention reform
- Published works: predominantly mental health literacy, counselling psychology, and male psychology
- Student and professional supervision
- Mentoring university students (undergraduate and post-graduate)
Professional profile in brief
Dr Ashfield is a bestselling author, known across Australia and internationally for his writing in the fields of applied psychology, mental health, and male psychology. John is the author of seven books, chapters in specialised textbooks (published in Britain and India), numerous mass media articles and commentary, published health promotion resources, and a number of academic articles.
He worked for many years in rural and outback South Australia as an itinerant psychotherapist and suicide prevention practitioner (Divisions of General Practice and Rural Medicine). He was Principal Consultant, Rural and Remote Mental Health, for Country Health SA, and was a national consultant and mental health literacy educator for Frontier Services. Dr Ashfield lived, and worked in private practice in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, and on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific. On returning to England, most recently, he was engaged in service development and managing allied health services at Saint Catherine’s Hospice, in North Yorkshire.
Dr Ashfield has taught at the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, Flinders University, and was a PhD examiner for the University of Southern Queensland. He was a pioneer of post-graduate clinical education in the psychology of palliative care, in the Department of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide, and has held a number of senior consultancy and clinical appointments in government and non-government sectors. He was the founder of the India Overseas Sharing Fund, a community aid and development organisation in Chennai, India.
Both his broad experience, and his interest and training in social and behavioural science disciplines, aspects of sociocultural and biological anthropology, ancient and contemporary wisdom literature, and comparative religion, form a rich tapestry of understanding which he brings to his work with people.
Awards
SA Great Health Award – Issued by South Australian Government
For achievements in preventative mental health.
Rural Doctors Workforce Agency Community Health & Wellbeing Award – Issued by Rural Doctors Workforce Agency, South Australia.
For achievements in community preventative mental health and suicide prevention.