CLINICAL DEPARTMENTAL ADMINISTRATION EXPERIENCE

1981 to 1990

Dr. O’Mahony was appointed Director of Psychological Services at the Waterford Hospital, St. John's, Newfoundland in November 1981. This was a fully accredited psychiatric teaching hospital of 449 beds providing acute admission services, long-term/special care, mental retardation services, forensic, psychogeriatric, outpatient, day care and community care services.

Major professional enhancements, including the computerization of the department, were completed during his tenure. The psychology department had a professional compliment of 10 staff with Senior Psychologists assigned to each of the three major clinical divisions within the hospital’s services. During this period, Dr. O’Mahony carried overall responsibility for forensic psychological services, and for two years (1983/85), exclusively provided the clinical forensic psychological services to the hospital's Forensic Unit. As Director of Psychology, he also provided clinical consultation to all units and services of the hospital. As the department head, he represented the profession of psychology on the major hospital committees including the Clinical Records Committee, Hospital Accreditation Committee, Disaster Committee (Chair), and he also held the position of Secretary for seven years of the hospital's senior clinical committee, the Clinical Advisory Committee, which was chaired by the Medical Director.

As department head, Dr. O’Mahony took responsibility for the overall directing of the staff's clinical work, departmental policy and practice issues, as well as overseeing the teaching and research activities of the department. He also provided ongoing consultation to the psychology’s departmental staff. Administrative responsibility for recruitment, staff organization and the development of policy and procedures rested with the department's Director.

INSTITUTIONAL ADMINISTRATION EXPERIENCE

1977

In March 1977, Dr. O’Mahony moved to Western Australia to take up an appointment as Clinical Psychologist with the state’s Department for Community Welfare located at the adjoining Longmore Remand and Assessment Centres in the city of Perth. These centres were facilities for up to 100 male and female juvenile offenders placed under the Department's care or control by the courts. Dr. O’Mahony acted as Superintendent of the Remand Centre and Deputy Superintendent of the Assessment Centre during the latter months of this period. This included being responsible for the overall operations of these respective institutions including the staff and the individual welfare, care and management of the residents during their stay.

1977 to 1980

Dr. O’Mahony was promoted to the permanent position of Deputy Superintendent at another of the Department for Community Welfare's facilities, Riverbank Treatment Centre, Caversham, Perth, a maximum security setting for male juvenile offenders. There were 53 staff and there was a capacity for 42 boys. The centre and an associated hostel were operated jointly by the Superintendent and the Deputy Superintendent. For the latter two years of this 2½ year period, Dr. O’Mahony acted as Superintendent during an extended absence of the appointed Superintendent. He fulfilled both the Deputy and Superintendent functions simultaneously. Institutional administrative duties were both of a clinical and an operational nature, providing overall direction to staff in the treatment programme, developing and monitoring research and evaluative programmes, chairing case conferences to review individual boy’s treatment needs, approving and regulating trial-leave and discharges in consultation with the Department’s senior management. General institutional operational duties included staff selection, in-service training, budgeting, annual reports and overall institutional management. Subsequent to this appointment, Dr. O’Mahony left Australia for Canada.

SUMMATION OF 11½ YEARS OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE:

9 years Clinical Departmental Administration
2½ years Institutional Administration

Total Psychological Practice Experience (2007):

20 years Clinical Psychology
16 years Forensic Psychology

R. JUSTIN O'MAHONY
BA., BSc., BAdm(H.S)., MSc(Cl.Psych)., PhD., HDE., AFPsSI., AFBPsS.