committee

President

DR BRIAN GUTKIN (MB, BCH, BAO, DTCM, MACP, MANZAP, D Psychoth, FRANZCP) is a Consultant Psychiatrist, Analytic Psychotherapist and practicing Buddhist, mainly in the Zen tradition. Dr Gutkin has his private practice at St. Leonards and Dee Why, Sydney where he works with individuals with anxiety, depression and addictions or suffering as a result of trauma in childhood or adolescence. He is also Director of Psychiatry at South Pacific Private Hospital Sydney. He has an abiding interest in the value of Buddhist practice and spirituality in health, healing and psychotherapy.

Vice-President

MEGAN THORPE (MA, Grad. Dip. Ed. Studies (Health), Dip. Teach) trained in Core Process Psychotherapy, a Buddhist-based psycho-spiritual psychotherapy, at the Karuna Institute, in England. She is currently in private practice at the Metta Clinic on Sydney's north shore. She also works in the health service offering spiritual care to patients who are dying and their families, and manage a team of volunteers who offer additional support.

She has worked as a teacher, trainer and facilitator in the areas of education, health and social welfare for many years. Megan is the secretary of AABCAP's Training Committee.

Over the last 20 years she has had experience in a number of different Buddhist traditions, and since 2003 she has been practicing in the Thai Forest tradition, with Ajahn Sujato, the Abbot of Santi Monastery at Bundanoon.

Treasurer

Honarary Secretary

CHIEN-HOONG GOOI is a registered Psychologist who is currently involved in clinical research applying Buddhist mindfulness practices in the treatment of anxiety disorders as part of ongoing training to complete his postgraduate in Doctor of Clinical Psychology. He was the previous Buddhist Chaplain at the University of New South Wales and has led workshops and given talks at the Buddhist Library, Buddhist Council of NSW and to the Buddhist youth community.

Foundation President

DR ENG KONG TAN ( MBBS.,MPM.,FRANZCP. ) is an analytic psychotherapist, psychiatrist and practicing Buddhist, mainly of the Theravadan tradition. Dr.Tan is the founder director of Metta Clinic, a group practice consisting of psychiatrists and psychologists in the North Shore of Sydney. He offers individual, couple and group therapies in his practice as well as individual and group meditations. He was formerly Chairman of Training to the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association of Australia (PPAA) and Chair of the Section of Psychotherapy of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) He has been on the Training Advisory Board of the NSW Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (NSWIPP) and Faculty of Training of the Australian and NZ Association of Psychotherapists (ANZAP).

Eng-Kong is a trustee member of the Universtiy Buddhist Education Foundation of Australia ( UBEF ) and Founder President of the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia ( YBAM ). He has written and presented many papers, workshops and keynote addresses on Psychotherapy, Buddhism, Meditation and Spirituality in Australia and internationally. He is currently on the Training Committee of AABCAP developing a national Training Program integrating Buddhism and Psychotherapy for counsellors, psychothrapists and members of the Sangha."

SWEE-HAA TAN was a High School Teacher in Malaysia and was a foundation member of the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia. Currently she is a committee member of the University Buddhist Education Foundation Fund of Australia. She is the practice manageress of Metta Clinic which consists of psychiatrists and psychologists. As an affiliate member, she is interested in supporting Buddhist Influenced Counselling and Psychotherapy. She is mainly of the Theravadan tradition.

JOYCE MAN (BA-Psych, Grad. Dip. In Science (Psych), M. Psych. (Clinical)) is a clinical psychologist currently working in the Department of Aged Disability and Home Care, where she provides assessments and behavioural interventions to adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. She has been an active committee member of MacBuddhi- Macquarie University Buddhist Society throughout her undergraduate years, is a co-founding committee member of Mitra Youth Buddhist Network and is currently in their 2007 organising conference committee. She has also completed her masters thesis on the efficacy of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction as a treatment for stress, depression and anxiety.

HELEN SHARWOOD (BA Dip.Ed., M.A.,Psych., Grad.Dip Couns., I.Y.T.A.) is a registered psychologist in private practice in Sydney and an associate member of the Australian Psychological Society. She was a high school teacher and school counsellor with the Department of Education of N.S.W. for 18 years working in many different areas of Sydney. She was an intern counsellor at the Institute of Counselling (2004) and has worked mostly in a voluntary capacity for many organizations including Telefriend Chatswood, Jewishcare, Anxiety Disorders Alliance and SMART for addictions. Mindfulness practices in different psychological therapies are of particular interest to Helen in her counselling work.

She has followed different Yogic and Buddhist traditions for many years attending long retreats in Australia and overseas. She became a member of the Lotusbud sangha in Sydney under Vietnamese Zen master Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh five years ago.

Helen practiced yoga from an early age and obtained her teacher training with the International Yoga Teachers’ Association. She has taught Yoga for various lifestyle organizations. The practice of mindfulness in movement is the focus of her yoga class.

DR DEV ATREYA (MBBS, FRANZCP) came to Australia in 1972 from India and qualified as a psychiatrist in 1979. Since then he had worked as a consultant psychiatrist in several hospitals, the last one being Macquarie Hospital from which he retired in 2006. His special interest is psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the British Object Relations School for which he received training at the NSW Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the early eighties. He is now in full time psychotherapy practice at Metta Clinic, Sydney. He takes a keen interest in all the spiritual traditions in general and more specifically in the teachings of the eastern traditions of Buddhism and Vedanta.

ARIYA CHITTASY is a Bachelor of Psychology student at the University of Sydney. He was the previous President of the University of Sydney Buddhist Society where he led workshops, meditations and assisted the running of Buddhist events. In 2008, he produced and directed HEART, a Buddhist Musical production, for members and friends of the Buddhist community. He also has assisted teaching children and novices the Dharma at Wat Phrayortkeo, a Lao Temple in Bonnyrigg. He is completing his Honours year in the field of positive psychology.

GENEVIEVE DAVID was born in Switzerland, grew up in London, New York and immigrated to Sydney 16 years ago. She is bilingual French and English. She did her Masters in Clinical Social Work in Chicago where she specialized in family therapy working with children in play therapy, adults in psychodynamic psychotherapy and families in systemic theory. She also has considerable experience working with groups in particular parenting and relationship skill.

Her advanced diploma in Adult Psychodynamic Psychotherapy was completed in Sydney and she now specializes in working with adults who have long term problems with self-esteem leading to feelings of anxiety and depression. These issues are often presented along with various addictions and relationship problems.