Researcher

Dr Tayla Degan

Biography

Dr Tayla Degan is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales. She is also a registered Clinical Psychologist working in private practice.

She is currently involved in stimulant research at NDARC and is working on projects which include the Tina Trial. She has expertise in working with people accessing substance use disorder treatment and mental health services. She has...view more

Dr Tayla Degan is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales. She is also a registered Clinical Psychologist working in private practice.

She is currently involved in stimulant research at NDARC and is working on projects which include the Tina Trial. She has expertise in working with people accessing substance use disorder treatment and mental health services. She has experience working across multiple research trials and projects, including a NSW Health funded randomised controlled trial- the Continuing Care Project, which examined the effectiveness of a telephone-based continuing care intervention for people discharged from residential substance use disorder treatment services. She also has experience in the evaluation of health services such as residential rehabilitation. Her PhD focused on the health literacy of people accessing specialist mental health and substance use disorder treatment services. 

She has previously worked as a Clinical Psychologist for Corrective Services NSW. In this role, she specialised in the assessment and treatment of people in custody who experienced serious mental health such as schizophrenia and psychosis.

She has previously conducted lectures in psychology for the University of Wollongong and Charles Darwin University.


My Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)- University of Wollongong.
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology)- University of Wollongong.
  • Clinical Psychologist- Psychology Board of Australia (PSY0002250944).

My Awards

  • Australian Psychological Society 2022 College of Clinical Psychologists Student Prize.
  • 2018-2022 Matching Scholarship (funded by the University of Wollongong and The Salvation Army).
  • October 2022, Publication of the Month Award for 'Post-treatment outcomes and changes in health literacy of people discharged from specialist substance use disorder services'- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong.


My Engagement

Invited webinar for the Network of the National Library of Medicine:

Health Literacy of People Living with Mental Health or Substance Use Disorders (youtube.com)

 

Podcast episode- "Better thinking" with Nesh Nikolic:

#143 – Dr Tayla Degan on The Importance of Health Literacy for Clinicians and Consumers — Nesh Nikolic

 

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Location

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre

Contact

+61-2-9348 1610