Fields of Research (FoR)
Studies in Human SocietyBiography
Rebecca's research spans the fields of healthcare provision, AOD treatment models, domestic violence programs, and therapeutic relationship dynamics. She has worked on projects that aim to improve healthcare provision for people living with HIV, and prevention strategies for hepatitis C risk factors. Alongside her work at NCHSR, she has worked for many years as a counsellor and group worker in a community-based setting, and is currently the...view more
Rebecca's research spans the fields of healthcare provision, AOD treatment models, domestic violence programs, and therapeutic relationship dynamics. She has worked on projects that aim to improve healthcare provision for people living with HIV, and prevention strategies for hepatitis C risk factors. Alongside her work at NCHSR, she has worked for many years as a counsellor and group worker in a community-based setting, and is currently the Senior Research Officer at Relationships Australia NSW.
Research Summary
The dynamics of shame: navigating professional complexities when counselling in alcohol and other drug settings
This qualitative study gathered the professional accounts of seventeen counsellors and other frontline workers in order to gain new understandings of the ways in which the therapeutic relationship is affected by shame in the context of alcohol and other drug (AOD) settings. Three major insights were developed through this research. The first is that shame is intimately entangled with the labelling of problematic AOD-use behaviour. The second is that shame, guilt and stigma are often conflated in AOD counselling. The third insight is that the dynamics of shame create significant workforce issues for AOD counselling professionals. This thesis outlines and discusses these dilemmas and, in doing so, contributes to what is known about counselling practice in AOD settings, especially professional perceptions and experiences of the dynamics between shame and drug use in those settings. New practice implications are articulated for counsellors working with clients around shame issues, and for the more appropriate development and navigation of practice and policy guidelines for counselling in alcohol and other drug settings.
Supervisors: Dr kylie valentine (SPRC) and Dr Christy Newman (NCHSR)
My Qualifications
PhD, MA, BA Hons
My Awards
Rebecca was awarded Employee of the Year at Relationships Australia NSW, in 2014, for integrating research findings into practice and policy development.
In 2017, she received a Reconciliation in Action award for her work in supporting the Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan. This strategy aims to improve organisational performance with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service users, professionals and communities, at Relationships Australia NSW.
Rebecca was also nominated for the Norma Parker award (for best new author) by the Australian Social Work Editorial Board, in 2014.
My Engagement
Rebecca is a member of the Research and Ethics Review Committee at ACON (formerly the AIDS Council of NSW).
Over the course of her career, Rebecca has given more than 60 conference presentations, and contributed to more than 40 peer reviewed journal articles. She is the primary author on more than ten articles.Selected publications include:
Broady TR;Gray RM, 2018, 'The intersection of domestic violence and child protection in Australia: Program participant accounts', Australian Social Work, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2017.1422774
Gray, R.M., Broady, T.R. & Mance, P. (2017). How do Australians find therapists and engage in the work with private practitioners? Implications for professionals. Australian Counselling Association Journal
Rance, J., Gray, R.M. & Hopwood, M. (2017). ‘Why am I the way I am?’ Narrative work in the context of stigmatized identities. Qualitative Health Review.
Gray, R.M., Green, R., Bryant, J., Rance, J. & Maclean, S. (2017). How “vulnerable” young people describe their interactions with police: Building positive pathways to drug diversion and treatment in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal.
Gray, R.M., Newton-John, T., Ralfs, C. & Lee, J. (2017). Intimate relationships in the context of chronic illness: A literature review for counsellors and couple therapists. Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia.
Karageorge, A., Rhodes, P., Gray, R.M. & Papadopoulos, R. (2017). Refugee and staff experiences of psychotherapeutic services: A qualitative systematic review. Intervention: Journal of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Conflict Affected Areas.
Dobinson, S. & Gray, R.M. (2016). A review of the literature on family dispute resolution and family violence: Identifying best practice and research objectives for the next ten years. Australian Journal of Family Law.
Gray, R.M. Calder-Hickey, S. & Bishop, L. (2016). Reaching vulnerable families through Court Referral Projects. Communities, Children and Families in Australia.
Gray, R.M., Broady, T., Gaffney, I. & Lewis, P. (2016). Invited paper: What women think of men who attend domestic violence programs, Communities, Children and Families in Australia, available online.
Broady, T., Gray, R.M., Gaffney, I. & Lewis, P. (2015). “I miss my little one a lot”: How father love motivates change in men who use violence, Child Abuse Review. doi: 10.1002/car.2381
Gray, R.M., Broady, T., Gaffney, I, Lewis, P. & O’Neill, B. (2014) Invited paper: “I’m working towards getting back together”: Client motivation related to relationship status in men’s behaviour change programmes in New South Wales, Australia. Child Abuse Review, doi.10.1002/car2318.
Gray, R.M., Lewis, P., Mokany, T. & O’Neill, B (2014) ‘Peer discussion and client motivation in men’s domestic violence programs: An Australian qualitative interview study’, Australian Social Work. 67, 3: 390-404.
Treloar, C., Gray, R,M. Brener, L., Jackson, L.C., Saunders, V., Johnson, P., Harris, M., Butow P. & Newman, C.E. (2013) ‘"I can't do this, it's too much": Building social inclusion in cancer diagnosis and treatment experiences of Aboriginal people, their carers and health workers’, International Journal of public health. P.1 – 7 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00038-013-0466-1
Treloar, C., Gray, R.M. & Brener, L. (2013) ‘“A piece of the jigsaw of primary care”: Tensions between primary and tertiary health services in an integrated care model of hepatitis C management in Christchurch, New Zealand’, International Journal for Quality in Health Care. 6: 129-134.
Newman, C.E., Gray, R.M., Brener, L., Jackson, C., Johnson, P., Saunders, V. & Treloar, C. (2012) ‘One size fits all? The discursive framing of cultural difference in health professional accounts of providing cancer care for Aboriginal people’ Ethnicity and Medicine. 18, 4: 433-447.
Seear K., Gray, R.M., Fraser, S., Treloar, C., Bryant, J. & Brener, L. (2012) ‘Rethinking safety and fidelity: The role of love and intimacy in hepatitis C transmission and prevention’, Health Sociology Review, 21, 3.
Gray, R.M. (2010) ‘Shame, labeling and stigma: Barriers to counseling clients in alcohol and other drug settings’ – invited paper, Contemporary Drug Problems: an interdisciplinary quarterly, 37, 685-703.
Gray, R.M. (2009) ‘The Dynamics of Shame: Implications for counselors working across alcohol and other drug settings’, Psychotherapy Australia, 16, 30-36.
She has also produced a wide range of Literature Reviews, Discussion Papers and Internal Reports for various community based counselling services, to guide practice and policy development, and has extensive experience in translating findings for a variety of audiences, including: academics; industry and sector professionals; politicians: and members of the general public through BLOGS, radio interviews and short articles.
An experienced academic, Rebecca provides peer review to a range of high quality journals, particularly: Qualitative Health Review, Violence Against Women, Health Sociology Review, Australian Family Physician, Child Abuse Review and Addiction.
My Teaching
Rebecca has experience tutoring postgraduates at the Centre for Social Research in Health (UNSW), mentoring undergraduate students at The Learning Centre (UNSW), and training professionals on the Diploma of Counseling and Group work at Relationships Australia NSW.
She was made an Honorary Associate at the Clinical Psychology Departments at both the University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney, and supervised students on their post graduate research programs, from 2015-2018.In this role, Rebecca supported postgraduate students to generate and communicate findings for a professional audience, thereby increasing the impact of their research.
