Prof David Forbes

David Forbes is the Director of Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, the University of Melbourne.

He has over twenty years’ experience in the assessment and treatment of mental health problems in trauma survivors, with a speciality in military and veteran mental health. He led the development of the inaugural 2007 Australian Guidelines for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the revision published in 2013 approved by the National Health and Medical Research Council and endorsed by the key health professional colleges. He is also the Vice Chair of the International PTSD Guidelines Committee developed by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

He has a strong track record in the conduct of research in the assessment and treatment of PTSD and the provision of policy and service development advice to government and agencies responsible for the care of veteran and military personnel, and trauma survivors across the community.

Professor Forbes also has a strong track record in the provision of training for health and mental health practitioners in evidence-based treatments for PTSD and related disorders in veterans. This has included the development of a mobile app and online resources for practitioners, and the current and ex-serving Defence community.

He has published over 120 scientific papers in the international literature and sits on many Commonwealth government veteran and military policy panels, scientific advisory panels and academic journal editorial boards.