I started as a full time lecturer at UniSA in January 2012 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2017. Previously I  worked as a social worker in community health and non government agencies in the U.K. and in Australia. Working from an empowerment perspective, my experience includes counselling, group work, community development and agency management. My research expertise includes child wellbeing, mothering,  the effects of domestic violence on women and children, young people, and the effects of sexual abuse. My PhD entitled  'The effects of Domestic Violence on the Relationships between Women and their Babies: Beyond attachment theory' was transformed into a book in 2018 and published by Routledge. i now work as a senior research fellow/senior lecturer, leading funded research into  'what helps people who grow up with domestic violence create healthy relationships as young adults' and participating as a chief investigator in research into 'emotional abuse of children'.