Focused Psychological Strategies training for GPs providing care to children (5-12 years)

General practitioners (GPs) are often the first health professionals families turn to when they have concerns about a child’s mental health. This makes them well positioned to support conversations with children and parents about health and wellbeing.

In late 2024, in collaboration with Emerging Minds, the lead agency for the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, NWMPHN offered a round of grants to undertake additional Focused Psychological Strategies mental health training for children aged five to 12. The training aimed to better equip GPs engage with children and families about the subject.

‘Focused Psychological Strategies (FPS) training for GPs providing care to children (5-12 years)’ was co-designed with GPs, mental health professionals and people with lived experience to ensure relevant and realistic content.

It was designed to develop skills in delivering evidence-based psychological interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing.

It equipped GPs to provide necessary interim supports to children and families while they wait for specialist care. FPS can also be used for standalone interventions when referral to specialist services is not needed.

NWMPHN published an expression of interest to all GPs in the region, and 20 were selected.

The course involved 20 hours of online training modules. NWMPHN offered a reflective activity on completion, which allowed the participants to demonstrate how the course impacted their day-to-day practice.

Upon completion, the GPs were able to:

1. Register with Medicare as an FPS provider access additional Medicare Benefits Schedule item numbers.
2. Build strong, respectful relationships with children and their families by using clear, supportive communication.
3. Understand and use practical mental health strategies suitable for common issues faced by children, while involving both the child and their family in planning and decision-making.
4. Create treatment plans that can be used across different challenges, employing proven approaches like CBT, motivational interviewing and psychoeducation.
5. Strengthen their work with children, families, and other professionals through self-reflection, supervision or mentoring.

This Emerging Minds training is free and available to all GPs who have successfully completed level one mental health skills training (MHST).

Note: The financial incentives provided by NWMPHN are not usually part of the standard training.

As of May 2025, 19 GPs in the NWMPHN catchment had completed the training. Numbers by local government area:

• Wyndham – 5
• Hume – 3
• Brimbank – 2
• Yarra – 2
• Darebin – 2
• Moonee Valley – 2
• Maribyrnong – 1
• Merri-bek – 1
• Melbourne – 1

All participating GPs reported improvements, including:

• Understanding on how to recognise early signs of mental health concerns in children.
• Confidence to effectively engage with a child presenting with mental health concerns, and their family.
• Confidence in adapting their practice to work with families from diverse social or cultural backgrounds.
• Confidence to provide trauma-aware, healing informed care to First Nations children and their families.
• Confidence to apply psychological interventions with children.
• Confidence adapting and delivering mental health support to children with neurodevelopmental differences (such as autism, ADHD, foetal alcohol syndrome disorder, intellectual disability).
• Ability to equip parents with strategies that help them maintain the wellbeing and resilience of their children.

Page updated 27 August 2025.