Making mental health a priority: psychologist Dr Rickie Elliott recognised in University of Newcastle Alumni Excellence Awards

"I just find the human mind and human beings so fascinating," Dr Elliott said.

"We can never learn enough about why and how we work and think and feel, I just find that area so interesting. Even 18 years in I'm still learning all the time. I also just had a real passion to help people."

Dr Elliott worked for 15 years in local area health districts before she and co-director psychologist Alikki Russell founded the Hummingbird Centre in 2015.

It has four clinics and a multi-disciplinary team of psychologists, clinical psychologists, mental health social workers, occupational therapists and a psychiatrist to provide holistic support.

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Dr Elliott has received the University of Newcastle Alumni Excellence Awards' Regional Leadership Award.

"It was a great surprise and a really unexpected surprise - it was just lovely to be thought of and have the work the Hummingbird Centre does recognised - it's not just me personally, it's also for Alikki and the whole team, they're all amazing," she said.

Dr Elliott said seeking support from an objective, unbias and trained professional who could suggest evidence-based strategies could be invaluable.

"People often feel like they're a burden to friends and family if they have a recurrent problem, or they don't want to burden them with talking about the same negative thing for too long," she said.

"A lot of the times when we seek help from friends and family, it's lovely and it's so important, but it can just be reassurance, rather than anything we know from research actually creates change.

"Also creating that space for yourself where you attend weekly or fortnightly or monthly is a really important step in self care."

Dr Elliott said she was passionate about preventative mental health treatment, particularly with parents-to-be.

She is an expert in perinatal mental health and holds practising rights at Newcastle Private Hospital maternity unit.

"In pregnancy and your first year postnatal you're most vulnerable to developing a mental health condition and that can cause relationship difficulties with the developing child," she said.

"If we get in with pregnant women and work with them and prepare them for motherhood - and dads - and do all that preventative work, not only do we keep them well, but we keep that next generation well as well. Getting in as early as possible prevents so much distress for people."

Dr Elliott said anyone with concerns should contact their GP.

"Once anything starts to affect your relationships with your family or friendships or your functioning at school or work, that's when you go," she said.

"It's better to always err on the side of caution and go and see a psychologist even for something mild than waiting and be isolated and it grow.

"We're getting much better with people accessing mental health services and lowering stigma but we still have a long way to go with that...people sharing their own personal stories [will help] because it wasn't that long ago when no-one ever shared anything like that and now more and more people are speaking up and it's causing a generational shift, you can see it already."

She said the pandemic had a "devastating effect" on some people's mental health, with some experiencing increased loneliness, OCD, separation and social anxiety, domestic violence and drug and alcohol relapses.

"We've seen people are far more anxious about returning to normal than what they were last year," she said. "We're going to be dealing with some of these issues for months to come."

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