Chris Connolly

BA, PG Dip SW, MANZASW
Registered Social Worker

Chris Connolly graduated from Victoria University in 1994 with a Post-graduate Diploma in Social Work. She has worked in a variety of roles providing mental health assessments, case management, therapy and support to adults, children and adolescents within community agencies, for a PHO and as part of a community mental health service.  Her work has included identification and assessment of risk in the area of child abuse and suicide and then managed those risks. Chris has worked as a Clinical Advisor with the Towards Well Being Suicide and Consultation Programme (TWB) since September 2001 providing clinical expertise to CYF social workers in identifying, assessing and managing young people who are at high risk of suicide.  This work includes advising on prevention, postvention, training and supervision. She developed and trialled a monitoring system with community agencies working with at-risk young people when CYF were no longer involved (e.g. Youth Horizon Trust, Wesley Social Services, a variety of Iwi social service organizations and school counsellors).  As the sole social worker for a PHO, Chris worked in the area of trauma and bereavement with victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence and suicide survivors.  Within this setting Chris was a member of a multi-disciplinary multi-cultural team who assessed, managed and supported newly arrived refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa suffering from war trauma and dealing with resettlement stress.  This entailed working through interpreters and often included bi-cultural workers.  She is currently involved in establishing a community mental health service for refugee children, youth and their family for Wellington Refugees as Survivors.

Chris is committed to understanding Māori culture and completed a one year Te Reo course at the Central Institute of Technology in 1992. She developed relationships with Māori and Pasifika health, Māori Women's Refuge and mental health providers.

She has worked in private practice providing clinical supervision to professionals from the community, mental health professionals and students.  She has worked as Student Placement Coordinator for Capital & Coast DHB and as Course Coordinator for the Wellington School of Medicine in their mental health course. Chris has provided training in a number of settings and to a variety of audiences. These have included focused training programmes for community groups, presentations at a number of conference and to community organizations. Additionally, she has facilitated educational groups for women living in violent relationships.

Chris has evaluated social work practice in a number of situations including those involving the deaths of young people in the care of statutory agencies.  She has also evaluated community life skills programmes for mental health consumers.

Chris is also one of the Clinical Advisors in the Community Postvention Response Service.