Dr. Karen Hallam
Details
College: School of Health and Biomedical Sciences
Department: Health and Biomedical Sciences
Campus: Bundoora West Australia
karen.hallam2@rmit.edu.au
ORCID: 0000-0003-0495-5341
Open to
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
About
Associate Professor Karen Hallam is a clinical psychologist, researcher and academic leader with more than 20 years’ experience across university, health and community settings. Her research has a strong focus on the intersection between physical health and mental health, particularly in relation to women’s health, reproductive health, trauma and disaster resilience. She has an extensive publication record, has attracted substantial competitive research funding and has supervised many postgraduate research and psychology students. At RMIT, Karen leads postgraduate clinical psychology programs and works closely with government, philanthropic and community partners to develop and evaluate innovative and equitable models of psychological care.
Research fields
- 420313 Mental health services
- 420403 Psychosocial aspects of childbirth and perinatal mental health
- 420305 Health and community services
- 5203 Clinical and health psychology
- 520501 Community psychology
Academic positions
- Postgraduate Programs Manager
- RMIT University
- Psychology
- Melbourne, Australia
- 1 Jan 2025 – Present
- Deputy Head of department (Research)
- RMIT University
- Psychology
- Melbourne, Australia
- 9 Jan 2024 – 20 Dec 2024
Supervisor projects
- Unveiling Hidden Norms: Towards a Comprehensive Scale for Measuring Sexual Double Standards Amongst Young Adults
- 7 Aug 2026
- Exploring Perceived Workforce Automation Risk on Non-executive Employees' Mental Well-being in SME Apparel Producers in the Western Province of Sri Lanka
- 4 Aug 2026
- Sugar Coating Dissociation: Exploring the Association Between Blood Glucose and Dissociative Experiences
- 17 Dec 2025
- Research into clinical and clinical health psychology
- 5 Dec 2023
- The impact of maternal beliefs on perinatal distress
- 8 Nov 2023
Teaching interests
Karen has extensive experience in teaching and academic leadership within postgraduate professional psychology training programs. Her teaching spans clinical psychology, research methodologies, foundational psychological practice skills, psychological assessment and treatment, the philosophy of science and research, and professional, research and clinical ethics. She is particularly committed to preparing students for ethical, evidence-informed and reflective psychological practice.
Research interests
- The intersection between physical health and mental health
- Women’s and reproductive mental health
- Eating disorders and mood disorders
- Psychological experiences of living with type 1 diabetes
- Youth mental health
- Trauma and disaster recovery
- Community delivery of large-scale mental health support
- Equitable access to psychological care
- Development and evaluation of innovative mental health service models
