Alexandra Howard is the Director of Policy and Practice at Phoenix Australia, a not-for-profit and the national centre of excellence in posttraumatic mental health, affiliated with the University of Melbourne. Alex is a clinical psychologist and public health practitioner, who has specialised in the field of posttraumatic mental health for more than 10 years. Her expertise lies in translating and implementing best practice mental health and psychosocial support approaches to ensure government, organisations, workforces and communities are equipped to prepare, respond and recover from trauma and other psychosocial risks – from designing whole of organisation trauma-informed policy and practice, through to building workforce capability and capacity in a range of evidence-informed trauma support and resilience approaches. Alex has supported the work of the TrackSAFE Foundation since 2014 when the world leading industry-wide trauma management framework was first co-developed with rail organisations. Since then she has gone on to lead the update of the best practice Rail Industry Trauma Management Framework in 2023, and has developed and delivered a range of capability building initiatives for the industry. Alex has also worked with primary care, mental health, emergency service and military personnel, community organisations, and disaster relief organisations. She is a member of the Beyond Disasters Advisory Group and Asia Pacific Disaster Mental Health Network, and has most recently provided organisational trauma management advice to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Australian Psychological Society. She has published in the field of posttraumatic mental health and has presented her work at national and international conferences.
