Kirrilie Smout completed her secondary education at Aberfoyle Park High School, in Adelaide, after receiving the School Prize for dux of her year. She then went on to study psychology at Flinders University of South Australia. In the course of completing her undergraduate and First Class Honours degree, Kirrilie received the 1994 Australian Psychological Prize for her work in the area of children's self esteem and presented her research at a national psychology conference. Kirrilie was then selected to receive an Australian Post-Graduate scholarship to undertake a Masters of Clinical Psychology degree.
Kirrilie currently works as a Clinical Psychologist and is the Director of Innovate Psychology and Education. She works with children, adolescents and adults, helping them with problems of anxiety, depression, relationship issues, education and learning, study skills, conflict and other life difficulties.
Kirrilie has a special interest in working with teenagers and young adults. She has been employed as youth worker and consultant on youth issues for over a decade, holding places on several State-wide committees concerned with the welfare of young people. She is frequently consulted by local and national print and radio media to speak on youth issues, regularly writes articles for local newspapers and other publications, and was selected as an Australian Youth Ambassador at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
Kirrilie is also regularly employed as a keynote speaker for schools, colleges, universities, community groups and conferences. She teaches students and other teenagers about finding a life vision, creating community among each other, persistence, self-belief, study skills and overcoming obstacles. Kirrilie has presented at several National youth leadership forums, national adolescent health conferences and has spoken to approximately 20,000 young people across Australia. She has achieved the second highest speaking accreditation recognised by the National Speakers Association of Australia, and is one of only 10 in South Australia to have done so.
Kirrilie also speaks to parents, teachers and youth leaders about youth issues in Australia; focusing on young people's needs and desires, and how to inspire and effectively lead young people. In 2000 she was awarded the Australian National Speakers Association "Rising Star" award for most promising emerging speaker. In 2001, Kirrilie toured the United States (sponsored by the Australian Youth Foundation) researching American suicide prevention and life skill programs for teenagers.
Kirrilie has recently published her first book, The Years that Count: Maximising Motivation, Marks and Optimism in Senior School students. She has recently been asked to present the content of this book at an Australian/New Zealand Adolescent Development conference.
Finally, one of her guiding life principles is as follows:
Destiny: Not a matter of chance – a matter of choice
SEMINAR TOPICS AVAILABLE:
Seminars for Health Professionals, Educators, Parents and Others who work with Young People
UNDERSTANDING THE NEXT GENERATION
Our world has changed. In every area, life has changed dramatically in the last fifty years. What we often fail to recognise however is that a changed world has produced a changed generation. Young people today are very different from us. They have different values, different expectations, different moral codes, different ways of thinking, speaking and acting. When we fail to take this into account when dealing with young people we become confused and frustrated.
This seminar is a humorous, fascinating and invaluable consideration of how young people are different from previous generations, why this has occurred and the impact of these changes on our world. It includes topics such as the most significant changes in our world over the last few decades, and the immediate result of these changes on people, the differences and similarities between older and younger generations, and how to use this information to communicate with, work alongside, and feel hopeful about the next generation.
Comments from audience members who have attended this seminar in the past include:
• An erudite presentation. Kirrilie knows her subject well and brought home these messages well.
• Amusing, interesting and interactive!
• It was really helpful to see the world from this perspective.
EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION
This seminar is specifically for educators who work with teenagers and young adults. It covers the material as stated in the "Understanding the Next Generation" seminar and goes on to address issues of education in particular. Topics discussed include communication with young people, managing behaviour, incorporating youth culture into education and using interactive learning strategies.
Comments from audience members who have attended this seminar in the past include:
• I learnt skills, hope, alternatives, awareness. Great to put into black and white our concerns.
• Kirrilie is an excellent speaker with a strong empathy with her audience.
• Well researched, very relevant, practical - start earlier and talk for longer!
HELPING TEENAGERS IN CRISIS
Working with teenagers is a challenging job. It is even harder when young people are dealing with a crisis of some kind: depression, relationship break-up, loss of self-esteem, problems with peers or learning difficulties just to name a few. At these times, parents, teachers, school counsellors and other professionals often feel helpless and frustrated.
This seminar is designed to teach skills for dealing with teenagers in difficult times. Specific topics covered include: how to communicate with non-communicative teens, the three most important actions to take in dealing with troubled teenagers, rapport building, the most common "problem areas" to ask teens about, what not to do (pitfalls to avoid) when dealing with troubled teenagers, and many more topics.
Comments from audience members who have attended this seminar in the past include:
• I came away with strategies to deal with teens' behaviour.
• I realised other parents are going through the same difficulties - and that there is hope!
• Clear and simple steps - interactive presentation - good focus on the positive.
HELPING TEENAGERS THROUGH SENIOR SCHOOL
Having a student in Year 11 or 12 can be a stressful and worrying time for parents. They are often unsure about how to help their teenager, how to work with the school and what to do in difficult times. Research and experience shows that parents are eager for any information that helps them care for their teens during this process.
In this seminar parents are helped to; understand the differences between generations, to know how to assist young people with homework routines, know how to communicate with teenagers, help their students manage stress and more.
As an aside: schools have found that when this seminar is incorporated into a regular school information evening, attendance rate often increases dramatically!
Comments from audience members who have attended this seminar in the past include:
• There was lots of information, it was extremely worthwhile and challenging.
• Great to feel we were doing things right, l learnt practical suggestions of how to talk to my daughter.
• Wonderful to find out we are not alone. Many thanks.
SEMINARS FOR STUDENTS:
COPING WITH TOUGH TIMES
Young people in Australia are experiencing tough times. Increased suicide rates, increasing incidence of drug use, larger numbers of young people being victims and perpetrators of crime: all of these issues are those that young people face in our society. On a more daily basis, young people must deal with peer pressure, relationship breakdown, conflict with family and pressures at school.
In order to survive and thrive in our society, young people need to ideas to cope with difficult times. This seminar specifically is designed to teach young people positive and optimistic ways of thinking, help young people take charge of their lives, and take responsibility for what is in their control, and relinquish responsibility for those things outside of their control, and constructively manage stress and anxiety.
Comments from Coping with Tough Times Seminars:
• This made me feel like I can do a lot with my life.
• You made us believe in ourselves.
• The young people are still talking about the weekend -WOW!
GETTING IT TOGETHER: ORGANISATION & MOTIVATION FOR STUDENTS
The students who are most successful at school are the students who understand how to make the best use of their time, how to motivate themselves and who use efficient study methods. In this presentation students learn exactly these skills. They learn how to organise their time, become more efficient in homework sessions, become more independent learners and more adept at thinking and planning ahead.
This is a presentation that incorporates interesting psychological research that explains exactly how to get the best results without hours of study. It includes practical and useful suggestions students can implement immediately.
Past comments made by students regarding this seminar:
• It was good that we were told how, the best way to study, not just that we should study.
• This made me really think about my study habits.
• This made me remember that I CAN do it- not just on an academic level but on a personal level as well.
• The Getting It Together seminar gave me some useful ideas for when I'm feeling unmotivated.
STRESS OUT!
Studies show that more than 1/3 of senior school students in Australia experience higher than normal levels of stress, anxiety and depression around exam time. This stress then affects their ability to think calmly, study effectively and relate to others.
This seminar teaches students how to identify early warning signs of stress, how to take control over what they do have control over, how to put in place practical stress management strategies themselves, how to lower their physiological stress levels and how to deal with difficult times calmly and effectively.
Past comments made by students regarding this seminar:
• This has helped me calm down about Year 12 and understand that you can get on top of things.
• The seminar on stress gave me a push to get stuff done.
• I learnt how to deal with stress.
REVISION THAT WORKS
The two least effective methods of revision are the exact same two most commonly used methods of revision by secondary school students! Students generally do not know how to revise. Students generally put off revision because they believe (a) it is boring, (b) it doesn't work and (c) they have more important school work to do. When they finally get around to starting to revise for exams, they then revise in ineffective ways.
This seminar addresses each of these problems in turn. Students leave the seminar being inspired to start effective revision immediately, they understand how revision can actually be interesting and they know how to revise in a way that works. This is not the "same old - do more homework" message young people have heard for years. This is a presentation that incorporates interesting psychological research that explains exactly how to get the best results without extra hours of study. It includes practical and useful suggestions students can implement immediately.
Past comments made by students regarding this module:
• l believe I will do better in exams now.
• By listening to Kirrilie I learnt how to revise properly.
• Kirrilie made revision seem fun and enjoyable.
• Thankyou -I'm not so scared now!
A typical source of struggle for teenagers is learning how to deal with the pitfalls of social relationships. Teen years are often filled with agony and ecstasy of finding new friends and losing others, learning to make new friends, learning to make conversations, pick up on the feelings of other people and relate to people of different age groups and backgrounds.
This seminar aims to help students gain the social skills which help them to deal creatively and confidently with their peers and also with adults in their life. This seminar is always extremely popular with young people who are often eager to learn about making and keeping friendships.
Past comments made by students regarding this module:
• I thought this seminar was great. I learnt to be positive about your friendships and that not everyone is thinking what you think they're thinking.
• I wasn't able to stop listening. Kirrilie stated everything I think when I'm unsure.
• Kirrilie was funny and had a good understanding of teenage feelings.
RESOLVING CONFLICT
Teenagers experience a fair amount of conflict in their lives. Fights with friends, parents and siblings happen frequently, followed by conflict with teachers and other authority figures. In most cases, teenagers have little idea about how to manage conflict constructively.
This seminar aims to help students know what to do in a conflict situation and covers topics such as how to manage anger, how to decide whether to "let it go or follow through", how to speak calmly, compromise and apologise.
Past comments made by students regarding this module:
• This makes it easier to know what to do when someone doesn't like you
• I really learnt that being negative won't get you anywhere.
• The presentation really made you think and was relevant to our lives.
REAL RELATIONSHIPS
One of the issues first and foremost on teenagers' minds is romantic relationships. They are concerned about how to get a girlfriend/boyfriend, how to act in a relationship, how to get together, make up or break up - and all the tricky issues in between.
This seminar aims to help teenagers think carefully about relationships, how they want to act, making decisions and other issues which are often difficult for parents and teachers in classroom situations to address.
Past comments made by students regarding this presentation:
• This helped me with a relationship I'm in at the moment.
• Kirrilie was heaps good at talking to us on our level and she made it interesting.
• I always walked away feeling like I had learnt something.
A TEENAGER'S GUIDE TO PARENTS
A great deal of research shows that teenagers who have a positive relationship with parents are more likely to be well-adjusted and successful at school, socially and at work. In the same way that parents often benefit from information about the "generation gap", teenagers also find it beneficial to hear exactly how this changing world has made them into different kinds of people than their parents before them.
This seminar aims to give young people practical ways they can improve their relationship with their parents or guardians, resolve conflict with adults and communicate with people at different ages and stages to them.
Past comments made by students regarding this presentation:
• 1 learnt that parents tell us what they do because they care about us.
• I thought the parents session was excellent. I learnt that be talking to each other we can communicate and learn to understand.
• This seminar was fun and the information was useful and easy to relate to.
GO FIGURE! - ENIOYINQ THE SHAPE YOU HAVE (GIRLS ONLY)
85% of teenage girls dislike the way they look. A huge number of them diet, binge eat, go through periods of excessive exercise and generally have disordered eating patterns. Teenage girls are in desperate need of reassuring, balanced information about body image and dieting.
This seminar aims to help teenage girls feel good about their body, focus on health rather than weight, be informed about the deceptive and insidious effects of media messages about beauty and to enjoy their body shape.
Past comments made by girls regarding this presentation:
• This presentation made us feel good – thank you very much
• I really liked the positive attitudes presented.
• I never knew lots of that stuff. It helps.
MYTHS AND SECRETS OF SUCCESS
Teenagers often erroneously believe that being successful is about knowing exactly what you want, being confident all the time and never getting scared. They have unrealistic ideas about what makes people successful. This seminar helps young people understand that fear and anxieties are a normal part of life. It encourages young people to take sensible risks and to be willing to be anxious for the sake of achieving their goals.
Past comments made by students regarding this presentation:
• This presentation made us feel good – thank you very much
• I really liked the positive attitudes presented.
• I never knew lots of that stuff. It helps.
Please note that all of these seminars can be booked separately or as part of a three or five seminar package.
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