
PhD, MBBS, Grad Cert (Grief and Loss), FASPM, FRACGP
Dr Johanna Lynch is an Australian general practitioner (family doctor) of 30 years who spent the last 15 years of her clinical work caring for adult survivors of childhood trauma and neglect. She graduated from UQ in 1992, was awarded a Fellowship of The Royal College of General Practitioners in 2003, and became Fellow of the Australian Society for Psychological Medicine in 2016. She founded a transdisciplinary trauma-informed clinic in Brisbane named Integrate Place which operated from 2009-2013 offering psychology, social work, trauma-informed yoga, art therapy and mental health nurse support. In 2012 Dr Lynch wrote a paper urging GPs to look beyond symptoms to the whole person, influencing training of Australian GPs in mental health, mental health policy, and leading to invitations to contribute internationally.
In 2019 she completed a PhD, in whole person approaches to distress, championing the sophisticated craft of generalist approaches to distress – integrating social science and biomedicine. This PhD, entitled Sense of Safety: a whole person approach to distress in primary care sought to integrate trauma-informed care into primary care. This thesis has been published as a book, and received international acclaim from primary care researchers. It has been seen as a paradigm change in approaches to people in distress. It integrated lived experience and Indigenous wisdom with transdisciplinary scientific insights from trauma, attachment, social determinants of health, neurobiology, psychophysiology and psychoneuroimmunology. Her ongoing research seeks to translate this work into clinical practice and frameworks for clinician wellbeing.
Dr Johanna Lynch now works mentoring clinicians, developing new generalist approaches to medical education, researching whole person clinical reasoning, and consulting widely in the domestic violence and mental health sectors. She is past president of the Australian Society for Psychological Medicine and The Royal College of General Practitioners.
Dr Johanna Lynch came to Australia as a refugee from Idi Amin’s Uganda. She spent her primary years in Uganda, Australia, and Kenya, and her high school years in Indonesia. She completed her undergraduate medical training in Queensland, and undertook further training in India and London. As an adult she has remained fascinated by the ways that humans connect to themselves, their community, and their environment, to create meaning and belonging through kindness.
| Featured projects | Duration |
|---|---|
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Sense of Safety: A Whole Person Approach to Distress Advance Queensland PhD Fellowship |
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| Exploring Long-term Antidepressant Use in General Practice | |
| Exploring security in the GP-Patient Relationship: A Qualitative Study |