Helen is an honorary Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Western Australia. Since gaining her PhD in applied social psychology in 1998 in the UK, Helen has conducted research, presented at conferences and in schools around the world, and has written four books, several book chapters and more than 100 articles and academic papers. Her first book Standing Without Shoes was co-written with George Burns in 2003 and includes a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In 2009, Helen founded the Positive Schools Initiative (PSI) with Neil Porter. The Positive Schools Initiative supports solution focused, evidence-based ideas and strategies to improve youth mental health and wellbeing. The PSI features the highly acclaimed Positive Schools Conferences which are held across Australia and SE Asia each year. The Positive Schools conferences have become known as world premier mental health and wellbeing events for teachers and have resulted in significant development in school-based wellbeing practices at an international level. Helen presents regularly at Positive Schools in addition to creating and chairing every event with Neil. Helen and Neil also established and edit The Positive Times, a free online magazine for teachers which features articles and presentation notes from Positive Schools presenters. In addition, Helen is a consultant with the West Australian Health Department and the West Australian Association of Mental Health, and appears regularly on TV and radio. As a powerful advocate for the creation of positive school communities, she is particularly interested in the development of positive school contexts in which young people can develop intrinsic motivation, self-determination and life-long wellbeing. Helen believes that students will flourish when, and only when, they feel connected to a healthy school context. Her work has been adopted by schools in Europe, Asia and Australia. [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]