Speaking
Dr Helen Schultz brings practical medicolegal insights drawn from decades of real-world experience. Helen's presentations deliver actionable strategies that legal professionals, healthcare practitioners, and policy makers can implement immediately.
What makes these sessions different
Forget the academic lectures that leave you with more questions than answers. Helen's speaking engagements draw from hundreds of real-world assessments, court appearances, and complex cases involving historical abuse, personal injury claims, and institutional compensation matters. You'll walk away with practical frameworks you can apply the next day.
Her approach challenges assumptions about expertise, questioning whether decades of experience matter more than currency in clinical knowledge. She tackles uncomfortable topics like professional territorial disputes in forensic settings and explores how AI technology is reshaping medicolegal practice whilst raising critical privacy concerns.
Core speaking topics
Trauma-Informed Medicolegal Assessment Learn how to conduct assessments that capture the true complexity of trauma without re-traumatising clients. Helen demonstrates practical techniques for building comprehensive histories, identifying avoidance behaviours, and understanding how abuse impacts every dimension of a person's life. Particularly valuable for legal teams handling historical abuse claims and practitioners working with vulnerable populations.
What Lawyers Actually Need from Psychiatric Experts This session bridges the gap between clinical complexity and legal clarity. Helen explores why currency in clinical knowledge often matters more than decades of experience, how to deliver decisive opinions rather than non-committal recommendations, and what separates medicolegal reports that assist courts from those that simply document symptoms. Essential for both legal professionals selecting experts and clinicians entering medicolegal work.
The Three Essential Questions for Medicolegal Reports A structured framework for conceptualising historical abuse cases through three critical lenses - what was the person like before the abuse, what are they like now, and what could they have been without it. This methodology assists with apportionment, identifies premorbid factors, and produces defensible opinions that withstand court scrutiny.
Evidence-Based Medicolegal Practice How do you maintain clinical rigour whilst meeting legal requirements? Helen examines the tension between research-informed practice and real-world medicolegal assessment, addressing everything from using 30-year-old impairment guidelines to determining causation in complex trauma presentations.
Professional Scope and Competency in Specialised Practice Should subspecialty qualifications matter more than extensive clinical experience with trauma? This provocative session examines workforce pressures, professional gatekeeping, and the question of who is truly qualified to conduct medicolegal assessments in civil compensation matters. Particularly relevant as healthcare systems face critical workforce shortages.
Healthcare System Reform and Mental Health Service Delivery Drawing from experience spanning deinstitutionalisation to current models, Helen advocates for returning to "core business" rather than implementing trendy new services. She explores how homelessness, cost of living pressures, and policy decisions impact patient outcomes, offering insights from someone with genuine "skin in the game".
AI in Medicolegal Practice Navigate the complex intersection of generative AI, privacy concerns, and professional obligations. Helen examines practical applications, jurisdictional requirements for disclosure, concerns about transcript destruction and health records legislation, and predictions about how technology will transform medical and legal roles whilst preserving essential human elements.
Who benefits from these sessions
Legal Professionals gain practical insights into selecting medicolegal experts, understanding psychiatric assessment methodologies, and obtaining reports that genuinely assist with case preparation and court proceedings.
Psychiatrists and Psychologists considering medicolegal work learn when to start this career path, how to balance currency with experience, and practical approaches to complex trauma assessments that produce quality reports.
Healthcare Administrators and Policy Makers receive frank perspectives on system reform, workforce planning, and the gap between policy intentions and frontline realities from someone who has witnessed decades of healthcare transformation.
Medical Defence Organisations and Insurers understand the complexities of psychiatric assessment in compensation claims, the importance of trauma-informed approaches, and how quality assessments impact claim outcomes.
Conference Organisers and Professional Bodies looking for speakers who challenge conventional thinking whilst maintaining professional credibility and delivering genuine value to diverse audiences.
Format options
Sessions can be tailored to suit your event needs, from keynote presentations and panel discussions to interactive workshops and professional development sessions. Helen works with you to ensure content aligns with your audience's needs and conference objectives.
Presentations typically range from 45-minute keynotes to half-day workshops, with options for Q&A sessions that encourage genuine professional dialogue rather than superficial networking.
Engagement options
To discuss speaking opportunities for your conference, professional development event, or organisational training session, contact hello@drhelenschultz.com.au.
We'll arrange a brief consultation to discuss your event objectives, audience composition, and desired outcomes. Helen works collaboratively with organisers to ensure presentations deliver genuine value rather than generic content that could apply to any conference.
Please note - Helen positions herself as an experienced practitioner sharing practical insights rather than claiming expert status. Her presentations draw from real-world experience and are designed to provoke thought, challenge assumptions, and provide actionable frameworks.
