Expert Psychological Solutions
Specialising in the application of psychological services within organisations, iModality delivers the highest professional standard of support and advice. Acknowledging the contribution the field of psychology may provide organisations in a range of applications, iModality draws on expertise across numerous fields of endeavour towards ensuring a superior level of service.
Critically, iModality has implemented selection and assessment methodology drawn from long developed and tested national security processes. Through the iAssess program, organisations are now able to implement a comprehensive screening process in support of preferred recruitment outcomes.
iAssess has been developed by organisational psychologists with extensive experience within the national security setting for implementation within any organisation. iModality draws upon the field of organisational psychology to provide unique solutions for businesses looking to optimise performance. Based in Queensland but with national outreach, iModality’s experience extends across the broad human resource paradigm and incorporates many of the tenets practiced within the field of national security. This includes the complex systems of personnel selection and assessment.Psychometric testing and assessments remain an integral component of maximising potential within organisations. iModality specialises in applying the latest trends in organisational psychology to your workplace assessment requirements.
iModality uses a range of industry supported assessments towards ensuring an accurate and comprehensive selection process is designed for each targeted role. The targeted assessments incorporate an integrity-related component; personality and cognitive assessments are employed on a complimentary basis.
A presentence report is an impartial psychological evaluation that is utilised to inform the Court during sentencing deliberations. These assessments consist of a psychological evaluation of the individual through clinical interview, psychometric testing and a general investigation of an individual’s background. The report provides meaningful context in relation to an offender’s behaviour, as well as suggestive recommendations for treatment and rehabilitation options.
Operational psychology pertains to the disparate services the field of psychology may support law enforcement, or other relevant agencies, toward the attainment of operational objectives. Specifically, relevant services incorporate: Human Source Management, Training and Development, Forensic Interviewing, and Selection and Assessment.
iModality’s expertise within the field of Operational Psychology has been drawn from significant experience within the national security as well as the law enforcement context.
iModality’s Employee Assistance Programs provide individualised counselling and support for employees and their families for a range of diverse work and life issues. Our programs utilise the highest of professional standards towards ensuring utmost care and respect is afforded each individual.
iModality’s workplace investigations address the broad array of organisation areas whereby independent and expert advice is required to address areas such as: Workplace grievances, official misconduct, harassment, and conflicts of interest. The investigations may also incorporate Operational Reviews that may address areas of compliance or professional negligence.
One of the strongest determinants of organisational success is its people. Identifying and recruiting superior candidates will lead to preferred organisational performance outcomes. Likewise, poor selection and assessment methodology will result in lost resources and missed opportunities. iModality has developed a unique selection and assessment methodology that incorporates current organisational psychology practice, as well as techniques used in personnel selection within the national security context. Depending on your organisational needs, iModality can structure an assessment program to ensure selection of candidates with optimal performance towards the promotion of positive organisational culture.
iModality offers a range of psychoeducational programs to address the broad requirements organisations may have. The programs cover divergent subject matter, including: Mental wellness, Ethics/integrity, Drug and alcohol, Conflict Management, Persuasion.
The recently acknowledged ‘radicalisation problem’ in NSW once again has emphasised the volatile intersection of disordered thinking, social exclusion, and an insidious belief system which emphasises existential threat. The experience of working with young men who meet the criteria of having been radicalised provides unique insight regarding the power and influence of messages that are selectively reinforced, none more so than the centrality of exclusion. The evolution of Australia’s current experience of Islamic extremism has its genesis in a small, nondescript prayer hall located in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba, where a cohort of disaffected Muslim men sought to differentiate themselves on the basis of their effort to exclude themselves both from Australian society in general, but also from the overwhelmingly moderate community from which they derived their ultimate identity. The experience of the Islamic community at the time remains instructive of the challenges that remain, albeit on a larger scale. Brawling at prayer time, capricious threats of violence, accusations of apostasy; Sydney’s Islamic community remained under constant pressure from within, held hostage by a small but disproportionately influential group of men, many with strong criminal conviction. Most of those within the group are currently serving lengthy prison sentences having been charged with terrorism-related offences. Their legacy and twisted ideology, however, has evolved and remains omnipresent; most recently we saw its manifestation by virtue of the cowardly murder of NSW police employee Curtis Cheng. Unsurprisingly, given the nature of what was presenting, the Islamic community and its fractured leadership struggled to contain, let alone overcome, what was a particularly virulent ideology. Socio demographic features within the Islamic community, along with a pervasive social media platform, provided a fertile environment for charismatic Sheikhs, often self-proclaimed
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s recent initiative seeking to investigate the link between mental health and extremism is long overdue. We have moved beyond the hypothetical circumstance of domestic terrorism into a battleground fought in schools and in virtual worlds. The divergent threat currently posed by extremists necessitates a review of what we have learned, if anything, of the individuals involved in such activity. The aim, of course, is to enhance the effectiveness of preventative activity. From a psychological perspective, aberrant behaviour is most readily explained by patterns of ‘disordered thinking’. Extremism falls within this description, irrespective of its manifestations. The connectedness of the behaviour to religion confuses an issue that would otherwise be readily attributed to mental disorder. That is, humankind has long rationalised violent behaviour conducted under the auspice of ‘religious expression’. Current intervention initiatives, within Australia, are heavily reliant on government-managed programs and continue to reflect a basic understanding of the extremist mind set. If it is accepted, as it should be, that extremism remains, essentially, psychological dysfunction, what lessons can be applied to current intervention strategies? How the field of psychology has applied years of research remains particularly instructive. The classic disordered patient, often presenting through emotional disturbance such as anger, anxiety or depression, typically requires sustained engagement with a skilled practitioner. Motivation to improve is almost always the foundation of constructive engagement. Although the context and premise of engagement differs substantially, the principles are almost universally applied when presented with a ‘radicalised’ individual. The obvious difficulty lies in an extremist’s motivation to change. This is the point at which most de radicalisation programs fail. Changing entrenched, self-serving
Tim Blair, The Daily Telegraph August 22, 2016 BESIDES ridiculous levels of fitness and superhuman devotion to training, there is another important difference between average human beings and the athletes returning from Rio with gold medals in their luggage. That is their ability to concentrate — to focus entirely on the moment, excluding all possible distractions. It’s an extraordinary talent and a difficult one to maintain. Former Australian Test cricket captain Greg Chappell used to consciously set himself several levels of awareness and concentration while batting because holding complete focus all the time was so draining. He’d reserve absolute concentration only for the moments when he was facing a delivery. In a similar fashion, airline pilots train for circumstances that are extremely rare. When something goes wrong, and an ill-judged decision may result in disaster, that training and an associated intense focus are called upon. For police, a terrorist siege is the equivalent of losing an engine at 12,000m. Many lives depend on each step taken thereafter. Talk to pilots and they’ll tell you that the key during any emergency is to remain in the present — not to be bothered with any distracting concerns about what might happen or could happen or won’t happen. NSW Deputy commissioner Cath Burn leaves the Lindt cafe siege inquest / Picture: John Grainger Some of Australia’s most senior police could learn from athletes and pilots. Last week we discovered from the inquest into Sydney’s deadly Martin Place siege that senior police allowed themselves, even while the siege was in progress, to be concerned by fears of a backlash against Muslims. Instead of maintaining a fixed focus on the 2014 siege to the exclusion of all else, they actually devoted time and thought to something that was never going to happen and in fact never has happened to any great extent. The “backlash against Muslims” is a modern