In my experience as a child psychologist, I have seen first-hand the way in which emotional problems can interfere with achieving goals and enjoyment of life, in children and adolescents. Therefore, my passion as a member for the Centre of Emotional Health is to increase our understanding of childhood emotional difficulties, and to improve treatment programs for anxiety and depression in youth. In particular, in recent years I developed and evaluated a new treatment that targets both anxiety and depression simultaneously, for adolescents. This program is one of the only integrated treatments for anxiety and depression in Australia. I also developed a questionnaire called the Children’s Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS) which has been used on a national and international scale to identify unhelpful thinking styles associated with emotional difficulties in youth. In future, I will continue to develop innovative treatments for anxiety and depression in young people. Early intervention is so important in this age group in order to prevent continued emotional problems and reduced life potential into adulthood.