After qualifying as a medical doctor in 1991, Dr Peter Krabman completed his internship and residency years at North Shore and Hornsby Hospitals and Community Health Services, including terms in emergency medicine, general medicine, general and orthopaedic surgery, spinal injury medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics, and psychiatry.

Dr Krabman started his general practice work in a military setting. It was there that he found interest and skills in assisting people with their mental health: in particular the group of young people who had experienced developmental trauma and were currently experiencing mental health, interpersonal, and alcohol problems. He engaged in research in alcohol dependence, achieving a PhD in psychological medicine.

After leaving the military, Dr Krabman decided to study psychiatry. Dr Krabman loved and learnt a lot from general psychiatry and drug and alcohol psychiatry, but developed a particular interest in child and adolescent psychiatry.

In addition to qualifying as a general psychiatrist, Dr Krabman completed the two year subspecialty training in child and adolescent psychiatry at the NSW Institute of Psychiatry, including a one year fellowship position at the Blacktown and Mount Druitt Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Dr Krabman spent seven years as medical director of Coral Tree Family Service, which is a statewide program providing intensive family interventions for the families of children with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties.

During this period, Dr Krabman worked closely with the principal and staff of the collocated Arndell School, which provides short term intervention programs  for primary students experiencing difficulties with mental health, emotions, relationships and behaviour, who find it hard to participate in their mainstream education setting. He was a regular participant in and contributor to area meetings of special education teachers and learning support officers.

Read more about Dr Krabman’s work at Coral Tree in this article that he wrote with his colleagues for the British Mental Health Services Journal, “Context”, in 2006.

The report of the recent (February 2021) Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, included a case study of Coral Tree Family Service, which referenced the above 2006 article, and can be viewed here.

During this time, Dr Krabman maintained clinical work with adults, providing psychiatric consultations to serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) members at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base in Richmond.

Dr Krabman also maintained clinical work and professional collaboration in the drug and alcohol field. He served as consultant to the ADF Alcohol Rehabilitation and Education Program (AREP) at RAAF Richmond, reviewing clients, running groups with clients, and providing professional supervision to staff. He was an active committee member of the Section (now Faculty) of Addiction Psychiatry of the RANZCP from 2003 to 2009.

Dr Krabman’s depth of experience in adult psychiatry and addiction psychiatry informs his current assessment and treatment of parents who are experiencing stress, mental illness or drug and alcohol problems.

Dr Krabman started working in private practice in child, adolescent and family psychiatry in 2004. Dr Krabman takes a biopsychosocial approach to assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and young people, providing that assessment and treatment to individuals, in a family context.

Dr Krabman is skilled in the provision of family therapy, dyadic (parent/child) therapy, individual therapy, and medication treatments.

Dr Krabman values the opportunity to collaborate with other involved clinicians.

Read more about Dr Krabman’s approach to the assessment and treatment of one common childhood presentation (behavioural problems) in this article that he wrote with his colleague Cybele Dey for the “Australian Doctor” magazine in 2010.

Dr Krabman started preparing single expert reports in family law matters in 2010. Since that time, he has prepared many hundreds of such reports, and has developed a reputation for producing thorough and skilled expert reports, with detailed observations, clinical impressions and recommendations, aiming to assist the children and parents to move forward in a positive way.

Dr Krabman brings to his report writing his depth of clinical skills and experience, and also a depth of knowledge about the dynamics of couple conflict including high conflict separation, family violence, child abuse, alienation/ estrangement from a parent, parental substance abuse/ mental illness, and special needs children.

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Qualifications

MBBS (Hons)
PhD (psychological medicine)
FRANZCP
Cert. Adv. Trng. Child Adol. Psych.
Member Faculty of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry RANZCP
Member Faculty of Addiction Psychiatry RANZCP