Inquest into the death of rebekah lawrence

Contributing factors

• Attendance at intensive self-development course with psychologically demanding regression techniques
• The 'Inner Child' regression segment involving guided regress to childhood state
• Acute exposure to intense emotional processing and group confrontation exercises over 10+ hours on Saturday
• Course conducted by practitioners without adequate mental health or psychiatric qualifications
• Lack of mental health professional supervision and safeguards during course
• Absence of follow-up psychological care or monitoring after course completion
• Failure of course organizers to recognize distress signals in telephone calls and provide appropriate psychiatric referral
• Pre-existing psychological stress about unresolved marital conflict regarding having children

Coroner's recommendations

1. Restriction of psychotherapy and counselling services to practitioners with recognised tertiary qualifications in medicine, psychiatry, psychology, social work, nursing, welfare, counselling or equivalent from accredited institutions
2. Creation of a system of registration and accreditation for psychotherapy and counselling services through national registration scheme (COAG) or state-based statutory scheme
3. Consultation with Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, NSW Psychologists Registration Board, Australian College of Clinical Psychologists, Australian Psychological Society, Australian Psychology Accreditation Council, and Psychotherapy & Counselling Federation of Australia on regulation implementation