The VCMH is committed to proving psychological therapy and group treatment programs founded on the highest level of evidence-based practice.  Aligned with this value, the VCMH has its own research program and the centre empirically analyses the effectiveness of its own programs and approaches. This ensures that the group programs offered at VCMH are continually assessed regarding their efficacy in treating specific disorders, symptoms, and presenting issues. In addition, other factors are also considered (such as patient age) that may play a role in influencing treatment outcomes. Therefore, the approaches and programs offered at VCMH are not only based on an extensive bank of world-wide research, but are also tailored and modified in response to data being collected within the centre.

All Research at the VCMH is voluntary, and patients choose to op-in to the research program during the intake process. Patients who do choose to participate in the research program are not asked to do anything outside of their usual treatment schedule. Their clinical and demographic data is combined with those of other patients, also participating in the research program, for statistical analyses. All personal information is completely de-identified and only group statistics are produced and reported.

All aspects of participating in the VCMH research program is strictly confidential, and patient information is treated according to privacy laws in Australia and the Australian Psychologist’s Code of Ethics. The Research program adheres to the National Statement on Ethics Conduct in Human Research (2007), the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2007) and the ICH Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (GCP).