Get Real: Talking mental health & disability: Recent Episodes
The team at ermha365
What’s it like to live with a mental health condition, or a disability, or both? How can we make life better for people who face these complex challenges in their lives? Get Real presents frank and fearless conversations about mental health and disability, including people with lived experience, frontline workers in the industry, as well as policy-makers and advocates. Hosted by Robyn Haydon and Karenza Louis-Smith & produced by Emily Webb, on behalf of ermha365 Complex Mental Health and Disability Services (https://www.ermha.org/). Listed #2 on Feedspot’s Top 20 best Australian Mental Health podcasts 2021, and in the Clarity Clinic (Chicago) list of 13 best mental health podcasts of 2021, Sarah Kelly of Clarity Clinic says “….this podcast is validating for those who live with disabilities, and those who are hoping to learn more about that experience.”
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Geoff Radford is the CEO of the Northern Territory Mental Health Coalitionwho joins us for this episode from Darwin.
The coalition is the peak body for community-managed mental health services across the Northern Territory, also known as the NT, The Territory or the Top End.
TheNorthern Territory is a unique part of Australia and we find out why from Geoff, as well as what this means for mental health services in this vast region of the country.
MORE INFO:
https://www.ntmhc.org.au/
Enough Talk, Time for Action - award-winning social and emotional wellbeing program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us Fan Mail
This is part 2 of our episodes on the changes to the NDIS. In this episode we talk about self-care amid this time of uncertainty – for people who access the NDIS, their families and also those who work in the sector.
Sharing his thoughts is Shane Clifton, an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney and Director of Centre for Disability Research and Policy. Shane is also an NDIS participant – he lives with spinal cord injury – and he is a board member of The Disability Trust.
You'll also hear from Evelyn Ireland - a psychologist, a behaviour support practitioner and general manager of The Disability Trust’s Clinical Services.
If you haven’t already, go to Part 1 which is a conversation with National Disability Services (NDS) CEO Michael Perusco.
MORE INFO
Information on the proposed reforms to the NDIS (Australian Government)
NDS's Wellbeing Program for NDIS Support Workers
The NDIS belongs to us. We fought for it. We sustain it. We’ll protect it. (PWDA).
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us Fan Mail
The NDIS will be undergoing signifcant reform. The Disability Trust Group CEO Karenza Louis-Smith speaks with National Disability Services CEO Michael Perusco to unpack the newly announced NDIS reforms - what is clear right now, what is still unknown, and how these changes could reshape eligibility, plans, and supports outside the scheme.
More info:
Information on the proposed reforms to the NDIS (Australian Government)
National Disability Services (NDS)
How will the changes to the NDIS affect me?Five key takeaways from the government's planned overhaul (ABC News, 22 April 2026)
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us Fan Mail
Maggie Toko has spent decades raising the voice of those who live with mental heath issues and emotional distress, using her own living experience of mental illness and professional work in homelessness, sexual assault, and youth services.
At the time of recording this chat with Maggie at the Complex Needs Conference in 2025, she was the consumer commissioner for the Victorian Government's Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. Now, she is the Chair Commissioner.
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission is an independent statutory authority that holds government to account for the performance, quality and safety of Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system. The Commission operates under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022.
New Zealand-born Maggie, who is of Ngāpuhi – Ngāti Whātua descent, was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) earlier this year for her significant service to mental health governance and awareness.
We mention Voices Vic in this episode. Hear our conversation with Voices Vic here.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us Fan Mail
Chelsea Troutman is a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst and Clinical Supervisor, and Director of a Behaviour Support Practice Elements ABC.
Chelsea has extensive experience working within Government and Community Service Sectors with expertise in disability services, children and family services, out of home care, and forensic disability.
She presented at the Complex Needs Conference last year on the topic Promoting 'enabling environments' in restrictive settings to progress treatment and meaningful outcomes for all.
Enabling environments are defined as "places where good relationships are upheld and facilitate well-being for all participants, staff and service users alike, and where new ways of relating can be learned through mutual respect and recognition, nurturing a sense of belonging".
Karenza Louis-Smith spoke with Chelsea after the presentation and the pair spoke more about this, particularly in the context of custodial settings, like prisons and youth justice centres - and why it is so important.
More info:
- Hear from Chelsea about Elements ABC's approach
- enabling environments (ee) resourcesRoyal College of Psychiatrists (UK)
- Architectures of Harm or Architectures of Hope? - The effects of carceral space on the wellbeing of prisoners
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us Fan Mail
OVA is a matter for everyone to understand and report but in particular for frontline support workers who work with NDIS participants and provide mental health support in community programs.
Awareness of, education about and the importance of reporting Occupational Violence and Aggression (OVA) has been a concerted focus for ermha365.
Our work on OVA reduction was recognised in a big way in October 2025 at the Australian Workplace Health and Safety Awards with our OVA taskforce named Team of the Year.
Our guest for this episode is Clare Hutton, ermha365's Manager Work, Health and safety and Emergency response to explain more about what we've been doing about OVA and why.
More info:
Incident-reporting education critical to WHS outcomes (OHS Alert, 2 December, 2025 and republished by ermha365 with permission.)
Workplace violence and aggression - why training is crucial (Podcast episode)
Australian Work Health and Safety Award Winners 2025
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
Dr Astrid Birgden is a consultant Forensic/Clinical Psychologist and NDIS Behaviour Support Specialist who has years of experience working in corrections and disability settings.
Astrid's career is quite extraordinary. She is a trailblazer in behaviour intervention support in Australia and worked overseas on international projects. She has even been an assistant sheriff/warden of a remand centre in New Orleans.
We caught up with Astrid at the Complex Needs Conference in March 2025 where she was part of a panel discussion on Integrating mental health, disability, and human rights for comprehensive support.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
Hearing voices is often assumed to be a symptom of a mental health condition. However this is not always the case and up to 1 in 10 people hear voices, making it not an uncommon human experience.
The Voices Vic programis led by peers with lived and living experience in hearing voices, seeing visions or having other sensory experiences. This program offers recovery groups, mentoring and support across Victoria.
Our guests for this episode are Janet Karagounis, Senior Peer Mentor and Tali Brash, AOD & Mental Health, Lived & Living Experience for Uniting Vic Tas.
We spoke at the Complex needs conference in March 2025 after they gave a presentation "Overcoming barriers and simplifying support for people who hear voices and experience unusual sensory events".
More info (not an exhaustive list):
Voices Vic support for hearing voices
The Voices Clinic (Swinburne University)
Hearing Voices (QLD)
Hearing Voices Network (WA)
Hearing Voices Community Group (Darwin, NT)
Voices and Visions peer support group (Sunshine Coast, Qld)
Hearing Voices Network (UK)
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
Our guest for this episode is Dr Matt Frize, Director of Forensic Disability Services, which sits within The Victorian State Government's Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH).
Co-host Karenza Louis-Smith and I were lucky to catch some time with Matt at the Complex Needs Conference earlier this year.
The sold out conference was co-hosted by ermha365 and ACSO Australia and funded by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
We talk to Matt, a senior specialist psychologist, about how Forensic Disability Services addresses the needs of people with a cognitive impairment who come into contact with the criminal justice system in Victoria.
In this episode Matt mentions the ARMIDILO-S Assessment - the Assessment of Risk and manageability of Individuals with Developmental and Intellectual Limitations who Offend. More info at armidilo.net
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
We’re diving into the topic of conspiracy theories for this episode, particularly on the impacts these beliefs have on an individual and the ripple effect on others.
Our guests for this episode are Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson who have written a book called CONSPIRACY NATION: Exposing the dangerous world of Australian Conspiracy Theories.
Ariel is an investigative journalist at the Guardian Australia who specialises on technology, extremism and internet policy.
Cam is an Associate Editor at Crikey and his reporting and investigations focus on the intersection between internet culture, extremism and politics.
Conspiracy Nation is published by Ultimo Press and available online and in bookstores now.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
Our guest for this episode is Dr Yvonne Maxwell, a forensic psychologist who specialises in working with individuals with a disability who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Get Real spoke with Yvonne at the Complex Needs Conference2025 where she presented on the use of Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics assessment (NMT) to understand the interplay between factors like disability, trauma, and the current circumstances of a person with complex needs.
if you are not a clinician or familiar with this, like me, listen on because Yvonne, who is the Portfolio Manager, Forensic Practice forSAL Consulting explains what it is and broadly about the impact of trauma on brain development, especially in early childhood.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
The mental health system in New South Wales has been in the spotlight of recent months. ABC’s recent Four Corners episode “Emergency” about the state’s mental health system highlighted the extreme system failures that happen when there is underinvestment in community-based mental health care. The program highlighted that people in deep psychological distress are being left in emergency departments for days, health workers are exhausted and the “missing middle”— those too unwell for a GP but not sick enough for hospital — are being left behind.
Our guest for this episode is Dr Evelyne Tadros, CEO of the Mental Health Coordinating Council in NSW, a peak member-based organisation for the community mental health sector.
We’ll be talking with Evelyne about where Mental Health system reform is at in NSW.
You can also listen to our previous episode with Mental Health Victoria CEO Pip Thomas about the system in Victoria and federally.
More info:
MHCC submissions
Course in Mental Health Peer Navigation
MHCC News
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
The basis for this conversation is an important pilot service in Victoria called Assertive Outreach and Support (AOS), funded by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing under its Multiple and Complex Needs Initiative.
ermha365 and ACSO Australia deliver the service in parts of Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Our guests for this episode are Cassandra Turnbull from ermha365 and Psychiatrist Dr Debra Wood, from Clarity Healthcare, who provides clinical governance for the team.
As well as hearing about why there is a need for this program, you'll also hear about what it takes to work in this space and Cass and Debra's experiences.
We recorded this at the Complex Needs Conference in March 2025.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
In this episode we are discussing the importance of provider-family partnerships for people with complex needs.
Cheryl Jameson is our guest and she was in conversation with Emily Webb, host of this podcast, at the Complex Needs Conference in late March for the lived experience stream.
A mental health support worker of many years, Cheryl found herself on the other side of systems when her eldest child Josh was 16 and developed psychosis. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which was drug-resistant for many years.
We discover how her family has navigated systems and worked with providers to ensure Josh has the support he needs and wants.
Josh gave his consent for his mum to speak to us about their journey so far.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
We are a few weeks on from The 2025 Australian federal election (May 3) which resulted in a more than convincing victory for the incumbent Labor government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. So, as the federal government begins its new term, and we await the Victorian Government's State Budget next week (May 20), ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith thought it was a good time to catch up with Mental Health Victoria's CEO Phillipa Thomas to talk about what mental health reform and investment will look like for Australia.
Mental Health Victoria website.
Subscribe to Mental Health Victoria's fortnightly newsletter
Follow Mental Health Victoria on LinkedIn
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
This is another conversation from the Complex Needs Conference 2025 and our guest is Adjunct Associate Professor Danny Sullivan, Consultant Forensic and Adult Psychiatrist.
Dr Sullivan gave a keynote at the conference about the prescribing of psychotropic medications, which are namely drugs that influence a person's mood, thoughts, and behavior - for people with complex needs.
He is the Board Director of ACSO Australia and Director of Victoria's Sentencing Advisory Council.
This episode was recorded at the Complex Needs Conference in Melbourne co-hosted in March 2025 by ermha365andACSO Australia with support from Swinburne University's Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science and funded by the Victoria State Government's Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith has a thought-provoking conversation with Clinical Forensic Psychologist Dr Lisa Warren, Clinical Director of Code Black Psychology about the Stable Bases Model that the organisation developed to support young people involved in serious youth-to-youth violence to guide their developmental journey and foster long-term positive outcomes.
This episode was recorded at the Complex Needs Conference in Melbourne co-hosted by ermha365andACSO Australia with support from Swinburne University's Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science and funded by the Victoria State Government's Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
Sophie Harrington is our guest for this episode. Sophie is the CEO of NOFASD Australia, the nation’s peak body supporting people and families living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
NOFASD presented at the Complex Needs Conference 2025 on the complexities of this hidden disability, sharing research, therapeutic strategies and resources, in particular for health care professionals and support workers.
NOFASD Helpline 1800 860 613
ermha365 co-hosted the conference with ACSO Australia on behalf of Victoria Government’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH), which funded the 2-day conference.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
Andrew Radford lives in New South Wales and is a long-time advocate for people with intellectual disability and autism.
Andrew himself has autism and a mild intellectual disability and has recently taken his advocacy to the next level with his appointment to the board of The Disability Trust. The trust is not-for-profit registered NDIS provider of supports and services and last year it celebrated its 50 years!
The Disability Trust has been part of Andrew’s life for more than 20 years in many ways, including education and employment support.
Andrew was also a part of the ABC series The Assembly where one of Australia's most renowned interviewers, Leigh Sales, mentors Autistic journalism students as they learn their craft and interview well known Australian personalities.
Andrew is making history with The Disability Trust, which is the first major not-for-profit organisation in Australia to appoint a person with an intellectual disability to its Board.
More info:
VALID - the Victorian peak advocacy organisation for adults with intellectual disability.
The Assembly (ABC)
Andrew Radford Joins TDT Board
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
The Complex Needs Conference 2025 on March 26-27 in Melbourne is co-hosted by ermha365 and ACSO – Australian Community Support Organisation. The conference is funded by the Victorian Government’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
BOOK NOW
Both ermha365 and ACSO deliver the pilot program Assertive Outreach and Support on behalf of the DFFH. This service is for people with complex needs who are experiencing significant service barriers.
Our guest is Associate Professor, Dr Armon Tamatea who will deliver the closing keynote address at the conference - ‘We must remember, these people’s history follows them’: Maori, marginality and the Complex Needs of Gang Communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Armon is a clinical psychologist and the Director of clinical psychology training at the School of Psychology at the University of Waikato in the North Island.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
A restrictive Intervention is any practice or intervention that has the effect of restricting the rights or freedom of movement of a person with disability.
TheResearch Report Restrictive Practices: A Pathway to Elimination, which is available on the Disability Royal Commission website states: "Restrictive practices are at odds with the human rights of people with disability and represent a significant form of violence and coercion".
What are the obligations of NDIS providers and practitioners and the path to elimination?
Our guest is Maddy Bilal, who is a Behaviour Support Practitioner/Senior Clinician at ermha365.
ermha365 provides client-centred, evidence-based specialist behaviour support for people who experience a range of complex and high-risk presentations as a result of their disability and/or mental health condition.
INFO:
Regulated Restrictive Practices Guide (NDIS Commission)
Behaviour Support and Restrictive Practices
Recognising Restrictive Practices: Guide (National Disability Service)
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
This is a short episode revisiting some tips for wellbeing over the so-called festive season.
The Christmas and New Year period can be an emotional rollercoaster. Things like complicated family dynamics and the absence of loved ones can heighten feelings of loneliness.
Not everyone feels happy and bright at this time of the year. In fact, Christmas is considered as one of the six most stressful life events, along with divorce, moving house and changing jobs.
Our special guests for this episode is Belinda Ellis. Belinda is a registered psychologist, specialising in forensics and she is ermha365s Chief practice officer.
If you need to speak to someone:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MORE SUPPORTMensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
Free nationwide service providing 24/7 phone and online counselling to people affected by suicide
SuicideLine Victoria 1300 651 251
24/7 telehealth service that offers free professional phone and online counselling for people living in Victoria
QLife(LGBTI peer support and referral)
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a text
Participants, families and providers across Australia are trying to make sense of what the latest NDIS Price Guide means for them – and this is in addition to the changes slated in the Federal Government’s Getting the NDIS Back on Track Bill.
ermha365 is right behind the #4aBetterNDIS campaign that’s in response to the latest NDIS Pricing Review.
This campaign is a joint effort of peak bodies – National Disability Services, Disability Intermediaries Australia, CEO Collab and Allied Health Professions Australia and their member organisations.
There are changes that particularly impact the NDIS support and services that the organisations of each of these Peak Bodies provide.
For us at ermha365 the biggest impact is high intensity supports for people with complex and challenging behaviours being downgraded to standard supports category.
This is a reduction in the funding available and a downgrading in recognition of the skill and experience of the workers in this area.
For this special episode we are going to hear from ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith and Melbourne mother Anne, whose adult son James is supported by ermha365 as part of his NDIS plan. He has a diagnosis of schizophrenia and experiences other psychosocial conditions. James relies on daily, intensive support for daily living, including for complex and challenging behaviours.
MORE INFO
- ermha365 response to consultation on draft lists of NDIS Supports
- Disability sector organisations raise the alarm on NDIS market failure (media release)
- 4 a Better NDIS - A campaign for a better NDIS for people with a disability through the delivery of services from a safe, quality focused and a vibrant service market, underpinned by fair and transparent pricing.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a Text Message.
Our guest for this episode is Dr Michelle Lim, Scientific Chair and CEO of Ending Loneliness Together - a national network of organisations that work together to address the loneliness in people living in Australia. This is done through evidence-based research, advocacy and public information and awareness.
MORE INFO
Find out more aboutEnding Loneliness Together and Loneliness Awareness Week.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a Text Message.
This is an edited version of our 2020 two-part podcast Celebrating PARCs, hosted by Chief Marketing Officer Robyn Haydon.
Prevention and Recovery Care (PARCs) are short and extended residential and day programs that provides 24-hour support in a “home-like” environment to people experiencing mental ill health and whose recovery can be supported without hospital admission. PARCs also supports people discharged from hospital who are not quite ready to return home.
ermha365 delivers PARCs in South Yarra, Barwon and Warrnambool for partners Alfred Health, Barwon Health and Southwest Healthcare.
Guests: Karenza Louis-Smith (ermha365 CEO), Sally Wall, Senior Manager, Mental Health, Forensic and Community Services, Kez and Sharon (PARC participants).
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14*QLIFE* 1800 184 527*13 YARN* 13 92 76*Suicide Callback Service* 1300 659 467**
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Send us a Text Message.
In this episode, we're thrilled to welcome Kimberley Irwin and Ian Graham from Change Mental Health in Scotland to talk about the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Programme, which was developed and first piloted in 2016 in parts of Scotland to respond to the needs of people experiencing distress.
DBI is now an established part of mental health support in Scotland. In Victoria, Australia, the program will be piloted at some stage next year in two locations, in response to the Final Advice of the National Suicide Prevention Adviser and the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health system.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
MORE INFO
Find out more about Change Mental Health's origins and journey to where the organisation is today.
More about the DBI Programme in Scotland
Helplines (Australia):
Lifeline 13 11 14QLIFE 1800 184 52713 YARN 13 92 76Suicide Callback Service **1300 659 467
Helplines in the UK*Samaritans* 116 123
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.**We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
This is a special episode in recognition of International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) which happens every year on March 31. This day is for learning more about and celebrating the lives and achievements of transgender people. Our theme for this episode is inclusion for transgender and gender diverse people and why it matters. And what does meaningful inclusion really look like when it comes to things like community participation, health services, human rights and policy development, to name just a few.
Our guest for this episode is Tara Laursen who is ermha365’s Chief Operations Officer. Tara is bringing her own living experience as a member of the transgender community to this conversation.
General information and basic concepts:Transhub 101
Minus18: Trans 101 – The Basics (youtube) Support for transgender and questioning people:Transgender VictoriaQueerspace Support for family members/parents:Transcend
Information for allies
GLAAD: Tips for allies of transgender people Minus18: How to be a trans ally Trans Justice Project: Conversations for Trans Justice Information entioned in podcastEquality Australia research
Banning trans women from sport ignores so many inconvenient truths by Natalie Feliks (online article)
Australian Human Rights Commission national project mapping threats to trans and gender diverse (TGD) human rights in Australia.
Helplines:
Lifeline on 13 11 14QLIFEcan be contacted on 1800 184 527 13 YARNon 13 92 76ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Our first guest for 2024 is Jodi Rodgers. Jodi is a sexologist, counsellor and special education teacher and has a Masters in Sexual Health. For Jodi, connection, intimacy and relationships are a basic human right and this drives her work, in particular with autistic people to support developing their social skills and understanding their emotions. Jodi’s appeared on the series Love on the Spectrum Australia, working with some of the show’s participants. Her new book, Unique: What autism can teach us about difference, connection and belonginghas just been released and draws on her 30 years’ of experience.
Find out more about Jodi at birdsandbees.com.au
More info:
Aspect - Aspect is Australia's largest national service provider for people on the autism spectrum.
Yellow Ladybugs - Yellow Ladybugs is a non-government organisation, dedicated to the happiness, success and celebration of autistic girls, women and gender diverse individuals.
CREDITS
Produced, hosted and edited byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Helplines:
Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
Free nationwide service providing 24/7 phone and online counselling to people affected by suicide
SuicideLine Victoria 1300 651 251
24/7 telehealth service that offers free professional phone and online counselling for people living in Victoria
This is our final episode for 2023, and we thought it would be timely to talk about self-care, especially during Christmas and the New Year period with, as always, a focus on mental health. Donna Markham is our guest. Donna is a qualified occupational therapist, an adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University and also a member of our ermha365 board, and chairing the Practice Governance, Quality and Safety Committee. Donna is Victoria’s former Chief Allied Health Officer and is now focused on entrepreneurship, using her allied health leadership experience to coach professional women, many in allied health, around career transition, among other things with her business Disequilibrium.
Donna joined us on Get Real for our last episode of 2021 and since then a lot has happened in Donna’s life, including the honour of being the recipient of the medal of the Order of Australia in 2022 for her contributions to healthcare administration and the diagnosis of her young son as autistic/ADHD.
CREDITS
Produced, hosted and edited byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Helplines:
Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
Free nationwide service providing 24/7 phone and online counselling to people affected by suicide
SuicideLine Victoria 1300 651 251
24/7 telehealth service that offers free professional phone and online counselling for people living in Victoria
Our guest for this episode is Dr. Jakqui Barnfield, Lifeline Direct's Executive Director of Service Delivery.
Jakqui is a registered nurse with a passion for mental health and suicide prevention. She tells us about the power of reaching out to Lifeline Australia's services and that you are not alone.
Helplines:
Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
Free nationwide service providing 24/7 phone and online counselling to people affected by suicide
SuicideLine Victoria 1300 651 251
24/7 telehealth service that offers free professional phone and online counselling for people living in Victoria
MORE INFO about the Safety Plan mentioned in this episode.
CREDITS
Produced, hosted and edited byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our special guest, veteran court reporter and author, Megan Norris talks about her book 'Look What You Made Me Do' which examines revenge killings by estranged fathers during marital breakdowns.
This episode of Get Real comes with a strong content warning. Topics discussed include family violence, suicide and the murders of children. Listener. Discretion is advised.Domestic Violence and Family Court Lawyer Kathleen Simpson, who was named the Queensland Solicitor of the Year in 2022 said Megan's book is "A must read for all domestic and family violence professionals, DFV frontline workers, educators, judiciary, police, lawyers and students, as an important resource to guide in what could be done, or should be done, to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future".
Find out more about Megan at her website megannorrisauthor.com FURTHER READING/LISTENINGWhen Parents Kill (ABC News)Fathers who kill (ABC Radio Local)
If you need help phone 1800 RESPECT - Australia's national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service on 1800 737 732.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger phone Triple Zero 000 in Australia or the emergency number in the country you are listening from.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:*Lifeline* on 13 11 14*13 YARN*on 13 92 76 (**24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our guest for this episode is Abuzar Mazoori, who came to Australia from Afghanistan as a refugee in 2017.
Abuzar, who has a law degree and worked as an advocate for human rights in Afghanistan, currently works for Foundation House in Melbourne. Foundation House is a specialist refugee trauma agency supporting survivors of torture and other traumatic events.
Abuzar speaks with us about his experience coming to Australia, starting a new life and the challenges that refugees face in their new home.
MORE INFO:
Foundation House - The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture
Refugee Council of Australia - the national umbrella body for refugees and the organisations and individuals who support them.
Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre - a for-purpose community-based agency providing services to migrants and refugees living in the southern region of Melbourne.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:*Lifeline* on 13 11 14*13 YARN*on 13 92 76 (**24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our guest for this episode is Isabelle Oderberg. Isabelle is a Melbourne-based journalist and author who joins Get Real to talk about her book Hard to Bear: Investigating the science and silence of miscarriage. It’s an in-depth investigation about miscarriage – the world’s most common pregnancy complication and she brings her own living experience, as well as that of many others to this book.
MORE INFO:
- Early Pregnancy Loss Coalition - https://eplc.au
- Unrecognised and underestimated: the fight to get Australian women proper care after miscarriages (The Guardian, 9 August 2023)
- Understanding miscarriage and pregnancy loss with Prof Dame Lesley Regan and Lucy Bannerman (YouTube)
- Miscarriage Australia
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:*Lifeline* on 13 11 14*13 YARN*on 13 92 76 (**24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
How can a support worker establish a supportive relationship in recovery-oriented practice? In the world of mental health, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. This conversation offers versatile strategies and insights to understand how to interact with clients for build supportive relationships.
In this episode we discuss:
- Strategies to aid the establishment of a supportive relationship
- What do you need to know about your clients?
- Techniques for fostering a supportive relationship
- Treating people as individuals
- Tips for new workers
- Framework for Recovery-oriented Practice
This episode is part of our Skills for Support Workers training podcasts, available on our website and produced as part of the Developing the growing new NDIS (psychosocial disability) Workforce Project, supported by the Victorian Government.
Host - Ellen, Trainer and Project Manager
Guests -Dr Melissa Petrakis, Senior Lecturer of Social work, Monash University, Tamara, Trainer and Lynne, Practice Leader.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:*Lifeline* on 13 11 14*13 YARN*on 13 92 76 (**24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
This is an episode recorded during Homelessness Week 2023, live from Harmony Square Dandenong in Melbourne's south east at an event on 8 August co-hosted by Wayss and City of Greater Dandenong.
We speak with ermha365's Rosie Taylor, Practice Leader for Pathways and Dannie O'Leary, Mental Health Support Facilitator, Pathways.
Rosie and Dannie work with people experiencing homelessness in Melbourne's south east who are referred to Pathways from Monash Health and Councils and assist clients with support.
For more information on ermha365's Pathways program: https://www.ermha.org/community-connect/ If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
CREDITS
Produced, hosted and edited byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our guest for this episode is Nicole Madigan. Nicole is a writer, author and investigative journalist. Nicole has written her first non-fiction book called Obsession, which is an investigation into stalking and the psychology behind stalking behaviours and the impact on victim-survivors.
Nicole was stalked for over three years. The relentless and debilitating experience wreaked havoc in her personal and professional life, leaving her trapped in a constant state of fear and anxiety.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.Our Specialist Behaviour Support is mentioned in this episode. Our specialist practitioners are highly skilled professionals who have expertise in supporting people with complex needs.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MORE INFO:
https://www.police.vic.gov.au/stalking (or go to the website of the Police service in your state).
Friends with Dignity - Nicole is a non-executive director of this charity that supports survivors of domestic violence.
SPARC (US-based) https://www.stalkingawareness.org/ Suzy Lamplugh Trust (UK) - https://www.suzylamplugh.org/
CREDITS
Produced, hosted and edited byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
What is trauma-informed practice? Learn how trauma is defined and understood, and strategies for helping. This podcast is part of ermha365's Skills for Support Workers training podcasts, available on our website and produced part of the Developing the growing new NDIS (psychosocial disability) Workforce Project supported by the Victorian Government. In this episode, peer support workers Tamara and Charlotte share how you may recognise when a person has a history of complex trauma and how to respond.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website**.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:*Lifeline* on 13 11 14*13 YARN*on 13 92 76 (**24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
All content © 2023 Get Real: Talking mental health & disability.
Our guest for this episode is award-winning Theatre & Cabaret Artist, playwright, producer, musician and all-round creative dynamo Chelsea Plumley. Chelsea has written and produced her first play, Beautiful Highness, which premiered in May 2023 at Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne.
Beautiful Highness centres around one family’s incredible grit and determination dealing with mental ill-health and is based on Chelsea's living experience.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website, including our carer support.
Find out more about Chelsea at her website https://www.chelseaplumley.com/and her play Beautiful Highness https://www.beautifulhighness.com/ If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:Lifeline on 13 11 1413 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
Other support and organisations mentioned in this episode:Mindframe - supports safe media reporting, portrayal and communication about suicide, mental ill-health, alcohol and other drugs.
The Voices Clinic - a specialist psychology treatment and research clinic, run by Swinburne for people who hear voices or have similar experiences.
Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness (FaPMI) - general information about the program and locations.
ANZACATA - the peak professional body representing creative arts therapists in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia/Pacific region.
CREDITS
Produced, hosted and edited byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Imagine going through a traumatic childbirth injury, then finding out you have severe pelvic organ prolapse, an invisible and life-altering disability. How would you cope? Our guest for this episode is Stephanie Thompson, a courageous mother, teacher, athlete, and advocate for women's pelvic health. Stephanie shares her harrowing journey, the impact on her physical and mental well-being, and how she's found healing through her platform, Brave Mumma.
Stephanie recounts her unexpected whirlwind of medical interventions during childbirth, which left her with little control over her own experience. We also explore the broader implications of pelvic organ prolapse on mental health, relationships, career, and motherhood.
Tune in to hear Stephanie's story and how she's turning her pain into purpose, empowering others to navigate their own journeys with pelvic organ prolapse.
Find out more about Stephanie at BRAVE MUMMA and buy her book The Day My Vagina Broke
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
Other helpful organisations that Stephanie recommends:
- Continence Foundation of Australia
- PANDA
- Australasian Birth Trauma Association
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
CREDITS
Produced, hosted and edited byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
This is an edited version of an episode from a podcast series produced by ermha365, which is part of the Developing the growing new NDIS (psychosocial disability) Workforce Project supported by the Victorian Government. The podcast series is available be used as part of any Training Delivery / Assessment or Workplace Coaching and available on ermha365 website here: https://www.ermha.org/podcast-training-resources/
The episode was recorded in 2020 with guests:
- Robyn Oxley, A Proud Tharawal woman from South-West Sydney, Criminologist, Academic and Activist
- Belinda, Support Worker Mentis Assist
The podcast ep includes discussion of:
- What is truth telling?
- What does intergenerational trauma look like for Australia’s First Peoples?
- What is the ongoing impact of government policies on Australia’s First Peoples?
- Why Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country are important
- How non-Indigenous workers can effectively support Australia’s First Peoples
- Trauma-informed practice
- The importance of family and kinship relationships
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our guest for this episode is Martha Gatwech, a young women from Melbourne’s south east.
Martha, who is South Sudanese Australian, is also a podcaster who talks about the realities of being a young woman, racism, mental health and finding your authentic self.
Martha’s podcast is BROKEN RHYTHM.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Marcelle Mogg, CEO of Mental Health Victoria is our guest for this episode.
Mental Health Victoria is the peak body for mental health and wellbeing in Victoria.
Mental Health Victoria drives policy, advocacy, workforce training, best practice…and much more. Any organisation that operates within, or intersects with, the mental health system in Victoria - and ermha365 is one of these - can become members of Mental Health Victoria to connect with others, collaborate and contribute to policy development.
MHV’s purpose is to ensure that people living with a mental illness can access effective and appropriate treatment and community support to enable them to participate fully in society.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Rod Hannifey's been driving B-double trucks for decades. He’s driven millions of kilometres over that time, all across Australia. Rod came to my attention when I was researching wellbeing and the Truck Driving industry. Rod’s a well-known advocate in this space. He’s currently the President of the National Road Freighters Association, he contributes to magazines radio and online for the industry and he’s a Churchill Fellow – which is a worldwide, prestigious fellowship set up in Sir Winston Churchill’s name where people selected travel overseas to conduct research in their chosen field. Rod’s focus was heavy vehicle road safety best practice.
Rod’s made advocating for himself and his fellow truck drivers a hobby and it's become a passion.
MORE INFO:
- Rod's Facebook page Audiobooks for the Road
- Rod's TRUCKRIGHT blog
- Driving Health Reasearch
- Monash University research finds poor truck driver health could cost Australia $2.5 billion
- Health in Gear 1800 464 327 (24/7 support)
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral from your doctor to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
Satellite Foundation is focused on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people where a family member, like a parent or sibling has a mental illness or mental health challenges and the youth they support are aged 8-25 and live in Victoria, Australia. CEO Rose Cuff and Youth Coordinator Mia Boonen are the guests for this episode.
Find out more about Satellite Foundation online or or phone 1800 973 444You can follow Satellite Foundation on social media:
- Instagram - @satellite_foundation
- Facebook - facebook.com/satellitefoundation
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral from your doctor to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Dr Ahona Guha is a Melbourne-based forensic and clinical psychologist. She works with survivors of abuse and those who live with trauma.
Ahona also works with perpetrators of harmful behaviours to assess risk, and provides treatment to reduce the risk they pose to others — and she has a deep understanding of the psychological and social factors that cause people to abuse others.
Ahona has written her first bookRECLAIM: Understanding complex trauma and those who abuse.MORE INFO:
- Ahona's website
- Ahona on Twitter @drahonaguha and Instagram @drahonaguha
- A broad definition of trauma is useful; an open-ended one isn’t(Psyche, May 2022)
- What people ask when they find out I’m a forensic psychologist (SBS Voices, March 2023)
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
- Blue Knot Foundation - empowering recovery from complex trauma
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral from your doctor to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our guest for this episode is Alan Tomkins who is an ambassador for the Burn Chef Project, which was set up in the UK in 2019 to eradicate mental health stigma within hospitality.
Alan was a chef for 22 years before finally leaving the industry he loved after he experienced significant impacts on his mental health. Now he’s using his living experience to work in mental health and recently started work at ermha365 as a Carer Respite Facilitator.
MORE INFO:
- Alan's Facebook Page: Mental Health and the Hospitality industry
- Burnt Chef Project - Committed to making the hospitality profession healthier and more sustainable by focussing on people's wellbeing first.
- Experiencing burnout? Here’s what to do about itvia The Black Dog Institute
The clip you heard at the start of the episode is from a film called boiling point starring british actor Stephen Graham.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral from your doctor to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our guest for this episode is Brianna Pauuwe who lives in the United States and advocates for and supports people with disabilities, with a focus on fitness, wellbeing and community for people who use wheelchairs.
Brianna herself uses a wheelchair, after a life-altering car crash in 2011 when she drove under the influence of alcohol. She owns this experience and says she thinks it actually saved her life and gave her a purpose.
She now works for the Wheel with Me Foundation that supports people with disabilities, including through the world's first fitness app Wheel With Me Fitness - made for wheelchair users by wheelchair users. We’ll have details in the show notes so you can find out more.
And Brianna is passionate about accessibility and doing the things she loves like attending music festivals…and encouraging others to do the same.
She is also really open in talking about relationships and intimacy for people with disabilities. You can find Brianna on:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bribabe16
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bribabe16/
- Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brigrace90
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral from your doctor to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/mhwlocal#find-your-nearest-service
CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of
Our guest for this episode is Elfy Scott, a Sydney-based journalist whose work has appeared in Buzz Feed Australia, Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Junkee and VICE. Elfy has just released her first book calledTHE ONE THING WE’VE NEVER SPOKEN ABOUT: EXPOSING OUR UNTOLD MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS.
It’s an incredibly engaging and compelling book. part-memoir about Elfy's living experience and that of her mum, who lives with Schizophrenia. It's also a journalistic delve into why there’s still massive barriers for people who experience mental health conditions like schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, psychosis, obsessive compulsive disorder…to name a few.
More episodes on complex mental health:
- Heidi Everett – writing fearlessly about my psych reality
- Jacqueline Ellwood - Living through sexual and domestic violence and my bipolar diagnosis at age 42
- Vietnam Veteran Dave Morgan - My battle with PTSD and keeping hope
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
- SANE Australiaon 1800 187 263
- Bipolar Australia
FREE mental health support is available in Victoria through Mental Health and Wellbeing Local services. All support is free, and you do not need a referral from your doctor to access help. ermha365, in partnership with Barwon Health, Wellways Australia and Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative provide services in the Greater Geelong-Queenscliffe area, 12-14 Thompson Road, North Geelong. Find your local service provider https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/mhwlocal#find-your-nearest-service
CREDITS
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory. Find out more about our services at our website.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We re***
Christmas is considered as one of the six most stressful life events, along with divorce, moving house and changing jobs.
Although Christmas is meant to be a happy and joyful time, this isn't how everyone feels at this time of the year. Christmas can be a stressful and depressing time for many people. Some people find that the “Christmas spirt and celebration” can be really hard.
Our special guests for this episode are Belinda Ellis and Jackie Ashmore from ermha365.
Belinda is a registered psychologist, specialising in forensics and is ermha365s Chief practice officer. She also operates her own private practice focusing on forensic and child development psychology.
Jackie is a registered nurse who specialised in forensic and mental health nursing. Jackie is our Chief Operations Officer at ermha365. Before training as a nurse Jackie was a corrections officer in prisons.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MORE SUPPORT
- Suicide Callback Service
- QLife(LGBTI peer support and referral)
- Beyond Blue
- Salvation Army
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
NOTE: This episode contains discussion of death, grief and stillbirth. Listener discretion is advised.
There’s a lot of reasons why Christmas and the New Year can be difficult, stressful and affect our mental health.
Our guest for this episode is Kelly Scott, the current Victorian President of the Australian Funeral Directors Association and also its National Senior Vice President.
Kelly is the General Manager of T J Scott & Son Funeral Directors based in the Macedon Ranges, Victoria – it’s a family business, which was established by her great-grandfather Thomas John Scott in 1938. She works alongside her father John Scott, and brother Daniel and has been in the profession for more than 25 years.
Kelly sees grief and loss up front and works with people during the most difficult time of their lives.
We thought she’d offer insightful living experience of the how the Christmas and New Year can be a particularly tough time. And we were interested to know more about how funeral directors play a role in supporting individuals and communities. It’s an area of support that may not be front of mind when we think about mental health and wellbeing.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MORE SUPPORT
- SANDS - miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death support
- Suicide Callback Service
- The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement
- Other Bereavement Services
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides mental health and disability support for people in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
NOTE: This episode contains discussion of trauma, suicide and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.
Dave Morgan a Vietnam Veteran who has written a book called The Invisible Trauma: Coping with PTSD.
We know from some of the conversations we’ve had on this podcast that serving and veteran military members are particularly vulnerable to trauma.
The Invisible Trauma is Dave’s journey and details the various treatments and studies that he’s been a part of in a quest to find what works for him so he can help others.
The book also includes the living experience of others with Trauma and also the ripple effect on his family with Dave’s wife Debbie and children detailing their perspectives.
It’s a book for all those suffering similarly, not solely defence veterans.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
MORE SUPPORT
- OPEN ARMS counselling and support for veterans and families 1800 011 046
- LEGACY supporting families of veterans
- MATES4MATESsupport for veterans, current-serving members and families
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Our guest for this episode is a dynamo! Heidi Anderson’s got influence and as she’s on her personal journey of confidence and being her authentic self, she’s bringing others along on the ride. Heidi’s had a successful career in radio, including the breakfast show in Perth on HIT 92.9, was a contestent in Big Brother and is a podcaster. When she spoke vulnerably on air to listeners about her battle with hating herself and her anxiety, it sparked a reaction she never imagined. it’s changed her life and revealed her purpose.
- Read Heidi's memoir Drunk on Confidence
- Listen to Heidi's poscasts Champagne Confidence and First Time Parents, which she hosts with her husband Griffo
- Follow Heidi on Instagram
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
LISTENER NOTE: this episode contains some content that may be confronting and distressing to people – listener discretion is advised.
In this episode of GET REAL we meet DAVID MCGOWAN, a veteran Police officer who is the CEO of POLICE VETERANS VICTORIA, a not-for-profit organisation that supports Victoria Police Veterans and their families.
Police Veterans Victoria has Veteran Peer Support Officers - volunteers who provide support to other police veterans and their families who may be dealing with personal issues, need to talk, or are seeking someone to confide in.
Police Veterans Victoria has big ambitions… and it boils down to building community and purpose for police veterans after they leave the job. But like most not-for-profit organisations, this takes funding – and currently Police Veterans Victoria runs on community, corporate and individual support and contributions and a lot of goodwill, as well as support in a number of ways from Victoria Police. So, David and the team are busy raising awareness, encouraging membership and advocating for financial support from government.
David first joined Police Veterans Victoria as a veteran peer support officer before being asked to step into the CEO Role.
He was compelled to volunteer following a shocking traffic crash in 2020 tragedy when four Victoria Police were killed in the line of duty on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway.
For more info on POLICE VETERANS VICTORIA: https://policeveteransvic.org.au/
Follow Police Veterans Victoria on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/policeveteransvic LISTEN TO Police Veterans Victoria's podcast THE PLODCAST(available on Anchor, Apple Podcasts & Spotify)
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Follow ermha365 on social media:
FACEBOOK - @ermhaorg
TWITTER - @ermha365
INSTAGRAM - @ermha365
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
The Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council, known as VMIAC isrunninga pilot project giving consumers of mental health services the opportunity to get education, training and practical learning experience to participate in leadership and governance arrangements across Victoria's transforming mental health system.
Our guests for this episode are Erandathie Jayakody and Jo Rasmussen.
Both Erandathie and Jo have living experience of being consumers of mental health services and are heavily involved in consumer leadership and elevating consumer perspective for the co-design, delivery and outcomes of these services.
Erandathie is VMIAC’s senior project lead for the Consumers Leading in Governance pilot program and has extensive experience in advocacy for mental health consumers, including as a board member at Mind Australia and a Tribunal member at the Mental Health Tribunal Victoria.
Jo is currently the Lived Experience Strategic Integration Consultant at Mildura Base Public Hospital in Regional Victoria. Much of Jo’s passion and work is driven by helping to reduce community stigma around mental health conditions. Jo is also a mental health consumer representative at the local, state and national level and is a participant in VMIAC’s Consumers Leading in Governance program. In 2019 Jo was named National Mental Health Advocate of the Year.
MORE INFO:
- VMIAC's Consumers Leading in Governance pilot program
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor with Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
We’ve been talking about foster carers in the last few episodes, to share the important role they have in the community. Foster care is the temporary care of children, with the goal to reunify them with their birth family.
These conversations will give you an insight into what it takes to be a Foster Carer – the ups and downs and how people who do this vital role can change the lives of the children they care for…and how their lives are changed too.
In this final episode in our Foster Carer mini-series, we meet Allison, an Aboriginal woman in Victoria’s Gippsland region. Allison's a mum, grandmother and a foster carer of more than 25 years who has a particular passion and skill in caring for teenagers.
If you haven’t already, listen to our previous episodes:
- Jasmine Isaacs, a foster care specialist
- Foster Carer Stories Part 1: Jackson
- Foster Carer Stories Part 2: Camilla
If you are interested in becoming a foster carer and live in Victoria, contact Fostering Connectionson 1800 013 088.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
Produced byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We’ve been talking about foster carers in the last few episodes, to share the important role they have in the community. Foster care is the temporary care of children, with the goal to reunify them with their birth family.
These conversations will give you an insight into what it takes to be a Foster Carer – the ups and downs and how people who do this vital role can change the lives of the children they care for…and how their lives are changed too.
In this episode we meet Camilla, a mum and foster carer of more than 12 years in Gippsland, Victoria. In this role, and as a foster carer she’s had more than 100 children come into her care and has care for a very diverse range of children with complex needs.
After providing foster care for many, many children in her home over these years, Camilla now works in a professional capacity in what’s called retainer care, which is for younger children who are awaiting a foster care placement.
If you haven’t already, listen to our previous episodes:
- Jasmine Isaacs, a foster care specialist
- Foster Carer Stories Part 1: Jackson
If you are interested in becoming a foster carer and live in Victoria, contact Fostering Connectionson 1800 013 088.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
Produced byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We’re focusing on Foster Carers over the coming month to share the important role they have in the community. Foster care is the temporary care of children, with the goal to reunify them with their birth family.
In this episode we meet Jackson, a teacher in Northern Victoria. Jackson became a foster carer in 2021 when he was in his mid-20s. Jackson’s situation is unique and he is now stepping into the role of permanent carer.These conversations will give you an insight into what it takes to be a Foster Carer – the ups and downs and how people who do this vital role can change the lives of the children they care for…and how their lives are changed too.And If you haven’t already, listen to our previous episode with Jasmine Isaacs, a foster care specialist who talks about the process of becoming a foster carer.
If you are interested in becoming a foster carer and live in Victoria, contact Fostering Connectionson 1800 013 088.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
Produced byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
Foster Care Week happens in September and celebrates and recognises foster carers and their dedication to the children and young people in their care. Foster Carers provide safe, nurturing homes for children and young people who cannot live with their families.
What is foster care and what is involved in becoming a foster carer?
Thanks to Fostering Connections, a joint initiative of foster care agencies across metropolitan and regional Victoria we have Jasmine Isaacs, Foster Care Specialist and accredited foster carer trainer and assessor joining us for this episode.
If you are interested in becoming a foster carer and live in Victoria, contact Fostering Connectionson 1800 013 088.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
In this episode we will be talking about the topic of non-suicidal self-injury, also known as self-harm and also mention suicide and suicide ideation. So, please do keep this in mind and take care of yourselves when deciding to listen to this content.
Educator, author and parent champion Michelle Mitchell joins us on GET REAL to talk about how families can support their teenagers who are hurting themselves through non-suicidal self-injury, which we’ll refer to as self-harm in this episode.
Michelle's written a book, called Self Harm - Why Teens Do It and What Parents Can Do To Helpto assist families to tackle this distressing and often isolating situation.
MORE INFO:
- What to Say If Your Child is Self-Harming: A Guide to the Initial Discussion
- When You’re on the Wait List: 18 practical ways to support a struggling teen
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
- Headspace
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
In this episode we will have some discussion about childhood sexual abuse and trauma. So, please do keep this in mind and take care of yourselves when deciding to listen to this content.Anders Villaniis a Melbourne-based poet, writer, teacher and PhD candidate in Creative Writing. Anders is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and lives with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
His new collection of poetry is called Totality. In Anders own words, this collection is a creative inquiry into the childhood sexual abuse he experienced and its ramifications for his adult life.
For his PhD research, Anders is exploring how poetry represents personal trauma – in particular the tension that exists for artists between the ‘tellable’ and ‘untellable’ aspects of traumatic experience.
When were talking on email prior to this interview, Anders wrote that a quote from Judith Herman’s book Trauma and Recovery was at the heart of his PhD research, which is focused on how poetry represents trauma.
This quote is: 'the conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of personal trauma.'Anders discusses this in this episode as well as how poetry is a survival tool, how he discovered he had PTSD and what that has meant for him and the meaning of his new poetry collection.
Anders’ poetry collection TOTALITY is published by RECENT WORK PRESS - and you can find out more about Anders at his website andersvillani.com
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode please contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
- Blue Knoton 1300 657 380
- Bravehearts on 1800 272 831
Hosted by Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365. Produced and co-hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
***ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
We recognise people with lived experience who contribute to GET REAL podcast, and those who love, support and care for them. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution so that we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.***
Laurie Leigh who is the CEO of National Disability Services, also known as NDS. NDS is Australia's peak body for non-government disability service organisations, representing over 1200 non-government service providers, of which ermha365 is one.
We caught up with Laurie to talk about a number of things, including the NDS-led national campaign Teamwork Works that ran in the lead-up to the recent Federal Election.
This campaign communicated the importance of the partnership between people with a disability and the teams that supports them – AND was a call for all candidates in the election to commit to opposing moves that weaken Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme.
More info:
- NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2022-23
- Shortage of disability workers becoming a crisis
- Teamwork Works campaign
- NDS update blogs
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode please contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
Hosted by Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365. Produced and co-hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
Michelle Macpherson, a pediatric psychologist in Victoria, Australia with more than 20 years in the field of educational and developmental psychology.
Michelle is passionate about supporting children to adapt to change and one of the ways she does this is through her initiative Dragonfly Global, to produce positive children's books. Michelle founded this positive change movement in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic and its effects on children and families.
Michelle realised the best way for her to help children navigate change was to write a children’s book that would entertain, empower, inspire and strengthen them. That book is called A Global Pandemic Won’t Change Me – the story of Emily, a spirited young girl who embarks on a journey of self-discovery amidst a time of change and challenge.
Michelle has more books planned and a powerful vision for helping create positive change.
Find out more about Michelle's work and her debut children's book A Global Pandemic Won't Change Me at Positive Children’s Books - Dragonfly Global (dragonflyglobal.com.au)
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode please contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
Produced and hosted byEmily Webb, ermha365Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
Content Note: We will be discussing childhood trauma, sexual assault and family violence during this conversation.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode please contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
- 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 (the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service)
Jacqueline Ellwoodis an artist and writer in Melbourne. Her intricate two-dimensional paper art has a focus on encouraging discussion about family violence, sexual assault and mental illness. There’s a personal reason for this focus – Jacqueline is herself a survivor of family violence as a child, in a marriage and sexual assault at the age 19.
Jacqueline spent years in what she describes as an “endless treadmill” of highs and lows, risky behaviour and searching for answers. Then in her early 40s – Jacqueline was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a treatable mental illness.
Jacqueline has written an extraordinary book called The Late Bloomer and her Two Polar Bears: a personal story of living with bipolar through sexual and domestic violence.In this episode Jacqueline mentions services in Victoria that helped her when she was leaving her marriage. Since this time, access to family violence services has changed.
If you are experiencing family violence and live in Victoria go to Orange Door to find a service near you. There's also information on statewide, after-hours services.
Women's Health East (WHE) is the women’s health promotion agency for the Eastern Metropolitan Region (EMR) of Melbourne.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith hosts this episode.
Produced and co-hosted by Emily Webb Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
For this episode we talk about occupational violence and aggression – what it is, who it affects and how people can be educated and supported to manage situations where clients, the public, even co-workers, may become verbally or physically aggressive.
According to Work Safe Victoria, occupational violence and aggression is when a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in a situation related to their work. It might come from anywhere – clients, customers, the public or even co-workers.
It’s a challenging issue for workplaces and employees, more so since the COVID-19 pandemic.
**Our guests for this episode are:
Belinda EllisBelinda is ermha365’s Chief Operating Officer – Quality, Safeguarding and Risk**, and a registered psychologist who has more than 15 years’ experience working within high risk and complex need service areas, including forensics. She is passionate about progressive, clinically informed and evidence-based service provision and strives for positive intervention outcomes for individuals and communities.
Rod CatterallRod is a highly-sought after specialist in behaviour management, security and assessment and is regarded nationally as a leader in this area. He is the director of Rod Catterall & Associates where he heads a team of specialists that provides education and training to organisations around Australia around occupational violence.
Find out more about Rod's work or get in touch with him via Rod Catterall & Associates, phone 03 9579 0800 or email info@rodcatterall.com.au
In the conversation Rod mentions Dr Malini Singh, a partner at Rod Catterall & Associates who is the lead trainer in delivering Autism Training across Victoria. Rod also mentions Jody Barney who is lead trainer in delivering Disability Cultural Awareness Training (including specific to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples) around Australia.
ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith hosts this episode.
Produced and co-hosted by Emily Webb, Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in these episodes contact Lifelineon 13 11 14. There are free translation services available.
13 YARNon 13 92 76 is 24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
ermha365 acknowledges that our work in the community takes place on the Traditional Lands of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and therefore respectfully recognise their Elders, past and present, and the ongoing Custodianship of the Land and Water by all Members of these Communities.
Will was a husband, dad and corporate employee living in outer eastern Melbourne when his life started to unravel. On the outside, his life looked like the suburban dream, but things were not well… and he ended up going to jail.
Will wrote a memoir Mr Ordinary Goes to Jail about his experience and, as you’ll hear him share, his whole outlook on life has changed.
Mr Ordinary Goes to Jailis published by Bad Apple Press.
If you want to find out more about Will or send him a message he's on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MrOrdinaryGoesToJail or go to Bad Apple Press Instagram.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in these episodes contact Lifelineon 13 11 14. There are free translation services available.
13 YARNon 13 92 76 is 24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
LISTENER NOTE: conversations on this podcast contain discussions of mental health including trauma, post-traumatic stress and suicide. Listener discretion is advised.
Nyibil Amum, is one of ermha365’sawesome mental health support workers.
Nyibil recently completed a 1000 kilometre walk to Canberra and Sydney to raise awareness of mental health, youth suicide prevention and the need for more services and support for culturally diverese young Australians, including in his own South Sudanese community.
Nyibil embarked on this powerful journey in honour of his son Oyiti, who took his own life in 2021.
This tragedy exposed to Nyibil and his family that there needs to be more mental health support and education that’s relevant to young people like Oyiti, and that there is work to do within culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia, to shed stigmas about mental health and seeking support. And Nyibil is determined to help make this happen.
Find out more about Nyibil's vision and the Oyiti Foundation for Mutlicultural Youth on Facebook.
Stories about Nyibil's 1000km walk and his mental health advocacy:
- Walk dad spreads powerful message
- 'Opening up' on mental health
- Walk for life
If you have been affected by anything discussed in these episodes contact Lifelineon 13 11 14. There are free translation services available.
13 YARNon 13 92 76 is 24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
ermha365 provides support for people with complex mental health and disability in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
2022 sees complex mental health and disability services provider ermha365 turn 40! ermha365 produces this podcast.
We wanted to reflect on and recognise how ermha365 has grown over these four decades in Victoria and beyond, supporting people with complex mental health and disability.
Our special guests are two of ermha’s long-standing employees who’ve witnessed – and experienced - how ermha has evolved and adapted, in particular over the past 20 years.
Guests:Dennise Rossetti **– who recently retired after 20 years at ermha365 as Assistant Finance Manager and has seen a lot of change at ermha over that time.
Ellen Maple -** ermha365’s Project Manager for Carer Respite & Field Education. Ellen joined ermha as a graduate social worker in 2004 and has worked in a number of roles over the years.
ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith hosts this episode.
Produced by **Emily Webb, Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
ermha365 history**Ermha was established forty years ago in Melbourne’s south east suburbs by consumers, their families and a psychiatrist who were concerned about the lack of support services for their loved ones who were experiencing a mental illness, especially after a hospital stay.
Ermha, then known as Eastern Region Mental Health Association, met a huge gap at that time. Today, we deliver services in Victoria and the Northern Territory. The ‘365’ was added to our name to highlight that many of our services are provided 24/7, 365 days a year.
If you are affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:
- LIFELINEon 13 11 14
- 13 YARNon 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
- Q LIFE on 1800 184 527 anonymous and free LGBTI peer support and referral
If you’d like to know more about the work we do at ermha365 please visit our websiteermha.org.auor follow us on social media:
For this episode we are talking to Dr Fred Moss, a psychiatrist of more than 30 years who is based in California. He’s consulted, not only with patients, but with other medical professionals, prisons, nursing homes, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres, shelters and more. He also has extensive experience as an expert witness for court cases.
Dr Fred calls himself an “un-diagnosing psychiatrist”, or a "recovering psychiatrist" and we’ll explore what that means with him in this conversation because has strong views on the traditional psychiatric model and medication. He does not prescribe medication as part of his practice and makes clear his reasons for this.
LISTENER NOTE: People take psychiatric medications for a variety of conditions and for varying lengths of time – sometimes indefinitely. So it is not unusual for some people to consider coming off their medication, especially if they are feeling better or the side effects are making life difficult. Ultimately the decision to stop taking psychiatric medication is a personal choice involving a process weighing up the risks and benefits for each individual. We would urge anyone considering this to talk with their doctor and treating practitioners as part of that process. Being actively involved in your treatment can make a real difference in your recovery. Talking honestly with your doctor or treating practitioner is a big part of that process. If you discuss your concerns and learn about your options, you are much more likely to come up with a plan that works well for you and for the life you want to create, whether that include the use of medication to manage your symptoms or other means.
Dr Fred’s practice centres on conversation, communication, creativity and deep human connection as a tool to help people live their best lives possible.
Fred says his work and vision, that he’s branded WELCOME TO HUMANITY is that each and every person will know that their voice is heard. That who they are and what they do matters.
Fred’s podcast is called Welcome to Humanity with Dr Fred Moss and it’s available on the usual listening platforms. Find out more about Fred at welcometohumanity.netIf you have been affected by anything discussed in these episodes please contact (in Australia):
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
- 13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 national crisis support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
- QLIFE on 1800 184 527 (anonymous and free LGBTI peer support and referral)
If you are outside Australia please contact your country-specific mental health helpline/s or services including:
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (USA listeners)
- Samaritans (UK listeners)
- The Canada Suicide Prevention Service (Canadian listeners)
Your hosts are Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365 and Emily Webb, Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health servicesdesigned to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
LISTENER NOTE: The conversations on this podcast contain discussions of trauma, post traumatic stress, mental health and suicide. Listener discretion is advised.
For this episode we talk to Dr Kieran Allen. Kieran is a senior psychiatric registrar in Melbourne and he’s a passionate and prominent advocate for the mental health of healthcare professionals. Kieran’s passion in this space comes from his own experience with his mental health. Kieran first experienced challenges with his mental health during adolescence, and during his time at university studying medicine, his mental health declined to a point it threatened his life.
Kieran co-founded Hand-n-Hand Peer Support Network in 2020. Hand-n-Hand was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, where it became clear that healthcare workers needed support.
You can follow Kieran on Twitter @DrKieranAllen
Kieran contributed his personal story to the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System. You can read his story here and his submission here.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health servicesdesigned to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
Your hosts are Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365 and Emily Webb, Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in these episodes please contact (in Australia) Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. If you are outside Australia please contact your country-specific mental health helpline/s or services.
In this episode we meet Heather Pickard. Heather is the Chief Executive Officer of SHARC - Self Help Addiction Resource Centre, based in Melbourne, which supports people with addiction to alcohol, other drugs and gambling.
SHARC has been around for 25 years, founded on the belief that people are experts in their own recovery, and the lived experience of those affected by addiction is central to SHARC’s programs and services.
Heather is a registered nurse and after working in various roles - and after a time away from the profession, which she’ll tell us about - she moved into in to the alcohol and other drugs sector.
Heather has lived experience with addiction and long-tern recovery and founded the Nursing and Midwifery Health Program of Victoria which meets a need to address sensitive health issues around drug and alcohol use experienced by nurses and midwives.
Heather brings to her work a mixture of clinical skills, governance expertise, and her own personal lived experience of long-term recovery.
She’s currently the NMHPV’s Chair of the Board, and a Board Director at Ballarat Health Services.
Episode hosted by ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith and Emily Webb, Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.
For more information on SHARC visit https://www.sharc.org.au/ or phone **(03) 9573 1700
For more information on the Nursing and Midwifery Health Program of Victoria visit https://www.nmhp.org.au/ or phone 03 9415 7551**.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call:
Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go tohttps://www.lifeline.org.au/
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
This is the nineteenth episode in our Lived Experience series, where we are speaking with some remarkable people who have experienced and overcome adversity, and who are sharing their stories in a way that might help other people in need of support.
It's also our 50th episode!
In this episode of GET REAL we meet Zoe Simmons, a journalist and writer who lives with bipolar, anxiety and chronic pain and speaks candidly about symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which emerged after Zoe survived the natural disaster known as the Black Summer bushfires in New South Wales which burned over several months in 2019 and 2020. Zoe is currently working on a book detailing lived experiences that emerged from those fires and the support needed for people and communities who have experienced bushfires.
Zoe is also a dedicated advocate for people with mental health and disability, in particular sharing about the invisible barriers of living with these so that awareness and conditions in society can change.
For our listeners, if you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
You can find out more about Zoe and her work at her website zoesimmons.com.au
Zoe is on Twitter @ItbeginswithZ
Listener note: This episode discusses suicide. If you are affected by anything discussed in this episode contact:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (USA listeners)
- Samaritans (UK listeners)
- The Canada Suicide Prevention Service (Canadian listeners)
In this episode of GET REAL we meet Emma Benoit, from Louisiana in the United States. At age 16 Emma was a varsity cheerleader for her high school’s top sports teams with a supportive family and lots of friends. But what no one knew was that Emma was struggling with anxiety and depression. Emma’s life appeared perfect to outsiders and she thought no one would understand why she wasn’t happy or content with her life because from the outside, she appeared to have it all.
Emma attempted suicide and became paralysed as a result.
In the United States, Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-34. In Australia, Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15–24.
As you’ll hear Emma share, her life purpose is now to share her experience and mental health journey with other teenagers, their families, schools and communities. In particular, she’s passionately advocating for more support in schools to help students to access education and support for their mental health.
Emma's documentary, directed by Greg Dicharry, is called My Ascension - a feature-length film that was created to inspire and educate audiences, while providing a spark to help individuals and communities save lives and enhance suicide prevention efforts. WATCH preview
- Follow Emma on Instagram @benoitemma
- Follow Emma's Facebook page My Ascension
- Find out more about Hope Squad, a a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program that's currently running in around 1,200 schools across 35 states in the USA and Canada.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health servicesdesigned to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
This is the seventeenth episode in our Lived Experience series, where we speak with some remarkable people who have experienced and overcome adversity, and who are sharing their stories in a way that might help other people in need of support.
In this episode we meet Dr Bob Marmion PhD - a retired police officer, secondary school teacher, historian and author. Bob was a police officer for 15 years, serving in Victoria Police in both uniform and the Criminal Investigation Branch as a detective. He was involved in the investigation of many serious crimes including murders and manslaughter, armed robbery, fraud, arson and sexual offences.
Bob was medically discharged from the police after exposure to multiple traumatic experiences that led to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a marriage breakdown and drug and alcohol addiction mixed with suicidal thoughts.
He shares with us:
- How he lives with PTSD and how he discovered he had the condition
- How he changed his life direction after leaving the Police
- How writing about his experiences in his memoir The Price We Pay has been part of his discovery and healing process, which is helping others too.
If you are affected by anything discussed in this episode, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
To find out more Bob’s writing and historical research work go to https://www.historysolutions.com.au/
Bob’s memoir The Price We Pay is published by Shawline Publishing.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes of 2021.
We know from speaking with people for this podcast that seeking help for mental health and finding support is not easy. Whether it’s overcoming personal feelings or negative stereotypes about mental health or actually finding services when and where you need them – it can be a confusing and overwhelming experience.
Writer Ruth Clare is passionate about normalising talking about, and seeking help for mental health. Ruth has lived experience with childhood trauma, as detailed in her memoir Enemy and she educates and advocates for children experiencing violence in their homes to get the specific help they need. The kind of help she needed while growing up, but was never identified or offered.
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to www.lifeline.org.au
Open Arms is a counselling and support service for veterans and their families with a 24hr phone line on 1800 011 046 and online resources https://www.openarms.gov.au/
You can find out more about Ruth at her website https://www.ruthclare.com/
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes.
Peer support and lived experience is going to be an important way to reform mental health services in Australia, and in Victoria, these changes are already underway.
People like Jessie Aiton, who you’ll hear in this episode, have invaluable experience to share, especially about seeking help for mental health and navigating the system. Jessie’s story is about finding help for her mental health that eventually led to an autism diagnosis in her mid-thirties. It’s changed her life and Jessie is a passionate advocate for other women and girls who are autistic.
You can find out more about Jessie at her website The Lost Girl and her “Have a Cuppa with Me” peer support service.
CONTENT NOTE: if you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes.
In this episode you'll meet James Harding and Steven Kline from Hard Cuddles, a peer support program which looks holistically at what it means to be a man in today’s society. Through a combination of mentoring and outdoor therapy, James, Steven and their team help men to reconnect with themselves and find ways to overcome the emotional challenges they are facing.
James and Steven have overcome huge challenges in their lives – including drug addiction, crime, prison, family and relationship struggles – to build the supports for men they wish they’d had themselves, when life was at its lowest point.
CONTENT NOTE: if you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
Hard Cuddles - https://www.hardcuddles.com/about
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
Over summer, we’re revisiting some GET REAL episodes of 2021.
In this episode of GET REAL we meet Heidi Everett, who has lived experience of psychiatric wards and what she describes as living with a “psych reality”. Melbourne-based Heidi is an advocate, writer, poet, producer, performer, public speaker…and that’s not all.
She released a powerful debut book in 2021 called My Friend Fox about her experiences. This book goes beyond Heidi’s mental health file and tell in her own words and memories the living, breathing experience of her life. It takes readers beyond a person’s diagnosis.
CONTENT NOTE: if you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
You can find out more about Heidi and her book My Friend Fox at http://www.heidieverett.com.au/
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
We’re continuing our conversations about mental health and ways we can take care ourselves, and each other.
It’s been quite a year. The COVID-19 pandemic has been draining for people in so many ways and as a consequence of the sudden change to how we have to live our lives and mental health has been at the forefront of a national conversation like never before.
This is our final episode for 2021 and we thought it would be timely to talk about self-care – what is self-care? How do we practice self-care and why is it important?
Joining us for this episode is Donna Markham and Lynne Souquet who both have lived experience of implementing self-care into their lives while managing careers that support the wellbeing of others.
Lynne shares that a “wake up call” for her was an unexpected health episode this year that forced her to reckon with how she was looking after herself.
“I'll admit that I was probably the role model for how not to do self-care,” Lynne shares.
“Due to not looking after myself, I wasn't listening to my body…I was forced into practising self-care and talking to others about it”.
Lynne says that the saying “make time for your wellness, or you will be forced to make time for your illness” is something she reminds herself of often, and shares with other people.
Donna shares that she prioritises self-care so she can be the best for herself and her family.
“We shouldn't wait until it's too late. Another great analogy is thinking about fitting your own oxygen mask before you fit someone else's, because you can't care for others unless you care for yourself,” Donna says.
“We've just got to normalise it (self-care). So, part of normalising is talking about it.”
About our guests
Donna is a qualified occupational therapist, an adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University and also a member of our ermha365 board and chair of our Practice Governance, Quality and Safety Committee.
Donna is Victoria’s former Chief Allied Health Officer and has done extensive work and leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic around conversations within organisations about the importance of self-care and protecting and supporting the wellbeing of the workforce. Recently Donna commenced her own business, Disequilibrium, coaching and supporting professional women in the workplace.
Lynne Souquet is ermha365’s Practice Leader for Psychosocial Support Services. Lynne has a Diploma in Professional Counselling and has worked across various roles in disability and mental health, all involving assisting vulnerable people who have physical and/or mental disabilities, often from trauma.
Lynne is passionate about empowering people to gain the confidence and connections to live their life the best way they can and as independently as they can.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call:
Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go tohttps://www.lifeline.org.au/
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
This is the sixteenth episode in our Lived Experience series, where we speak with some remarkable people who have experienced and overcome adversity, and who are sharing their stories in a way that might help other people in need of support.
In this episode we meet Jill Stark, a Melbourne-based journalist, best-selling author and mental health advocate.
Jill specialises in writing about social justice, mental health and health issues affecting Australians including the nation’s binge drinking culture. It was while writing these award-winning articles back in 2011, published in The Age, that Jill had a reckoning with her own drinking habits.
This led to Jill’s best-selling book High Sobriety: My Year Without Booze which explores drinking culture in both Scotland, where she grew up, and in Australia, through the lens of her own relationship with alcohol.
“I was internally wrestling with my own relationship with alcohol… and as I said in High Sobriety, during the week I writing about Australia’s alcohol problem and on the weekends, I was writing myself off…,” Jill says.
Jill’s shared openly about her life-long struggle with anxiety and depression, and experienced a mental health crisis at a time of her life where on the outside, she was experiencing career and writing success.
Her second book Happy Never After: why the happiness fairytale is driving us mad (and how I flipped the script)begins with her experiencing a panic attack at work. This was the start of what Jill says was the darkest period of her life.
“That was the last time I was in the newsroom for nearly five months…it escalated from there. I couldn’t work, I could barely leave the house…,” Jill says.
“I had thought, unconsciously…that once I had all of these external things that would prove that I was a worthy, valuable human, that I would feel whole, and I would feel happy and at peace with myself…I could have had Ryan Gosling under one arm and a Pulitzer Prize under the other, it wouldn't have been enough, because underneath at all, I didn't feel like I was enough. I felt like there was something missing.”
Jill’s hard-earned work on her mental health and her insights offer hope and connection to anyone doing it tough, because she knows what it’s like when you’re not OK.
“To me good mental health is accepting all of yourself, not just the shiny parts we put up on Facebook and Instagram,” Jill says.
If you are affected by anything discussed in this episode, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
Jill’s latest book is When You’re Not Ok: a toolkit for tough times.
To find out more about Jill go to her website jillstark.com.au or follow her on Instagram @JillStark__ where she shares candidly about life, mental health and her advocacy work.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
We’re continuing our conversations about the mental health system, both in Victoria and in other states and the organisations that form part of this essential health service.
We know that the mental health system in Victoria, and in the other states and territories of Australia were already struggling to cope with demand, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly blown out those pressures. Mental health support organisations are seeing steep increases in the requests for support, in particular crisis helplines and support referral services.
Joining host Robyn Haydon for this episode is ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith to talk with guests Joe Ball, CEO of Switchboard Victoria and Nick Tebbey, National Executive Officer of Relationships Australia about the pressures on mental health support services, in particular crisis lines and referral services during COVID-19.
Joe makes the point that the high level of demand for mental health services, particularly during the past two years of the pandemic, was a sign that people really needed help.
“I feel like it's not necessarily that more people feel like they can reach out, I think it's more that people feel like they have to reach out,” Joe said.
“I think that people only call helplines, when they really, really need to, and far too many people don't call them when they really, really need to.”
Nick thinks there has also been a shift in access to services because there is more of an acceptability in talking about our mental health.
“COVID gave us a reason to talk about mental health that was slightly different from anything we've had before. And so suddenly, we did see more conversations, more happening in the mainstream media, more happening in politics…to invest more heavily in mental health supports.”
About our guests
Joe Ball is CEO of Switchboard Victoria, a community-based not for profit organisation providing a peer driven service for LGBTIQA+ communities and their allies, friends, support workers and families, including Rainbow Door, a free specialist LGBTIQA+ helpline providing information and support. Switchboard is also the Victorian Partner of the national crisis service QLife.
Nick Tebbey is the National Executive Officer of Relationships Australia a not-for-profit national provider of relationship support services for individuals, families and communities.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Rainbow Door on 1800 729 367
QLIFE can be contacted on 1800 184 527
Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
In this episode of GET REAL we meet Bruce Perham, a social worker of more than 30 years who is also a family and narrative therapist. He is the director of a counselling collective called Let's Talk Differently, which specialises in the area of occupational fatigue within front-line responder professions.
Bruce’s career has mainly been in the not-for-profit sector and more than a decade ago he moved into working with first responders, in particular prison officers, around the psychological impact of their constant exposure to traumatic incidents through their occupation.
This experience and the organisational training and counselling Bruce has conducted over the years led him to write a book called Code Blue: Prison Officer in Danger.
We know through some of the conversations we’ve had on this podcast that first responders are particularly vulnerable to trauma. In Code Blue, Bruce makes the point that the work of Prison Officers and their day-to-day experiences are largely hidden, unlike the police or firefighters or ambulance officers. The public don’t see what life in prison is like or understand that prison officers are in a workplace of constant high-stress that requires vigilance at all times.
Bruce also shares with host Robyn Haydon about his own experience with trauma and mental health. When Bruce was a young social worker, he experienced anxiety and depression, triggered by a home visit he did one day at work with a mother who was in distress.
“It was just like a grenade went off...I was just trying to hold myself together...that was the beginning of something not being right,” Bruce explains.
This led to Bruce discovering that the death of his twin sister Leanne, when they were infants, had a traumatic impact on him that he never realised.
“Looking back, I see more clearly that the workplace was the stage that retriggered my childhood trauma and ostensibly had caused me so much turmoil,” Bruce says.
“It was a long time later that I realised it was that visit to that mother that really triggered back into my own mother...the level of grief in that exchange was the arrow that broke all the defences down.”
If you are affected by anything discussed in this episode, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
You can find out more about Bruce’s work and his book Code Blue: Prison Officer in Danger atletstalkdifferently.com.au
Listener notes: When talking about his early career in the 1980s in disability, Bruce references a book and movie called Annie’s Coming Out. This was a pivotal moment in awareness and advocacy for people with a disability in Australia. The book and movie are about a girl with cerebral palsy, unable to communicate and living in a government institution from an early age. Her therapist works with her to learn to communicate and then begins a legal fight when Annie turned 18 to get her released from government care.
One of Bruce’s earlier workplaces was as a social worker, working with families who had children with cerebral palsy. The name of the organisation was then-the Spastic Children’s Society of Victoria (now known as Scope).
In this episode of GET REAL we meet Robert “Bob” Macpherson, a veteran who served in the United States Marines for more than 30 years, serving in three conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq, and Somalia.
After retiring from the Marines, he joined the humanitarian organisation CARE, where he spent fifteen years directing global risk mitigation for staff and vulnerable populations and led humanitarian response missions worldwide, including Rwanda, Haiti and Afghanistan.
For Bob, the cumulative effect of all these experiences resulted in being diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Bob has detailed the experiences of aid workers he has met and worked with in a book called Stewards of Humanity: Lighting the Darkness in Humanitarian Crisis.
Bob feels strongly about the need for education around the experiences of humanitarian aid workers, and providing mental health support for them. His first encounter with humanitarian agencies, also known as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) was when he was a Marine in Somalia.
“At first, I thought they were crazy, running around Somalia with no weapons and here we were armed to the teeth. The more I watched them and the more I got to know them, I began to truly appreciate who they were and what they were doing,” Bob reflects.
Bob says his book is an attempt to recognise the sacrifices of women and men who quietly work in terrible situations for the sole reason to help others.
Part of Bob’s journey with PTSD is the help of someone special – his service dog, a Labrador Retriever called Blue.
Blue has helped Bob accept his PTSD and manage it day to day: “Blue has helped me get out of my shell a bit. Because he is like a magnet for people. He just looks happy. He is happy”.
Bob wrote a story about Blue for Reader’s Digest magazine’s America’s Best Pet Pals and it was chosen as the winner in the “Lifesaver” category. Read: How Blue, the Big Yella Fella, Helped Turned This Veteran’s Life Around
You can find out more about Bob at his website and follow Blue on Instagram!
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to www.lifeline.org.au
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
We’re continuing our conversations about the findings of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. These findings will reshape mental health services, not just in Victoria but potentially across Australia.
In this episode we talk about some of the recommendations for reform specific to carers.
The royal commission findings have specific recommendations that will affect carers, including eight family and carer led centres across Victoria and elevating the leadership and promoting the valued role of family members and carers throughout the mental health and wellbeing system.
Carers provide a service that would otherwise fall on the health system - in Victoria they provide $3.7 billion worth of unpaid care annually.
People don’t always identify as carers – they see themselves caring for someone they love.
Our guests today are Karen Rule and Susan Lovegrove, two women with lived experience of caring for children (now adults) with mental health conditions and disability and they have also channelled this to provide their learnings and experience for advocacy and support to others.
Karen's youngest daughter is autistic and was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at age 17. Sue has a son with Down syndrome. Both women share some of the challenges they’ve encountered as parents and carers and also the ways they’ve grown through the experience.
Karen: “In looking after myself and modelling that for my daughter, I think it’s helped with her mental health as well”.
Sue: “I fell into postnatal depression after the birth my youngest son and that’s when I first learnt about caring for myself”.
Our first episode of Get Real was about the experience of carers, and it’s our most listened to episode to date, so we know that there’s an interest around the challenges and needs of this very important group of people.
CONTENT NOTE: if you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
Useful info:
Tandem Carers - Tandem is the Victorian peak body representing family and friends supporting people living with mental health issues.
Down Syndrome Australia
PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia)
ermha365 provides a range of mental healthservices designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
In this episode of GET REAL we meet Heidi Everett, who has lived experience of psychiatric wards and what she describes as living with a “psych reality”. Melbourne-based Heidi is an advocate, writer, poet, producer, performer, public speaker…and that’s not all.
“My creativity and mental health advocacy are joined at the hip. Both require a little bit of courage and a cheeky attitude to have a go and not fear failing.”
She’s written a powerful debut book called My Friend Fox about her experiences. This book goes beyond Heidi’s mental health file and tell in her own words and memories the living, breathing experience of her life. It takes readers beyond a person’s diagnosis.
Heidi ended up in a public psychiatric ward when she was in her early 20s, with what she describes as an allergic stress reaction.
“I’d been struggling quite a bit living on the streets, hanging around some pretty interesting people but life wasn’t really quite how it should be attempted,” Heidi explains.
She was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder, though Heidi prefers to refer to it as schizo-affective, taking out the clinical term.
“I think (stress reaction) is behind so many diagnoses of mental health realities…we talk about complex trauma a lot in this world today and I feel that’s behind everything.”
Heidi wants anyone who reads her book to see people in the mental health system, “not at victims of a mental illness but as survivors” and to see that those in psych wards and on the street have “Deep and ancient trenches etched into our lifelines”.
With creative expression at the heart of all she does, Heidi encourages others to tell their story in whatever way they’d like. “It’s your story, you tell it”.
CONTENT NOTE: if you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
You can find out more about Heidi and her book My Friend Fox at http://www.heidieverett.com.au/
Schizy Inc is a collective of creative advocates, started by Heidi, with diverse lived experience of mental health.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
This is the 40th episode of Get Real: talking mental health and disability. It’s a special milestone for the podcast, and for ermha365 because it’s coming up to forty years since we were established by a group of passionate carers living in Melbourne, Australia who were concerned about the lack of support services for their loved ones who were experiencing a mental illness.
A content note for listeners: There is some discussion about suicidal ideation in this episode. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 if you’re affected by anything you hear in this episode.
For this episode of GET REAL we meet John S. Payne a veteran who served the Victorian community within Corrections, Government Investigations, and as a Volunteer Firefighter. During a career spanning nearly three decades, he worked on many incidents, including the state’s worst ever fires since colonisation, known as Black Saturday, which started on February 7 2009. 173 people died in these devastating fires, more than 400 were injured and 450,000 hectares of land was burned.
John detailed his experiences in a memoir 'What My Eyes Have Seen', to share his lived experiences with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, a condition that he was diagnosed with a few years after Black Saturday.
Talking about the beginnings of what he now knows was PTSD and his body’s signs (including several migraines within one week whereas he’d only experienced these a handful of times) John said: “In those early stages I was more concerned…with the welfare of everybody else and I wasn’t listening to myself, to my own body’s reactions…”.
John explains his PTSD developed over several years and caused panic attacks, impacts on his short term memory, his moods, ability to make decisions and he lost interest in things he used to enjoy.
“I’d gone from being the life of the party to the person who sits in the corner, if you can get me to go. My wife would ask me what I wanted for tea and it was too hard a question to answer…everything just eventually became too difficult.”
It was a conversation with his daughter, who said, “Dad, there’s something wrong” that propelled John to reach out for help. John says she was the first person who had what he now calls a “courageous conversation” with him about the changes in his personality.
John’s journey with PTSD has seen him become a passionate advocate for mental health and suicide awareness to encourage people to get help and know the warning signs of this condition earlier.
CONTENT NOTE: if you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to lifeline.org.au
You can find out more about John and his book What My Eyes Have Seen at his website whatmyeyeshaveseen.com.au
Phoenix Australia is the National Centre of Excellence in Posttraumatic Mental Health.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
Anna Spargo-Ryan is highly regarded Melbourne-based writer and author who cut her teeth working in digital comms for The Australian Grand Prix and the long-running Aussie TV soap Neighbours.
Mum of two Anna had her first child when she was 20 and prior to her pregnancy had a psychosis where she was “really unwell”. For Anna her pregnancy and arrival of her baby represented some “some structure that I could understand in a world that had become very strange to me…”
Already living with depression and anxiety, Anna says that she assumed the existing conditions would “roll in all together” but says she was contending with “multiple symptomology” at one time that was different to what she’d experienced before.
Anna says: “The main feeling I had when they were small was that they deserved more than someone who was trying to figure it out as she went along…I felt that I didn’t have the skills to manage my own brain well enough for them to rely on me to take care of them, to be there for them. It really challenged my idea of what being there for someone was.”
Anna also shares honestly about mental health in her writing and also on social media, in particular Twitter, which can be a brutal space.
Anna finds Twitter a supportive place but knows that it’s not that way for everyone: “I’ve been lucky enough to meet people to help me better understand what mental illness is, to better understand what it means to be disabled…Twitter for me is a place that is full of kindness and people who are open to learning more…that’s not true of everyone’s experience though”.
You can find out more about Anna at her website https://blog.annaspargoryan.com/
Read Anna’s article "A tale of parenthood and mental illness" https://www.frankie.com.au/article/a-tale-of-parenthood-and-mental-illness-567844
Read Anna's Horne Prize winning essay "The Suicide Gene". https://www.thehorneprize.com.au/2016-winner
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to www.lifeline.org.au
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community. https://www.ermha.org/mental-health-services/
We’re continuing our conversations about the findings of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. These findings will reshape mental health services, not just in Victoria but potentially across Australia.
The focus of this episode is on the recommendations for reform specific to LGBTQ+ mental health services.
For the LGBTQ+ community, there’s “diversity within diversity” – also called intersectionality – for example First Nations queer people, queer people with a disability, and those from culturally diverse backgrounds. To provide genuine help, services need to understand and support this diversity.
Reform is even more pressing with the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighting the urgent need for a redesign of Victoria’s mental health system that is co-designed by the people who use it.
We invited Karen Field, CEO Drummond Street Services, which also incorporates Stepfamilies Australia and Queerspace and Carolyn Gillespie, Director of Clinical Services at Thorne Harbour Health (formerly the Victorian AIDS Council) to talk about what reform means for mental health care for the LGBTIQ+ community.
Services like Drummond Street Services and Thorne Harbour Health see firsthand that LGBTIQ+ people experience higher rates than the general population of mental health issues like anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation, and that the mental health service system currently in place is not always a system that’s safe for them.
In fact, Karen Field says that during the past 12 months there was a trebling of the acute mental health and suicidal ideation presentations at Drummond Street Services compared to the previous financial year – an experience that has been seen across LGBTQ+ health care providers.
The co-host for this episode is Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO of ermha365.
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Qlife on 1800184 527 (3pm to midnight 7 days) or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
For more info on LGBTQ+ services:
Queerspace - supports focused on relationships, families, parenting and young people
Thorne Harbour Health - a community-controlled organisation, governed by its members, and working for sex, sexuality and gender diverse communities.
Rainbow Door - a free service for the LGBTQ+ community, you do not need a referral to use this service.
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
In this episode of Get Real we meet Jessie Aiton. Jessie is an experienced radio producer and public speaker, having worked for the ABC in regional Western Australia and 3AW radio in Melbourne.
While working in her high-pressure, fast-paced career in broadcasting, Jessie was going through a journey with her mental health: “I was really fighting for my mental health, I was really wanting to be functioning and getting well…”.
Jessie suspected she may have been on the autism spectrum: “I did suspect something was up and I had raised this before with a professional, who was very well meaning but I was told I was too social to be on the spectrum, which is something that a lot of late-diagnosed women hear…”.
And then at age 34 she discovered she was autistic, and as she’ll tell us, this has changed her life and has fuelled a passion for providing peer support for other women and girls who are autistic.
According to Amaze, the peak body for autistic people and their supporters in Victoria is that in Australia around 1 in 100 Australians is autistic and 85% of the community has a personal connection with an autistic person.
There’s also current evidence that around 50–70% of autistic people also experience mental health conditions and this presents higher in women and girls.
You can find out more about Jessie at her website The Lost Girl and her “Have a Cuppa with Me” peer support service.
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to www.lifeline.org.au
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
According to research by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs nearly half of Australian veterans who leave the Australian Defence Force (ADF) experience a mental health disorder within five years, which highlights the challenges associated with transitioning out of full-time military service and into civilian life.
The research also found that only 10 per cent of ex-ADF members choose to seek access to veteran health care services.
The Returned & Services League of Australia is a well-known and highly regarded organisation that supports all current and former serving members of the ADF or of an Allied Defence Force, their spouses, widow or widower, and their dependents.
The organisation is on the frontline of knowing some of the unique challenges that veterans and their families face when it comes to mental health and how to best support them.
For this episode of GET REAL we talk to two people with extensive military experience and insight into life for veterans - RSL Victoria’s Adam “Buzz” Lawson, Chief of Veterans Services and clinical psychologist Dr Carolyn Deans, who is the RSL Victoria’s mental health advisor.
Buzz and Carolyn tell us about veterans’ mental health and their take on what the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System mean for the people they support.
You can also listen to a previous episode where we talk to author Ruth Clare about the effects of war on families.
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to www.lifeline.org.au
For more info on the RSL Victoria’s work or know someone who could benefit from its services go to:
Veteran Central (1300 MIL VET): http://rslvic.com.au/veteran-support/veteran-central/
Veteran Employment Program: http://rslvic.com.au/veteran-support/veteran-employment-program/
Volunteer at RSL: http://rslvic.com.au/veteran-support/volunteer/
Open Arms is a counselling and support service for veterans and their families with a 24hr phone line on 1800 011 046 and online resources https://www.openarms.gov.au/
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
Melbourne-based author and teacher Ruth Clare’s memoir Enemy has been critically acclaimed and described as “Weaving a striking personal narrative with a revelatory exploration of the effects of war”.
Ruth is a survivor of childhood violence. Her father, traumatised from service in the Vietnam War, was violent and unpredictable.
In this episode of GET REAL Ruth talks about her journey of healing from childhood violence and understanding the connection with her father’s wartime service and his behaviour.
On writing her memoir, Ruth says: “I kept waiting for the book that was like my story to appear…I kept waiting and waiting…and no one was writing about it…”.
Ruth also shares openly and passionately about taking stigma away from the act of seeking help for mental health, being brave and her advocacy for the specific barriers that children experiencing violence in the home face in getting the support they need.
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to www.lifeline.org.au
Open Arms is a counselling and support service for veterans and their families with a 24hr phone line on 1800 011 046 and online resources https://www.openarms.gov.au/
You can find out more about Ruth at her website https://www.ruthclare.com/
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
A musical may not be the first thing that comes to mind as a way to convey the experiences of mental illness and how people cope in a crisis.
However, in this episode of GET REAL we speak to two people who will be bringing to the stage a rock musical that’s been described as “an unflinching look at a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness”. The show centres around a mother who is traumatised by loss and the unpredictable effects sparked by her bipolar diagnosis.
Our guests are director Mark Taylor and actress Queenie van de Zandt who talk about their upcoming production of Next to Normal in Melbourne. Next to Normal is a Tony Award-winning musical that debuted on Broadway in 2009. Since then the production has been staged around the world and was also awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010.
As we recorded this episode, Melbourne was in a snap lockdown due to COVID-19 transmissions and Mark and Queenie also talk about the impact the pandemic has had on the arts and how they’ve been taking care of their own mental health.
Next to Normal runs at Chapel Off Chapel Theatre in Melbourne from 15 July to 25 July 2021 https://chapeloffchapel.com.au/show/next-to-normal/
CONTENT NOTE: If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this episode you can phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to www.lifeline.org.au
ermha365 provides a range of mental health services designed to help people experiencing mental health challenges to thrive in the community.
For this episode of GET REAL, we are joined by Ray Blessing who shares his experience of parenting his transgender son Oisin. It’s an honest and touching conversation about the journey Ray and his family have travelled as they supported Oisin through his transition, and the additional aspects of mental health and addiction that have been part of this journey.
Ray speaks compassionately and candidly about the struggles, the joys and the ongoing learnings the family has experienced. He also acknowledges that while the Blessing family received support from their network when they told them about Oisin’s transition, he knows this isn’t the case for all families.
Ray also talks about the need for more holistic support from schools for children and their families who are experiencing challenges, not only academically but socially and emotionally.
And he asks an important question: “How do you wrap support around a family when there’s a struggling child?”.
It’s a question that’s not only applicable for people with a transgender child, but for all families who have a child who is struggling in areas of their lives.
For another perspective on this important topic, and if you missed it, check out last fortnight’s episode with Lauren McGovern talking about growing up trans in Tasmania in the 1980s and ‘90s; the trauma imposed by decades of being someone other than who she really was inside; and her joy at coming out as trans at the age of 45.
Content note: If you have been affected by anything discussed in this podcast you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
For mental health support, go to https://www.ermha.org/mental-health-services/
In this honest, raw and illuminating episode of GET REAL, we are joined by Lauren McGovern, who shares her experience of being a transgender woman in Australia, her hopes for the future, and how allies can better support trans people with their mental health.
Lauren grew up in Tasmania, where LGBT rights were a bitterly divisive issue for decades. Although things have changed since then, Tasmania imposed the harshest penalties in the Western world for homosexual activity until 1997; fellow Tasmanian Hannah Gadsby has called it “a really harmful and horrible place to grow up in the closet”.
Being trans can unfortunately predispose a person to a higher level of mental health challenges and distress, due to the emotional pain that can come with transitioning and/or continuing to live with gender dysphoria. This pain can lead to depression and anxiety, and it is these mental illnesses that are the problem – not, in itself, being trans.
In today’s episode, Lauren speaks honestly and openly about her experiences of growing up trans in Tasmania in the 1980s and ‘90s; the trauma imposed by decades of being someone other than who she really was inside; and her joy at coming out as trans at the age of 45. She also shares her grief at the loss of previously close relationships with her four children - who have not found her transition easy - and speaks to her kids directly about her love for them, and her hopes that they will reconnect again some day.
Lauren writes beautiful poetry about her mental health journey in her blog, Shortened by Anxiety, shared here with permission.
Content note: this episode discusses suicide and suicide attempts. If you find any of this discussion distressing, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Growing up and hating who looked at me from the mirror.
Parents love, non-existent, left me feeling bitter.
Knowing that each lap around the sun just made me fitter.
I'm stronger than I ever was. Your hate won't make me wither.
Lauren McGovern
Shortened by Anxiety (blog)
The findings of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System are something that will shape the future of mental health services, not just in Victoria but potentially across Australia.
Every year around one in five Victorians experience mental health issues, and about 3 per cent of the population — roughly 200,000 people — have a "severe" mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
The final report from the royal commission has found that Victoria's mental health system operates in crisis mode, has "catastrophically failed to live up to expectations" and must be rebuilt.
There are 65 recommendations outlined in the report (the Victorian Government says it will implement all of them) including the phasing out of seclusion and restraints treatments over the next decade, and making compulsory treatments an option of last resort.
So, what’s next now that the report is on the table and the real work of implementing its recommendations is about to start?
We invited Angus (Gus) Clelland, CEO Mental Health Victoria and VMIAC CEO Maggie Toko for their take on what the recommendations mean for mental health services - and the next steps.
More information:
Mental Health Victoria - https://www.mhvic.org.au/
VMIAC - https://www.vmiac.org.au/
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System Final Report - https://finalreport.rcvmhs.vic.gov.au/
VIDEO: Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System Final Report https://youtu.be/IvMWhvLff9Y
In this episode you will hear our special guest Sue Roff, Executive Director at Arts Project Australia and ermha365’s Georgia Symmons explore how the arts and creativity have the power to unleash potential, support recovery and inspire and challenge what is possible for people who are living with mental health conditions and disability.
Arts Project Australia is a creative social enterprise that supports artists with intellectual disabilities through their studio and gallery, promoting their work and advocating for their inclusion in contemporary art practice. Here are the links to the exciting new initiatives mentioned in this episode:
- Satellite Arts is a remote program giving artists the opportunity to engage with the APA studio from any location in Australia. From Monday 19 April 2021, sessions run each Tuesday and Thursday on Zoom supported by professional staff artists. Artists in this program can expect to develop and critically reflect on their artistic practice, and engage with contemporary art communities via online exhibitions, studio and gallery visits, artist talks and curator presentations.
- Art.et.alis an inclusive, curated international art platform that commissions and presents collaborations between artists from supported studios, artist peers and arts professionals – elevating diverse voices and creative practices.
- Collingwood Yardis the new location of the Arts Project Australia gallery, previously in Northcote, in a freshly remodelled space in Melbourne’s inner north.
For more on ermha365's mental health programs, including the new Hive program in Geelong, check out our website.
People with a disability are chronically over-represented in the criminal justice system in Australia, making up 29% of the prison population, despite being only 18% the general population.
This is a situation that has to change, something that the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability is hearing very clearly.
Today Karenza Louis-Smith from ermha365 talks to Patrick McGee, national manager for policy, advocacy and research at the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, and Eileen Baldry AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Equity Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Criminology at UNSW Sydney.
We have only just scratched the surface of this very important topic – expect to hear more later this year.
In this powerful and moving episode of GET REAL, the first in our Lived Experience series for this year, we are joined by special guest Susan Berg.
At 15, Susan Berg was the sole survivor of a boating accident that claimed the lives of her Mum, Dad and 16-year old brother, Bill. Suffering from survivor guilt, she delved into a miserable life of self-loathing, anxiety and despair. It took Susan decades to learn the tools to heal her heart and find peace and happiness within herself.
In 2015 Susan’s autobiography "The Girl Who Lived", was published. Then in 2017, as part of her ongoing recovery journey - and after 14 months of intense training - she faced her 30-year crippling fear of water and swam the 1.2km Lorne Pier to Pub. Susan is now an ultra-marathon swimmer, training for a solo crossing of the English Channel!
Susan is passionate about helping others overcome personal obstacles and has developed "Dare the Impossible", weekend getaways, retreats and workshops, providing people with the tools for resilience, and inspiring them to heal their lives and fulfil their dreams.
Susan chats with Georgia Symmons - ermha365’s Victorian State Manager of Strategy and Service Transformation - about her life; her recovery; the challenges she has faced; and the ones she is looking forward to in the future.
Susan also shares her thoughts on the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, in particular, the importance of infusing lived experience into every aspect of the mental health system, including the delivery of mental health services and responding to people in appropriate and effective ways.
If you have found any of this discussion distressing, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
To learn more about Susan, her work, and her journey, please visit https://www.susanberg.com.au/
For more about ermha365’s mental health programs and services, go to https://www.ermha.org/mental-health-services/
2020 was a tough year all round. And for people with a disability, and those that support them, it was a year of constant stress and anxiety, scrambling to provide disability support safely, while PPE and specific guidance for the disability sector were often in short supply.
Will 2021 be any better for people with a disability, and if so, how?
Today, GET REAL listeners have the rare opportunity to be a fly on the wall of our ‘virtual boardroom’, as four CEOs of disability support and advocacy organisations come together to talk about the effects of repeated lockdowns, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, and how last year’s challenges are accelerating new ways of delivering disability services.
Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO of ermha365, moderates this CEO-to-CEO conversation with David Moody, CEO of National Disability Services (NDS), Australia's peak body for non-government disability service organisations; Phil Hayes-Brown, CEO of Wallara; and Stephanie Gunn, CEO of Gateways Support Services.
In our first GET REAL episode of 2021, we are delighted to talk to some very important people at ermha365, who do vital, often unseen work with people experiencing homelessness.
At ermha365, we support people with complex needs related to mental health and disability. This sometimes means that the people we support struggle to maintain accommodation, or are homeless, or sleep rough outdoors.
In this episode, GET REAL talks to Tim and Rosie, who work in our Community Connect program supporting people experiencing homelessness. Both Tim and Rosie, and our Pathways team, either won or were finalists in ermha365’s staff awards last year – for reasons that will become obvious once you hear about the outreach work they do every day, and continued to do at the even at the height of the pandemic lockdowns in Victoria.
Tim and Rosie are joined by Georgia Symmons, our Victorian State Manager of Strategy and Service Transformation, who talks to us about the exciting new initiatives that are coming in the homelessness and housing space. This includes the Victorian Government’s From Homelessness to a Home program and the Big Housing Build, which will ensure that 2,000 more Victorians living with mental illness will soon have a home.
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes of 2020.
It’s February 2021, and not long now until we will see the final report from the Royal Commission into Mental Health in Victoria. The interim report, published in November last year, reflects the Commission’s desire to incorporate lived experience in all aspects of the mental health system, including the delivery of mental health services.
In practice, this is likely to mean many more opportunities for peer support workers; people who help others with their mental health in part through their own, lived experience of mental health challenges.
In this episode, Karenza Louis-Smith talks with Grace and Donna, who work at ermha365 as peer support workers. We hope you enjoy it.
For more GET REAL episodes, go to https://www.ermha.org/get-real-podcast/
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes of 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made housing a hot-button issue for government. Since we recorded this episode, the Victorian government alone announced it is pumping $5.3 billion into building more than 12,000 social and affordable housing properties to boost Victoria’s housing supply.
Our guests on this episode are movers and shakers in the housing advocacy space, who have been working to change the housing system for many years and achieve this result – among others yet to come. I hope you enjoy this robust discussion.
For more GET REAL episodes, go to https://www.ermha.org/get-real-podcast/
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes of 2020.
People living with disabilities and mental health conditions are over-represented in the justice system, something we at ermha365 see in our work every day.
In this, one of our most popular episodes, we ask why this happens, and talk about how we amplified these issues by taking them to the Royal Commission on Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Discrimination against People with Disabilities.
For more GET REAL episodes, go to https://www.ermha.org/get-real-podcast/
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes of 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified public interest in how we deliver mental health services and support.
PARCs are a short-term, residential mental health treatment services located in the community that provide an essential recovery-oriented service. ermha365 has been managing PARCs for almost 15 years and during 2020, we ran two GET REAL episodes celebrating PARCS – there is a lot to celebrate — but this is a highlights episode, containing interviews with some of the many people who shape and stay at ermha365 PARCs. We hope you enjoy it.
For more GET REAL episodes, go to https://www.ermha.org/get-real-podcast/
Over summer, we’re revisiting some of our favourite GET REAL episodes of 2020. Caring for Carers was our first episode, recorded in early 2020, and is still one of our favourites. In this episode, we talk to Lynn and SJ, both carers with lived experience, about what it’s really like to support someone with a complex mental health issue or a disability, and how we can better care for carers – especially during challenging times. We hope you enjoy it.
For more GET REAL episodes, go to https://www.ermha.org/get-real-podcast/
Ingrid Ozols battled mental illness and suicidal ideation. She has loved ones who have succeeded, and others who actively contemplate suicide. Ingrid not only continues on her wellness and recovery journey, but thrives as a national and global speaker on suicide prevention. Ingrid’s strength comes from willingness to share her vulnerability.
Not all disabilities are visible – in fact most aren’t! People with invisible disabilities face all the same barriers as people with obvious disabilities, but compounded by the lack of obvious impairment.
Attitudinal barriers, in particular, are rife – with well-meaning members of the public interrogating people who don’t seem to have a disability (for example, are not in a wheelchair) about using a disabled parking space or toilet. Confronted like this, people with invisible disabilities are forced to declare their disability to total strangers, or argue their case – often in a public space. The humiliation often leads people to fear going out in public, resulting in isolation.
To celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we invited Lynn Russell, CEO of Invisible Disabilities Australia and Sarah Bayley, Senior Manager, Complex Services at ermha365 to talk about the challenges faced by people with invisible disabilities, some solutions to help avoid the need for public declarations, and some tips on how we can all improve our behaviour around this issue.
For more information:
Invisible Disabilities Australia - https://www.invisibledisabilities.com.au/about/
ermha365 NDIS services - https://www.ermha.org/ndis-services/
This page of the ermha365 website also contains a short video with stories and statistics around the challenges of some types of invisible disabilities, including mental illness, traumatic brain injuries, autism, learning disability and intellectual disability, and five simple tips we can all follow to support people with invisible disabilities.
Discrimination, in all its forms, is unacceptable. People who discriminate, and the structures and systems that allow this to happen, must be called out. Discrimination causes people to lose their self-confidence, make them feel like outsiders – not part of the team; the anger that arises from being ‘othered’ can lead to depression and even suicidal thoughts.
In this fifth episode of our Lived Experience series, special guest Yvonne Sillett talks about the overt, systemic and intense discrimination she experienced as a lesbian woman in the Australian Army, which left her angry, depressed and at times suicidal. While significant reforms have occurred in the Army and society as a whole over the past two decades, LGBTIQ Victorians continue to experience inequalities. Of particular concern is data on increased rates of depression, psychological distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation. When compared with the rest of the population, LGBTIQ+ people are twice as likely to experience anxiety, and three times as likely to experience depression and related disorders, largely due to the inequalities they experience based on sexuality.
Listen to how Yvonne coped, and how she became even more resilient. Hear how sharing her story not only helped others, but also helped her heal. Yvonne has also participated in two books: Serving in Silence! (which her story is in) and also the recently released titled Pride in Defence, both written by Noah Riseman and Shirleen Robinson.
If you have found any of this discussion distressing, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
- For additional mental health support go to: ermha365 - https://www.ermha.org/mental-health-services/
- Lifeline: 13 11 14 https://www.lifeline.org.au/
- SANE Forums - https://ermha.saneforums.org/
Peer workers with lived experience provide an important complement to the psychosocial support teams delivering mental health services. They improve the recovery orientation of mental health services, by offering genuine and authentic engagement with the people who use these services. This results in a reduction in hospital admissions and reduced load on other practitioners.
For many people, peer workers with lived experience offer an improved experience of mental health treatment, care or support because they bring their own stories to their work. Their depth of understanding of the challenges of mental illness creates real empathy with clients, and also delivers unique insights to their co-workers who don’t have lived experience. Most importantly, peer workers with lived experience are role models for recovery. By sharing their journey of recovery, including strategies and techniques that sustain a balanced mental health, these role models exhibit positive, sustainable, and successful recovery.
In this episode of GET REAL: Talking Mental Health and Disability, Karenza Louis-Smith talks with Grace and Donna who work at ermha365 as peer workers, with lived experience of mental health challenges. She is joined by Sharon Sherwood who leads all of ermha365’s mental health programs and services.
As ‘Ambassadors’ of recovery, Grace and Donna talk about ‘owning’ their mental illness – the first step to reducing stigma. They also talk about getting the right kind of support that suits you; the value that peer workers bring because of their experience; and the great rewards they receive as peer workers by being able to helps others on the road to recovery.
For mental health support go to:
ermha365 - https://www.ermha.org/mental-health-services/
SANE Forums - https://ermha.saneforums.org/
In the third conversation in our Lived Experience series, Karenza Louis-Smith talks to Graeme Alford: a lawyer, ex-prisoner, and author of the bestselling book Never Give Up – the power of mental toughness.
Growing up in Melbourne, Graeme had the world at his feet. He went to private school, won a Commonwealth Scholarship, excelled at Melbourne University and breezed his way into a city law firm. But Graeme was a heavy punter and drinker, and it wasn’t long before he went from defending criminals – to being one. Jailed not once but three times, the last time for armed robbery, Graeme thought he’d game the prison psychological assessment to get a lighter sentence. Instead, he was shocked to discover he had acquired a significant cognitive impairment due to his excessive use of alcohol. So Graeme had a choice – give up or get up – and in this conversation he tells Karenza how he got up, and got his life back on track.
Today Graeme is the Founder of 21Renew, a custom-designed wellness program for people with alcohol, drug or gambling issues, who are looking for an alternative to traditional rehabs.
Graeme Alford –
https://www.21renew.com/
http://www.graemealford.com/
ermha365 complex mental health & disability - https://www.ermha.org/
Imagine for a minute that you’re a young boy in the late ‘60s growing up in country Victoria. Yours is a typical childhood in many ways, but you are a little too fond of getting into trouble. On your twelfth birthday, you are made a Ward of the State and find yourself in Turana Youth Training Centre, starting your apprenticeship for a career of crime, drug addiction, mental illness and homelessness.
What happens next?
What kind of life will you have?
And how do you survive and thrive from such a traumatic experience?
This is the story of Steve Cain, our special guest in GET REAL’s second Lived Experience episode. This week, Steve talks to guest host Karenza Louis-Smith about how he embarked on a life as a career criminal at the tender age of 12, immersing himself in a world of drug taking and crime for the next 20 years, until at 35 he decided he wanted his life to be different. And so he set about changing the world – one person, one job, and one dollar at a time.
Now the Founder and Program Facilitator at Empathy Not Sympathy, Steve describes his life journey as one that has gone from – in his own words – “the gutter to glory”, overcoming addiction issues and childhood trauma to help others see that in their own lives, nothing is impossible.
For more information:
ermha365 complex mental health & disability services – https://www.ermha.org/
Steve Cain, Empathy Not Sympathy - http://empathynotsympathy.com.au/
Over the next few weeks GET REAL speaks with remarkable men and women who have overcome incredible adversity, and are giving back to those in need of support through their recovery journey.
This week, it’s James Harding and Steven Kline from Hard Cuddles, a peer support program which looks holistically at what it means to be a man in today’s society. Through a combination of mentoring and outdoor therapy, James, Steven and their team help men to reconnect with themselves and find ways to overcome the emotional challenges they are facing.
You’ll hear how both James and Steven have overcome huge challenges in their lives – including drug addiction, crime, prison, family and relationship struggles – to build the supports for men they wish they’d had themselves, when life was at its lowest point.
For support with your mental health, go to:
Hard Cuddles - https://www.hardcuddles.com/about
ermha365 - https://www.ermha.org/mental-health-services/
In February 2019, the Victorian Government established a Royal Commission on the Mental Health System in Victoria, the first of its kind in Australia. This is a “once in a generation opportunity” to accelerate improvements in mental health services, service navigation and models of care.
Nearly 18 months later, the Royal Commission has made interim recommendations and is due to hand down its final report in February 2021. What are these recommendations? What will they mean for people living with mental health challenges, for their carers and loved ones, and for the service system that provides mental health support? What specific opportunities are likely to come from the Royal Commission’s recommendations in terms of improvements to mental health support, and what kind of gaps and challenges might still remain?
This week, GET REAL talks to an expert panel with a real stake in these outcomes, including Angus Clelland, CEO of Mental Health Victoria; Dr Peter Langkamp, former President of Carers Australia; and Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO of ermha365 – a provider of complex mental health and disability services throughout Victoria.
Having a roof over your head is pretty fundamental to meet basic needs in life. It’s also a fundamental human right. All of us need a stable, long term home so we can thrive, and be the best that we can be.
Unfortunately, inadequate and unsuitable housing is a really big barrier to thriving, for people with high and complex needs associated with mental health and disability. It gets in the way of effectively managing issues associated with that disability or mental health issue, and can prevent people from living productive and meaningful lives.
When people live well, they do well. This week, GET REAL talks to a panel of experts all working to solve this big gnarly problem:
- Joseph Connellan of MC Two, one of Australia’s most respected strategic housing consultants, with 30 years’ experience in human services development and delivery including as Executive Officer of three housing agencies;
- Charles Northcote, CEO of BlueCHP Limited, currently the largest developer of specialist disability housing in Australia, having delivered some 1700 properties to the social and affordable housing sector while retaining 800 properties (housing over 1490 people) for its own portfolio; and
- Frances Sanders, Senior Manager of NDIS services at ermha365, who has held executive roles in the mental health sector since 1995 and who works every day on individual cases, helping to surface and to solve the deep challenges associated with finding safe, suitable and therapeutic housing for the people we support.
This week on GET REAL, we look at what makes support successful when working with people with high and complex needs associated with mental health and disability.
At ermha365, where we specialise in delivering this kind of support, we have seen that having a shared approach and a common language – used consistently across our organisation – is the key to supporting people safely and well. This model of practice is known to us as “the ermha way”.
The ermha way model of practice stems from Positive Behaviour Support frameworks, which acknowledge the universality of all human behaviour. This says that we all do the things we do for a reason. So, we need to understand that reason – to be curious, to dig deep, and be ‘behaviour detectives’ – to find out why people behave the way they do.
Today you’ll get to hear a fascinating conversation about this topic between three experts in this area:
- Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO of ermha365
- Cat Lancaster, Executive Director of Lancaster Consulting Australia, who worked with the team at ermha365 to design the ermha way, and
- Teresa McClelland, Chief Operations Officer at ermha365.
In Part 2 of Celebrating PARCs, we take a deep-dive into the experiences of the people who work and stay at PARCs. If you missed Part 1, PARCs are mental health Prevention and Recovery Care Centres.
You’ll hear from Sean Kearns, Day Program Co-ordinator at Barwon Health Mental Health, who has been working at Barwon PARC for 17 years; Sharon, who recently experienced a stay at Barwon PARC; and many of the fabulous ermha365 staff who make PARCs happen, including Sally Wall, Alys Boase, Frank, Kristen, Andrew, Jacquee, Cathy and Gabby.
This two-part episode of GET REAL celebrates PARCS, and the amazing role they play in the mental health recovery journey for many people.
ermha365 has been managing PARCs for almost 15 years. As a psychosocial support services provider, we work hand-in-hand with our clinical mental health partners to make sure our PARCS address local needs and challenges. We set up the first women-only PARC in Victoria, and provide over 18,000 hours of programmed PARC activities each year, along with specific, targeted one-on-one mental health recovery support.
For more information, and a video that shows more about the wonderful synergy and partnerships created between clinical mental health, ermha365 staff and mental health consumers at ermha365 PARCs, go to https://www.ermha.org/residential-support-3/
Have you ever considered a career in mental health and disability? If not, here are some great reasons why you should. The sector is vibrant and growing, with the NDIS promising comprehensive choice and control for people with disabilities, and the mental health sector experiencing widespread community attention and renewed Government investment.
All this offers many exciting career choices for people who want to make a difference and who care about supporting vulnerable people.
This week, GET REAL explores career opportunities in mental health and disability with some of ermha365’s passionate and talented staff, including Sarah Waite, Talent Acquisition Advisor, and Sharon, Nicole and Sam, all at different stages in their career with ermha365. You’ll hear lots of great advice about the rewards of working in the sector, what a typical day is like, current vacancies, and how to secure a role where your values match the work you get to do every day.
For more information about careers at ermha365, go to https://www.ermha.org/working-at-ermha365/
At ermha365, we reckon PARCs are pretty special places. But if you haven’t heard of them before, what is a PARC?
PARC stands for “Prevention And Recovery Care” services. PARCs are short-term, residential mental health treatment services located in the community.
ermha365 has been managing PARCs for almost 15 years. As a psychosocial support services provider, we work hand-in-hand with our clinical mental health partners to make sure our PARCS address local needs and challenges. We set up the first women-only PARC in Victoria, and provide over 18,000 hours of programmed PARC activities each year, along with specific, targeted one-on-one mental health recovery support.
This two-part episode of GET REAL celebrates PARCS, and the amazing role they play in the mental health recovery journey for so many people. Guests include:
- Karen Dixon, Lecturer and Fieldwork coordinator in the School of Primary and Allied Health Care at Monash University, who helped set up Springvale PARC as the first women-only PARC in Victoria;
- Kez and Sharon, who have first-hand experience of mental health recovery support from ermha’s PARCs; and
- A number of ermha365’s fabulous PARCs staff and managers, who make it all happen.
People with complex mental health conditions, along with a range of physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities, face additional challenges and hardships within the criminal justice system; a system that is difficult for any of us to negotiate.
So, when the Royal Commission on Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Discrimination against People with Disabilities released a Paper on Criminal Justice issues, the team at ermha365 – which has long been a lifeline for people who are challenged with complex mental health and disability issues – believed it was particularly important to respond.
This week, GET REAL explores the criminal justice system through the lens of complex mental health and disability, including our six-point plan to address the vulnerabilities and challenges of the people we support. Guests include:
- Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO ermha365, who has extensive experience in Australia with the criminal justice system and how it affects vulnerable people; and
- Isabel Calvert, Social Policy, Justice and Advocacy Adviser at ermha365, who has worked internationally over many years in criminal justice reform.
This week, GET REAL looks at the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – and how it impacts on the disability sector and our work today.
Together, the United Nations Convention, plus Australian and State legislation and policies, create a robust regulatory framework to protect the human rights of people with disabilities. In addition, organisations that advocate for and provide services to people with disabilities are instrumental in helping to ensure that they can - and do - exercise their rights.
Despite this, there are still many challenges to ensuring the fulfilment of everyday rights for people with disabilities, particularly those with cognitive and mental impairments, and vulnerable groups such as women, remote communities and indigenous peoples, especially in these challenging times with COVID19. On this episode, guests include:
- Leah Van Poppel, CEO, Women with Disabilities Victoria; and
- Isabel Calvert, ermha365’s Social Policy and Advocacy Advisory and former Social Policy Adviser in the United Nations Disability Program,
For more information on:
- ermha365, complex mental health and disability services - https://www.ermha.org/
- Women With Disabilities Victoria, the peak body in Victoria for advocacy on disability issues regarding women - https://www.wdv.org.au/
- The Royal Commission on Disability (see Issue Papers for public response) https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/policy-and-research/issues-papers
This week, GET REAL asks a very practical question:
Where do you go to get help for your mental health – particularly if it is something you’ve struggled with even before COVID-19, or you have an underlying mental health condition, or the advice that’s available online, and to everyone, just doesn’t seem to make a difference for you?
On this episode, guests include:
- Karenza Louis-Smith, CEO of ermha365 and Board Member of Mental Health Victoria;
- Lynne and Cassie, Practice Leaders in ermha365’s Psychosocial Support Program, PSS; and
- Shandya and Shyleen, a consumer and PSS support worker, talking about how getting support through PSS has helped Shandya to manage her mental health issues and achieve her goals.
The PSS program provides mental health support across a wide catchment area in South Eastern Melbourne that stretches from St Kilda to Sorrento to Bunyip, including the major population hubs of Clayton, Dandenong, Moorabbin, Caulfield, Cranbourne, Frankston and Pakenham.
To access the PSS program, contact SEMPHN Access & Referral on 1800 862 363 (8.30am-4.30pm weekdays) or visit the SEMPHN website and download the referral form - https://www.semphn.org.au/resources/access.html#referralpss
Now more than ever, people need support with their mental health, and services like ermha365 are finding new and innovative ways to continue to provide mental health support, while maintaining social distancing to help flatten the curve.
This week, GET REAL explores the way that ermha365’s mental health team has pivoted to telehealth services to continue to provide care and support to our clients, with the enthusiastic support of our staff and funders who have been incredibly agile and flexible over the past few weeks.
Guests include Sally Wall, ermha365 Manager of Mental Health Services; Cass and Jess, who work in the PSS team providing mental health support in South Eastern Melbourne; and Marnie and Clare, who work in mental health support in Geelong/Barwon.
For support with your mental health:
In South Eastern Melbourne, contact SEMPHN Access & Referral on 1800 862 363 (8.30am-4.30pm weekdays) or visit the SEMPHN website and download the referral form - https://www.semphn.org.au/resources/access.html#referralpss
In Geelong/Barwon, contact the Access Team at Barwon Health Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Services (MHDAS) on 03 4215 0000 for an assessment. A Mental Health Community Clinician (case manager) then makes the referral to ermha365.
How do we equip our workforce to support people who are living with psychosocial disabilities?
This is a particular challenge for some NDIS services like ermha365, who work with people who have been diagnosed with a significant mental disorder, have complex needs and challenging behaviours, and may also have extended histories of self-harm and violence.
This week, GET REAL explores an innovative virtual reality training project designed to offer immersive experiences to enable disability support workers to quickly gain competency in this work.
Guests include Thomas MacNamara, Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Lightweave, and Ellen Maple, Project Manager – Learning Design and Development, ermha365.
Resources and further information:
· ermha365 Virtual Reality project, learning resources and explanatory video
· Lightweave virtual and augmented reality development
· Wodonga Tafe, project partner
· Mental Health Victoria, project partner
This project was made possible through the generous support of the Victorian government. ermha365 would like to thank our project partners Wodonga TAFE and Mental Health Victoria for their ongoing support.
For more information about the Virtual Reality learning resources project, contact the ermha365 Academy team on 1300 376 421 or email training@ermha.org
People with disabilities are highly vulnerable in the COVID-19 pandemic. Is our government doing enough to help them? What more do people with disabilities - and the organisations that support them - need to get them through this crisis safely?
GET REAL talks to the CEOs of three disability support organisations that have banded together with more than 30 others to lobby the government for the help that the sector desperately needs. Together, this non-affiliated coalition, as part of the NDIS, supports more than 300,000 people with disabilities across Australia, employing thousands of Australians.
Guests include Kate MacRae (CEO Able Australia), Stephanie Gunn (CEO Gateways Support Services) and Karenza Louis-Smith (CEO ermha365).
Able Australia - https://ableaustralia.org.au/
Gateways Support Services – https://www.gateways.com.au/
ermha365 - https://www.ermha.org/
People who care for a friend of family member are the unsung heroes of our community. Carers provide a service that would otherwise fall on the health system, providing a $15bn contribution to the Victorian economy alone. Yet they often face enormous challenges. In this episode, we talk to three people with lived experience about what it’s really like to support someone with a complex mental health issue or a disability, and how we can better care for carers.
Resources and further information:
Carer Gateway – An Australian Government service providing help and advice, respite and financial support for carers (phone: 1800 422 737)
Carers Australia - the national peak body representing Australia’s unpaid carers, with branches across Australia (phone: 1800 242 636)
ermha365 – host of the Get Real podcast, ermha365 provides community support for people who are challenged with complex mental health and disability issues (phone: 1300 376 421)