Author: vtmh

This last year, we’ve held six seminars for the mental health sector. We’ve enjoyed the company of over 400 attendees from across the sector.

We started the year with Empowerment thought community-led responses to racism, focusing on a project co-designed by Victoria University, Wyndham City Council, and the Wyndham Community and Education Centre to combat racism within communities. Tom Clark led the seminar, presenting the work of the project and leading discussion on how similar networks can be developed and deployed.

In April, Simon Katterl led the seminar Not before Time, Lived and Living experience-led Justice and Repair. The seminar explored the report of the same name, which examined harms caused by the mental health system.

Andrea Vancia and Michelle Ravesi presented the PHN Multicultural Health Framework: A national approach to cultural responsiveness in June, providing an overview of the PHN Multicultural Health Framework and showcasing PHN activities.

Tackling stigma in the news media: Our latest research findings was held in July. Presented by Anna Ross, the seminar gave an overview of her research into the ways in which people with complex mental illness are portrayed in the media.

In August, Charles Foster presented Harms, Hope and Horizon: Out of Sight, Out of Mind report. He outlined the issues and proposed actions from the report, exploring inequities and barriers to access faced by people seeking mental health treatment in regional and remote Australia.

The year’s final seminar, held in November, was led by Meena Nathan, Ikran Aden, and Lena Ford. Titled The Cultural Engagement Program: A journey into supporting children, young people and families from multicultural and multifaith backgrounds through culturally responsive practice, the seminar presented the program’s findings and outcomes.

Next year, we’ll have many more seminars from a vast array of speakers. Stay tuned for updates by subscribing to our mailing list.  

Trancultural Clinical Discussions (TCD) is a service that VTMH offers to mental health clinicians across Victoria. This is not an emergency service. 

VTMH does not see a consumer or their family directly and there is usually a one-week to two-week lead-in time to the session.

During these sessions, a clinician and their team can discuss the cultural relevance of a specific consumer’s symptoms and help-seeking behaviours or challenges with engagement.

These sessions last at least 60 minutes and are facilitated by VTMH staff and the referrer (mental health clinician) online or in person. Referrers (mental health clinicians) are expected to coordinate and participate in the Transcultural Clinical Discussion, and complete a referral form.

If you are interested in accessing VTMH’s TCD sessions, please contact VTMH either through email vtmh@svha.org.au or phone (03 9231 3300) and ask to speak to the psychiatry registrar or consultant psychiatrist and we will be in touch.

Over the past 6 months, VTMH has helped facilitate several more reflective sessions on spirituality. 

Topics have included:

• “Psychiatry and God, why are they such strange bedfellows?”

• “I’m spiritual but not religious – What does this mean?” 

• “Spirituality discussion groups – What’s involved and could you facilitate one in your workplace?” 

• “Spiritual care values and recovery – Are we talking about the same thing?” 

A participant commented that “It would be fantastic to continue having spaces like these to expand and add a human touch and a more holistic approach to supporting people with mental illnesses.”

This has concluded our spirituality and diversity discussions for 2024.

We hope to run more sessions in 2025 and invite you to sign up to be notified when they are advertised through our mailing list, here

Over the past 12 months, VTMH has continued to deliver training across the state, reaching participants in both metropolitan Melbourne and rural and regional areas. This year has seen significant achievements in supporting Victoria’s mental health workforce.

One of this year’s standout achievements was the introduction of a new workshop, Community Engagement with Purpose – Approaches to Consider in Mental Health Settings. This workshop was developed as part of the Community Engagement with Purpose Resource Project, which was officially launched in October 2023. It brings together the insights and knowledge gained through this co-design project and features a range of resources, including videos, podcasts and printed materials.

In 2024, 50 participants completed this particular workshop, and we look forward to welcoming more participants in 2025. Feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive:

• “Walking away with a beautifully expanded understanding of cultural engagement using caring holistic concepts and practices.”
• “The grounding of the content in community and community-generated core concepts was excellent.”

This year, we have had the privilege of supporting practitioners from a wide range of roles within the mental health sector. Workshops were delivered both in-person and online, covering a variety of important topics:

• Foundations of Culturally Responsive Practice for Mental Health Settings
• Approaching Work with Interpreters in Mental Health Settings
• Recovery and Diversity – Approaches to Cultural Assessment and Supporting Personal Recovery
• Community Engagement with Purpose – Approaches to Consider in Mental Health Settings (new for 2024).

We were pleased to continue our partnership with the Entry Level Allied Health Graduate Programme in collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health Learning for the second consecutive year. Additionally, organisations participating in our Partners in Diversity Programme benefitted from tailored workshops delivered as part of their involvement.

We are excited to continue offering workshops that empower and equip Victoria’s mental health workforce in 2025. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you in the year ahead.

The VTMH team undertook a two day training workshop in August 2024, with Group Works Center. The workshop was focused on group facilitation skills. This training was to strengthen and build on facilitation skills and practice for VTMH staff.

As a statewide training organisation VTMH has a remit to bring professionals together for group learning and sharing knowledge and practice. Hence, it is critically important for VTMH staff to continue developing their group facilitation skills and collaborative learning practices.

The two-day training helped us examine our approach to group learning under ‘Values’, ‘Practical Principles’, ‘Self Awareness’, ‘Workplace Micro Skills’ and ‘Collaborative Processes’.

We learned both by understanding the theory and by practising skills via role play with each other. We gained valuable understanding on the concept of ‘Community of Selves’ that facilitators bring to sessions that they co facilitate and/or lead.

Following the two-day training, we plan to review and revisit our learnings in 2025. Some of the next steps include: creating co-facilitation conversations within the teams (for example, ‘what does safety in co-facilitation look like’); discussing how ‘power’ is shared by facilitators; what micro-skills are being used? Which of the community of Selves is being employed?    

Group Facilitation calls on personal and professional resources and skills. VTMH is committed to strengthening their staff emotional resilience, reflective awareness and practical skills in this area.

VTMH continues to test and adapt interventions based on the rural and regional mental health services stakeholder feedback, helping us address the challenges facing mental health services in rural and regional Victoria.

In 2024, we held three Foundations of Cultural Responsiveness (FOCR) workshops at Goulburn Valley Mental Health Service, Bendigo Health and Ballarat Mental Health Service. The objective was to gauge interest in collaboration between rural and regional mental health services and VTMH. The three workshops were very well received.

Next year will see the commencement of the cultural responsiveness phase of the initiative. We also expect to see an increase in participation.

In the first half of the year, we will initially run two Foundations of Cultural Responsiveness workshops: one for Goulburn/Murray Wellways, a non-government community mental health organisation, and one for the government-funded Mildura Base Hospital Mental Health Service (Loddon Mallee). This phase will assess the effectiveness of face-to-face workshops in rural and regional services.

Analysing metrics such as attendance rates, participant feedback and resource usage will help VTMH gauge the success of these pilot interventions. The use of real-time adjustments will support continuous improvement aligned with the VTMH Rural & Regional Approach Initiative’s objectives.

Feedback on the cultural relevance and accessibility of both in-person and online training will provide invaluable insights into VTMH’s long-term decisions on how to support the rural and regional mental health services, which is our ultimate goal.

This year at VTMH has been an incredibly meaningful chapter in my journey as a registrar—a role I’ve always dreamed of doing. From the moment I joined, I felt welcomed by a team whose kindness, support and inclusivity made me feel valued not just professionally but personally.

This experience has also been personal for me, as someone whose life is shaped by intersecting identities. Working in a space where culture and mental health meet has felt meaningful and affirming, resonating with my own values and experiences. 

I know I’ll deeply miss this role and the incredible people I’ve worked alongside. This year has been one of immense growth, connection, and purpose. I am so grateful for the opportunities, the people I’ve worked with, and the lessons I’ll carry with me long into the future.

Fostering Cultural Sensitivity in Psychiatric Practice

We are excited to announce the ongoing success of the VTMH Monthly Registrar Group, an initiative dedicated to enhancing cultural responsiveness among psychiatry registrars across Victoria.

This group meets for 1 hour, running from 2:30-3:30pm on the last Wednesday of each month. Each session invites psychiatry registrars to bring forth clinical cases that present cultural components or nuances. These cases form the basis of rich, in-depth discussions aimed at exploring the cultural dynamics that influence mental health care. By examining these real-world scenarios, participants gain valuable insights into the complexities of providing culturally sensitive psychiatric services.

Upcoming Sessions

Our next meeting is scheduled for the end of this month. We invite all psychiatry registrars in Victoria to join us and contribute to this enriching dialogue. Whether you have a case to present or wish to learn from others, your participation is invaluable.

For more information about the group or to express your interest in joining, please contact Dr. Justin Kuay (VTMH Consultant Psychiatrist) justin.kuay@svha.org.au or Dr. Sangita Raj (VTMH Psychiatry Registrar) sangita.raj@svha.org.au.

We look forward to seeing you at our next session!