Category: Uncategorized

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!

On Tuesday, 3 July 2024, VTMH hosted a ‘Meet & Greet’ event with Kenya Community Victoria (KCV). This was a wonderful opportunity for VTMH staff and KCV organisational leaders, mental health sub-committee members/volunteers and community members to meet and to formalise our relationship through an official signing of the KCV & VTMH Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). 

The event was an inspiring and highly memorable experience for everyone involved. We thank KCV members for their generosity in sharing their stories, experiences and wisdom with us. 

We are very much looking forward to working together over the next 2 years to support KCV to centre and embed mental health and well-being literacy in their organisational structure, leadership, programs and activities. Our work together will focus on 2 main areas: 

• Capacity building of KCV mental health sub-committee members in their volunteer role;
• Supporting the engagement of the community.

We look ahead with anticipation to building a strong, successful, and mutually beneficial relationship.

In December 2021, VTMH held its first Lived Experience Community of Practice. This community of practice supports a diverse cohort of practitioners from a variety of workplace settings to come together and exchange ideas and experiences on a broad range of issues relating to lived experience, cultural diversity, and mental health.

The group is run bi-monthly on Microsoft Teams and aims to:

• Discuss, develop and promote strategies to amplify the voices of diverse lived and living experience within mental health care workplaces and community-based settings.
• Discuss and identify enablers and systemic barriers that diverse LLE practitioners face when trying to contribute, generate and sustain change (e.g. enablers such as supportive management and whole-of-organisation approaches to embedding lived and living experience; and barriers such as tokenistic consultation).
• Learn from diverse LLE practitioners’ stories of challenge and triumph when navigating workplaces and the mental health sector as part of the Royal Commission’s reform.
• Share knowledge relating to fundamental aspects underpinning LLE work (e.g., self-care, values, co-reflection, using an intersectional lens, practicing cultural responsiveness).

The group is led by VTMH’s Consumer Consultant, Naomi Chapman, and is supported by staff in the unit, including VTMH’s Carer Consultant Olivia Fletcher, and consultants with their own lived experience as consumers, supporters or carers.

Having facilitated the Lived Experience Community of Practice for almost two years, Naomi had the opportunity to share her learnings at The Mental Health Services Conference (TheMHS) in Adelaide last year.

During her presentation, “Dare to Care: Human Rights and Compassion in the Workplace,” Naomi mentioned the development of the community of practice program as an example of a platform where LLE workers reflect on their practice and learn from the intersection between diversity and lived experience. LLE workers are invited to bring their various lenses of their experience to conversations about how mental health, cultural diversity, and lived experience are intertwined in wellbeing challenges, recovery, and ways care services are structured to meet the needs of diverse communities.

The overall goal of this CoP is to support the lived and living experience workforce to influence practice within the sector in ways that diverse lived and living experiences are centred, exploring ways to create a more culturally responsive and inclusive system.

Membership to the CoP is open to individuals working as lived and living experience workers in public mental health and wellbeing services across Victoria. We invite you to read the Terms of Reference before joining the CoP so you can make an informed decision.  We are looking forward to hearing from those who would like to join us. Link to Terms of Reference.

VTMH has been delighted to return to face-to-face workshops this year as part of our state-wide calendar, in addition to continuing to deliver workshops online.

We have enjoyed sharing our face-to-face workshops from a variety of training venues from across Victoria, including Shepparton, Bendigo, Ballarat, Dandenong and Melbourne Inner North and CBD.

The state-wide training program has offered a range of workshops including our 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 and our new workshop, Community Engagement with Purpose – Approaches to Consider in Mental Health Settings. We have been thrilled to connect with practitioners from a broad variety of mental health services and roles through these workshops.

VTMH workshops are open to and provided free to staff working in Victoria’s state-funded mental health workforce. This includes public clinical and community mental health services, as well as state-funded mental health programs within community health and social services.

Staff working in a range of roles within this workforce, including but not limited to community rehabilitation and recovery workers, lived experience workers, mental health nursing, social work, occupational therapy, psychiatry, community engagement roles, program leaders/project workers and administration roles, are invited to register.

To stay connected with upcoming dates, please join our mailing list here

To read more about our workshops visit https://vtmh.org.au/education/workshops/

To date, the Mental Health and Cultural Diversity Community of Practice (MHCD CoP), convened by VTMH, has supported a diverse cohort of practitioners across a range of settings, including those beyond the mental health sector, to come together to exchange ideas, thoughts and experiences regarding a broad range of issues relating to cultural diversity and mental health.

VTMH chose this model to offer the workforce a space to have conversations about cultural diversity and mental health, to share the successes and challenges they face when putting their learning and knowledge into practice, and to support clinicians to navigate complexities in their work. We believe this model is helping to build bridges and connections amongst members, find common ground, and encourage robust conversations about cultural diversity and mental health that may not usually be explored.

After having facilitated the MHCD CoP for almost three years, conveners Shehani De Silva and Kimberley Wriedt had the opportunity to share their learnings at the Mental Health Services Conference (TheMHS) in Sydney in October this year.

Their presentation, entitled “Learning together: How has a transcultural mental health service approached a community of practice model”, explored the evolution of the CoP program at VTMH, and how we believe the CoP model is a supportive approach for building a critically reflective workforce, which is vital for a culturally safe and responsive mental health system.

For more information about the MHCD CoP visit https://vtmh.org.au/community-of-practice-in-cultural-diversity-and-mental-health/

Radhika and Nivanka from VTMH recorded a session for the MHPN Book Club podcast in September, 2022.

In this episode of Book Club, they explored Judith Herman’s ‘Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror’ (1992). Radhika and Nivanka reflected on the book’s powerful themes of witnessing and remembering trauma; how it has inspired a ‘new way of seeing and knowing’ in their practice; and why the ideas presented are more relevant than ever for Australian society and mental health practice. 

You can access the podcast here

VTMH’s Education and Service Development Consultant Abie Jazi and Lived Experience Consultant Naomi Chapman have facilitated three further meetings of VTMH’s Lived Experience Community of Practice (VTMH’s LE CoP) since our last newsletter in July of this year.

The objectives of the group are to explore and expand understandings of:

1. How lived experience practitioners with diverse voices influence practice within their organisations and the mental health sector.

2. Systemic barriers and enablers that face lived experience practitioners from diverse backgrounds when trying to contribute or generate change. This will also become a relevant source of knowledge for the Department of Health (DoH).

The LE CoP membership benefits from a diversity of voices within the mental health system with representation from culturally and linguistically diverse and migrant communities, young people and LGBTIQA+ communities.

The group met in August, October and December online. The sessions have included a presentation by Naomi Chapman entitled “Challenging stigma of mental illness”; a presentation by Maria Dimopoulos on her recovery journey and the impact this has had on her employability; and facilitated discussion by Naomi on the topic “Persistent Negative Voices – from surviving to thriving.”

VTMH are excited to continue offering this valuable learning space in 2023 and hope to see continued growth in its membership.