SPEAKERS

Facilitators: Naomi Chapman (VTMH Consumer Consultant), Judy Avisar (Self Help Addiction Resource Centre Inc.) and Catherine Simmonds OAM (Three sides of the coin project)

Storytellers: Sunenna and Chandana 

 

Topic

Three Sides of the Coin project empowers people with lived experience of gambling harm to become advocates for change.

Their personal stories are shared through both online and live performances, which educate the community and train professionals about gambling harm and the intersections of gambling with other health issues eg, mental health, drugs, alcohol, family violence and crime. The purpose is to disrupt the normalisation of gambling, reduce stigma, humanize the people behind the addiction, increase help-seeking, and frame gambling as a public health issue.

Our theatrical video stories are not freely available online, but you can watch a trailer here:  https://threesidesofthecoin.org.au/video-stories/

We will screen 2 short video stories of women affected by their husbands’ gambling, followed by a Q&A session with the storytellers, involving mental health and family violence impacts.

About the speakers

Judy Avisar (Project Coordinator, SHARC Self Help Addiction Resource Centre)

Judy is the backbone of this initiative, and has cradled the project from its infancy in 2012 with Arnold Zable’s story-telling workshops and various theatre forms, to the vibrancy of what it is today.

Catherine Simmonds OAM (Artistic Director)

For three decades Catherine has provided people with a creative space in which to ‘discover the need to speak and speak the unspoken’. Catherine’s focus is the space between the ‘lived experiences’ of communities and the language of art.

Catherine leads the creative process that enables participants to embody and transform their experiences of shame and hurt into powerful acts of performance.

Sunenna

A survivor of gambling harm after her life was turned upside-down by her partner’s gambling addiction, Sunenna shares her lived experience through performance art. In her book, The Journey of a Gambler’s Wife, she tells her tale of struggle to freedom. Through speaking engagements and interviews, she uses her voice to say – there is a way out.

Chandana

Coming from a non-gambling culture, Chandana endured many hurdles upon her arrival in Australia – settlement difficulties, parenting a toddler, and her husband’s battle with alcohol and gambling. Her friendship circle didn’t understand, instead she was blamed for all the problems, and left isolated and insecure. It became worse at home with constant lies, escalation of violence and ultimately seeking help from law enforcement. After years of healing, she gained the courage and determination to share her story in public.

Chandana hopes her story will inspire others to seek help and speak up about the harms of gambling.

VTMH seminars are open to individuals, from all disciplines and working in all sectors, who are based in Australia and interested in diversity and mental health.  

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