13 November 2008
Mental Health Support Workers
Conference 2008
New Horizons held its inaugural Mental Health Support
Workers’ Conference on Monday & Tuesday, 10 & 11 November 2008 at
Sydney’s Citigate Central Hotel.
The aim of the conference was to build resilience within
support workers, the people they support, and within the industry.
The general consensus was that our goal was met, and in
many ways exceeded.
On day one, NSW Health’s David McGrath officiated the
opening of the conference, followed by Michael West from the
Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council who performed a traditional
‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony, ensuring the event started on a positive,
respectful note.
Key note speaker, Arana Pearson, a musician and writer
who became involved in the Mental Health service sector some years after
his own experience of using Mental Health services in New Zealand,
energised attendees with his informative and entertaining address, where
he spoke about the skills and attitude that make a good support worker.
Following morning tea, delegates split into groups to
participate in workshops where they learned about everything from
cross-cultural and cross-contextual support, to ‘fighting the fight’ in
order to create change.
A sumptuous lunch was followed by a keynote address from
Fay Jackson, who captured the imagination of the audience with her
humorous, confronting, and very personal style of presentation. Fay
spoke frankly about creating acceptance, support and understanding.
Afternoon workshops covered a range of challenging
topics including suicide and self harm, which gave delegates an
opportunity to share prevention techniques, and personality disorders,
where participants learned practical strategies for managing the
associated behaviours.
The atmosphere by the end of day one – a time at which
most people are often exhausted after so many hours of learning – was
described by one conference organiser as ‘electric’.
Fay Jackson kick-started day two of the conference with
her second key note speech, during which she talked candidly about the
challenges and joys of working in mental health. Fay’s unique approach
once again wowed the crowd.
Morning workshops took on some challenging subjects,
with participants learning how to better support people who live with
mental illness and substance abuse (dual diagnosis), or how to cope with
threats, incidents of violence, injury and even death.
After another delicious lunch, delegates heard from Dr.
Peter Stebbins who delivered an informative key note address, speaking
passionately about how support workers can turn stress into success.
The conference was wrapped up in the afternoon with
workshops that delved into interesting topics such as Love, Sex & Mental
Health, and Stress Vs. Laughter.
By all accounts, the event went very smoothly.
Organisers were encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive feedback, as
well as some insightful ideas for next time.
Keep your eyes peeled for your chance to be involved in
the next Mental Health Support Workers’ Conference!
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