Time For Change
Keynote presentation at the International eMental Health Forum.
New Zealand is well known for its struggles with suicide, especially amongst indigenous Māori and young people. I was privileged to be the first lived experience member on the Ministry of Health Suicide Prevention Task Force to help develop the first Suicide Prevention Strategy.
Keynote presentation at the International eMental Health Forum.
It's well known that people often struggle the most when traditional mental health services are closed for anything except crisis situations. Evenings and weekends are when a simple chat can help if people are feeling unsettled and prevent things getting worse. I was privileged to put together the first professional Warmline as a peer support helpline service.
For me DBT (Dialectical Behavioural Therapy) takes all the best bits of the better-known CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and adds useful tools from Eastern traditions like acceptance and mindfulness. I felt privileged to be able to help the country's only residential DBT service with strategic and operational planing to improve accessibility and continue to deliver services.
How do we best deliver Mental Health services in ways people want it, when they want it? I feel privileged to be involved in one of the biggest shake ups in Population Health to unify four national services in Mental Health, Alcohol and Drugs, Problem Gambling and Smoking Cessation. I was the lead mental health writer on the original proposal and Service Architect for the development, design and implementation of these services.
How do we help people who do not engage with mental health services because of barriers like cost, geographic distance or even shame? And what about people who want to do things themselves and choose not to engage?
I was Principal Investigator on this research into over 600 people's experiences doing online CBT and self help and over 40 staff's perspectives on referring and delivering this service.