Friday 25 October 2013

It’s the Relationship…

Here's another beautifully written piece by Martha Crawford 

what a shrink thinks

a psychotherapist's journal


"I sometimes dread being introduced to other psychotherapists.
“Hi! Nice to meet you – you are a therapist too?!  That’s great – I do CBT, Motivational Interviewing and Behavioral Activation – what do you do?”
Uh.
Umm.
Shrug.
“I have an office…”  I’ll vague out and drift off.
When faced with the alphabet soup of “evidenced based psychotherapies” I find myself lost and speechless."
Click here to read the complete piece:

Tuesday 22 October 2013

GLBTI Health and Wellbeing



UPDATE - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Health and Wellbeing Ministerial Advisory Committee:
22 Oct 2013
Ministerial Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Health and Wellbeing I'm wondering and am curious to know if such a thing is part of Department of Health WA?

Thursday 17 October 2013

an excellent read .. "Back to the Garden"

This piece resonated with me hugely.
Here's a taste ... enjoy.

Back to the Garden

"And he (Jung) asked himself by what mythology he was living and he found he didn’t know. And so he said “I made it the task of my life to find by what mythology I was living” How did he do it? He want back to think about what it was that most engaged him in fascinated play when he was a little boy. So that the hours would pass and pass. Now if you can find that point, you can find an initial point for your own reconstruction.
~ Joseph Campbell
I might have liked to be an astronomer, as a child I spent hours on the deck behind our house looking up at the Great Nebulae in Orion and feeling a part of the entire universe. But, unfortunately I can’t do math.
In young adulthood, being a priestess of some sort seemed my best shot at a satisfying career and I supposed the sacred rituals around the theater came close. But, as you may know, there aren’t really too many priestesses in show biz.
A ritual is an action that puts the individual not only in touch with, but in the place of, being the agent of a power that does not come out of his own intention at all. He has to submit to a power that’s greater than his own individual life form. ~ Joseph Campbell
For several years thought it might be nice to be a Unitarian or a Quaker minister: I could picture myself in my 60′s plump and happy, with spikey short white hair, extremely sensible shoes, curled up in a worn leather chair in a well stocked church library surrounded by books written by theologians, ecumenicists, philosophers, anthropologists, depth psychologists, mythologists, my days filled with study, sermon-writing, teaching, and pastoral counseling. I still occasionally fantasize about getting an M.Div one day so that my psycho-spiritual practice might one day extricate itself from the professional restrictions and expectations of the medical model" ...
http://whatashrinkthinks.com/author/whatashrinkthinks/

Monday 14 October 2013

Time to face the facts on rural poverty in Australia - ACOSS

ACOSS

Time to face the facts on rural poverty in Australia

Monday, October 14, 2013

Direct Link to Report:
A snapshot of poverty in rural and regional Australia 

http://www.acoss.org.au/images/uploads/Rural%20poverty%20snapshot%20-%2011%20October%20FINAL.pdf

Thursday 10 October 2013

It's World Mental Health Day today - 10th October


Today is World Mental Health Day. It is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy:



"World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. An initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, WMHD is an annual program held on 10 October to raise public awareness of mental health issues worldwide.
This year in Australia, WMHD has three objectives:
  1. Encourage help seeking behaviour 
  2. Reduce the stigma associated with mental illness
  3. Foster connectivity throughout communities 
The 2013 WMHD campaign aims to achieve these goals by encouraging people to take personal ownership of their own mental health and wellbeing." MHCA

Today is - did you know people with mental illness are at greater risk of ?

Today on take a moment to consider your own & lifestyle. If you feel you need advice call SANE Helpline 1800 18 7263

Making Education a Global Priority for Girls - Julia Gillard - Brookings


Julia Gillard Discusses Making Education a Global Priority and Offers Advice to Girls


Link:

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/education-plus-development/posts/2013/10/09-julia-gillard-education-global-priority-winthrop

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Mental health and older adults

WHO (@WHO) tweeted at 7:43 PM on Mon, Oct 07, 2013:
(https://twitter.com/WHO/status/387181318334717952)

#Mentalhealth and emotional well-being are as important in older age as at any other time of life:

Link to WHO article:   http://t.co/PS1fUNCcZg

Saturday 5 October 2013

My mental health promise


World Mental Health Day


World Mental Health Day 2013


Link:

http://www.mhca.org.au/index.php/events/world-mental-health-day


Make a Promise to Yourself

MENTAL HEALTH BEGINS WITH YOU

"It doesn’t matter if you have a mental illness, care for someone with a mental illness, know someone with a mental illness or just care about good mental health, you can be part of this year’s campaign.
Start by writing a mental health promise to yourself. It doesn’t have to be long it just needs to be meaningful to you. Keep it short and achievable. Or you can choose one of the promises we have prepared.
Then upload a photo of yourself, or of something connected to your promise. We have prepared a range of avatars if you prefer not to upload your own image.
Finally, if you provide us with an email address, we can send you a copy of your promise as a jpeg for you to share with your friends, family, school mates and colleagues. It’s not mandatory, but it allows us to provide you with a nice little reminder of your promise. 
You can make as many promises as you like, you don’t have to stop at just one!"
Link: