Mental Health and Well Being

Many of our projects focus on mental health advocacy – raising awareness and encouraging conversation. The processes we use, drawing on Narrative Therapy practices and participatory arts techniques, also have a therapeutic impact and contribute to healing and improved well-being.

First Nations Truth Telling, Healing, Reconciliation

We train younger members of the community in story gathering practices such as interviewing, sound recording, filmmaking, and they record the stories of Elders. This builds connection and identity, transfers knowledge, and increases skills/confidence in young people. The telling of stories for Elders is a healing process. Then the sharing of those stories with the broader community helps us all to learn about the untold history of this country, and heal from the past together.

Preventative Justice

Our work with young people takes a holistic approach to preventative justice. We aim to provide safe and creative spaces for people to share stories and express themselves. We support people to talk about the key issues they face, and improve mental health through reflecting on their journey (past/ present/future) and identifying their strengths and roots that keep them strong.

Reducing Prejudice/Racism

We’ve worked on many projects that aim to reduce prejudice and racism both in Australia and internationally in post-conflict/ peace-building settings. Participatory arts processes allow people to share their perspectives and personal stories in a fun and engaging way. The genuine and honest spaces encourage stereotypes to dissolve, and new relationships to form. The stories collected in this way and then shared with different audiences can also shift perspectives of the listener.

Voice, Agency and Influencing Policy

Through the participatory and creative processes we use, people gain confidence in speaking up and telling their story, giving them agency in being part of change. Whether the project is for research/evaluation, or arts/advocacy we ensure that the project does not stop at creating the report or the film etc. From the outset, we plan with communities who should hear their story, and how they should hear it and this becomes a key part of the project. Reaching those audiences is key to creating broader societal change.