Mika Kasuga

Trauma, not disease. American culture needs to embrace this shift in focus as much as Australia. The medical model has its place, yet it's not enough. Cognitive behavioral strategies can be useful, but fail if you are not taking into account the reactions of an autonomic nervous system with lived experience. Trauma informed, Polyvagal informed therapies are necessary if the goal is to treat and heal, not merely band-aid mental health. And of course, less of this would be necessary if society somehow focused on solving the bigger, root cause issues of why maltreatment of children is still so incredibly common. #traumainformed #childmentalhealth #Polyvagal #traumatherapy https://lnkd.in/eT5sdeS9

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This series of PACFA (psychotherapy and counselling) workshops next week (26th - 28th June) is looking AMAZING. Plus, it's now more affordable - $350 to be able to attend all 3 days, or HALF PRICE ($175) for folks with lived experience (DM me and I can send you the code). It's online so you can attend from anywhere in the world, and can dip in and out as your schedule allows. The three days cover: (1) Indigenous Healing Practices, (2) Gender, body kinship and sexuality, and (3) Lived experience in mental health systems transformation (with me doing a session on Duty of Care, which I believe has transformative potential, alongside amazing colleagues Jeff White, Daryl Taylor and Morgan Cataldo). Hope to see you there (I always appreciate some familiar faces at a conference!) Day 1: Indigenous Healing Practices – Explore the resilience, wisdom, and practices of diverse First Nations healing approaches across the continent. Engage with Indigenous Healing Practitioners as they delve into the ongoing impacts from colonisation, navigating pathways to healing through truth-telling and connection. Hear from practitioners regarding programs operating on the ground. Day 2: Diversity in Gender, Body, Kinship and Sexuality – Transform your practice and deepen your understanding. Listen, reflect, and expand your capacity to apply nuanced insights from the lived experience leadership and practice wisdom of practitioners with marginalised gender, body, kinship, and sexuality lived experiences working within their own communities. Day 3: Lived Experience Leadership in Mental Health Systems Transformation – Be invited into a larger, emergent conversation about how lived experience leadership in mental health system transformation intersects with psychotherapeutic practice, including questions of dignity of risk, alongsidedness and allyship. https://lnkd.in/e7RK4iZ9

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Interesting story today in the Aus. we've had recent far reaching Royal Commission, and Productivity Report, into this issue, and unfortunately most of the recommendations have not been properly implemented if not at all, and other government reports at federal levels that leave you wondering why the advice was full of holes! We need to turn the dial from the status quo (keep what's working) 1: Upstream psychosocial 2: broader prevention 3: education and skills training for early intervention, selected! at scale. 4: ring fence funding for the pointy end - clinical and peer - and available 24/7!! and ensuring evidence based recovery.

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This is an all too common story that gaps in the mental health system in people being able to get the support they need are experiencing.The far reaching effects of access to mental health support can not only help prevent tragedies like the loss of life that occurred in Bondi Junction, but also need to be available to those who may need support in the wake of such horrible events. The Government MUST do more and utilise all the resources available to provide better access to mental health services. #mentalhealth #counsellors #government #psychology #mentalhealthawareness #abcnews #mentalhealthsupport

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🥂🎉 It's our two-year anniversary 🎉🥂 That's right, it's two years since the last election on 22 May 2022. This also means we are approximately one year until the next election. Sadly, mental health reform remains stalled at a Commonwealth level. What are five key structural policy changes that can act as levers to change the rest of the system? In an Independent Australia article I argue these five would have broad sector consensus: 💸 More progressive taxation on industries that negatively impact our mental health, such as (but not limited to) the gambling industry. 🛡️ Protection of the NDIS for people with psychosocial disability, who face cuts and insecurity under the current proposed reforms. 💪 A strong and independent National Mental Health Commission to drive systems change across a complex federated system of state, territory and Commonwealth governments. 🟰 Equality in lived experience-led funding initiatives with other funded programs. ⚖️ A human rights inquiry into harms in the mental health system and a Human Rights Act to guide better Commonwealth policies and laws. These five structural policy changes, done well, can act as leverage points that can yield change in other areas, such as service design, funding of services, coordination of policy across levels of government, culture change within mental health services, lived experience workforce conditions, more diverse and pluralistic responses to distress. What do you think?

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I’ve been percolating in response to two recent violent events in NSW where “mental health” has been implicated. Sending so much care to all who have been impacted, especially those most directly, but also those in the Bondi community, those who have been attributed with a “Schizophrenia” diagnosis (all too often constructed as always already “dangerous”), and those who are Muslim (also all too often constructed as always already “dangerous” or at least suspect)- so many layers of complexity and harm circulate around such public events. Like so many, when I hear of a public violent attack, there’s a quiet whisper “please don’t let it be one of ours”. Like so many, I’ve been deeply troubled by the ensuing carceral logics of the commentariat - a deeply troubling assumption that detaining certain kinds of people will keep us safer. Or that pouring more money into the dominant (dominating) mental health system will lead us to better collective futures. We need more nuanced thinking, foundationally informed by the communities most affected. I wanted to layer in an analysis that isn’t directly “about” these troubling events - it’s from a decade ago and the other side of the planet - but it is so BRILLIANT in its analysis of how “race” and “Schizophrenia” and “danger” have been entangled. Did you know Schizophrenia was historically associated with docile, white women? (The historical images are WILD! Or rather profoundly domesticated!!) Or that in the 1960s this shifted in the wake of the civil rights movement? The advertisements for “anti-psychotics” (aka major tranquilizers) are WILD - the explicit racism and political repression are so overt, it’s almost hard to believe. “Schizophrenia” has not always been associated with danger - this is a recent turn and one that has flagrantly racist roots 💡. This is not to offer any simplistic way forward (we’ve already had enough of that from the same same folks who like to position themselves as modern enlightened experts, trotted out whenever mental health is implicated, nearly always saying “give us more money! We’ll save you!”) but to add layers to our thinking, so we might more robustly think through these messes together. (Shout out to Liberation Spring for the heads up about this link) https://lnkd.in/gjGE-QFs

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Please consider signing this petition: PETITION: Australia's mental health crisis demands a crisis response We, the undersigned Australians, call on the National Cabinet to: 1. urgently convene a regular meeting of Mental Health Ministers to co-ordinate a national response to the mental health crisis; 2. invest in the treatments we know can dramatically improve how Australians experience mental ill health; 3. adopt policies that address the systems, structures and behaviours and cause or exacerbate mental harm; 4. set national targets to help make Australia where mental good health can flourish. Sign here: https://lnkd.in/gSHDAbwi Australians for Mental Health https://www.afmh.org.au/

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The more I am reading, the more questions I have. Many of the proposed changes are concerning and challenging to the profession.

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👉 New Workshop 🌟 a joint collaboration with old friend and colleague Dr Floriana Reinikis 🌟 "Beyond Diagnosis: Therapeutic Pathways for Supporting ADHD Individuals" 🌟 Are you a psychologist, therapist, coach, or mental health professional seeking to deepen your psychosocial and therapeutic skills in supporting adult ADHD individuals? We have put together over 40 years of clinical experience working with ADHDers and neurodiverse individuals, in creating this workshop. Based on the adaptation of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), this workshop is meticulously designed to address the nuanced challenges that ADHDers have had to face all their life. Floriana and I, Clinical Psychologists and Therapists, understand that one-size does not fit all and each individual brings a unique narrative of strengths and difficulties. Through years of experience, we have honed effective therapeutic strategies tailored specifically for ADHD individuals. This workshop will equip you to: 🌟 Provide compassionate support to your client post-diagnosis, collaboratively exploring the challenges they experience and identifying areas for growth. 🛠️ Master practical and therapeutic techniques for overcoming ADHD-related obstacles related to executive functioning differences and co-occurring mental health problems so often associated with ADHD 🤝 Cultivate a neuro-affirming therapeutic environment of understanding and support This is an online one-day workshop, with the first session scheduled on the 7th of June. The Full price is £149 (Early birds £119 by 24 May) you can book your ticket here: https://lnkd.in/e7X-CzEF if you have any questions, please email me and Floriana at: training@befriendadhd.com 👉 Join us in our mission to promote affirmative ADHD practices. Enrol now to elevate your practice to new levels of proficiency and impact! #ADHDworkshop #clinicalpsychology #ADHDpostdiagnostictools #supportingprofessionals

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Our clinical team at the Australian Institute for Human Wellness have capacity for new clients. We see children, adolescents and adults experiencing a range of mental health concerns, and provide both face to face sessions in Sydney, as well as telehealth consultations. We predominately utilise #CBT, #ACT, #DBT and #Schema Therapy. We treats individuals experiencing: - #anxiety disorders - mood disorders including depression - #stress - adjustment - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (#OCD) - Post Traumatic Tress Disorder (#PTSD) and complex #trauma - personality disorders - #bipolar disorder - #psychosis and #schizophrenia - eating disorders - addictions (alcohol, drugs and behaviours) - relationship concerns - emotion dysregulation and more. Please contact our friendly reception team to discuss booking in an appointment. (02) 9553 1842 or email info@ausihw.com.au #mentalhealth #addiction #anxiety #depression #therapy #psychologist #eatingdisorder

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There is still time to submit an abstract for the 42nd Australian and New Zealand Assocation of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law Congress in Melbourne, Vic this year! We welcome submissions that have relevance to the intersection of psychiatry, psychology and law, with a particular focus on all forms of validity, including areas such as: -cross cultural applicability and generalisability of clinical methods -considerations of validity of risk assessments and psychological tests malingering, deception, and impression management -validity of memory and implications for the law -diagnostic validity and implications for psychiatric and psychological evidence -implications of evolving technologies e.g. use of telehealth and artificial intelligence influence of social media -role of the internet in mediating belief and acceptance -fidelity and validity of best practice forensic interventions https://lnkd.in/gqrgN_-p

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This is a great start to an issue we have been discussing at length to be addressed across the nation. As a deviation, there is a real lacking in the support for frontline Family Violence Practitioners and associated services to understand and gain knowledge in Mental Health. It is lacking in depth in MARAMs, unpacking of risk and not sufficiently addressed by supports We are constantly bombarded with Women's Mental Health being labelled as a cause of child abuse, being victims of violence, being targets for Perpetrators and a complete absence of exploration and understanding when it comes to the Family Violence experiences for women and children resulting in the Mental Health concerns in the first place. We see if far too often starting for young boys and girls developing anxiety, depression, assessed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We see too many lives ended with death by suicide and femicide as a result of the very same causes.

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Don’t miss out - Only a few days to go! World-first, so what’s next? How you can join the revolution for Change! Join this FREE WEBINAR presented by Dr Eli Kotler, Dr Michael Winlo, Dr Lauren MacDonald (UK), Tania de Jong AM, Peter Hunt AM and Scott Edwards. Topic: Psychedelic Therapies in Australia: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities Explore the current legal landscape and hear from leading psychiatrists pioneering treatments. You'll also learn about Mind Medicine Australia's current focus including our Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT) and Patient Support Fund. * What’s legal right now? How is it progressing? * Hear from psychiatrists who are treating patients with these therapies * What is MMA’s current focus? * Learn more about our world-leading Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT), our Patient Support Fund and health insurance options * Hear from some CPAT Graduates who are already practising about what they have learnt * What are some of the opportunities, challenges and wishes for the future * How you can be part of the change now DATE: 13th May 2024 TIME: 7:00pm - 8:15pm Book your ticket now, don’t miss out! https://buff.ly/49SkwK0 #MentalHealthAwareness #trauma #ptsd #MDMA #addiction #depression #psilocybin #psychiatry #psychology #psychedelictherapy #psychedelics #medicine #innovation #neuroscience #webinar #event #Australia

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Massive, compassionate changes for women in WA needing to access compassionate induction for medical reasons (which is often referred to quite triggeringly, as "termination of pregnancy for medical reasons (TFMR)" or "abortion"). https://lnkd.in/g_dYaQ3e The main changes are:  - After 20 weeks, pregnant people no longer have to appeal to the Board of Doctors for approval to undergo the procedure. - Up to 23 weeks, they can now go through with it with a doctor's approval. This is so important, because most pregnant people don't have their anatomy scan until 20 weeks or later. - Someone can now hold off to have the procedure until the 20-week mark, meaning they can access parental leave, and their baby will be recognised as a "real person" by the state. This makes accessing a funeral and death certificate so much easier, and gives pregnant people the ability to take parental leave to allow their bodies to recover after the procedure and the pregnancy itself. Nothing can take away the grief of losing a child, no matter the reason, but these changes will hopefully help some parents in WA in future. Many thanks to the bereaved parents, midwives, doctors, nurses, unions, and charities like Red Nose, who have worked so hard to educate the government and the health profession in Australia about what parents need. #pregnancy #pregnancyloss #tfmr #health #healthcare #abortion #medical #hospitals #doctors #rednoseaustralia #rednose #griefandloss #unions #womensrightsarehumanrights #humanrights #womensrights

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The Mental Health Foundation NZ provide evidence-based support for wellbeing. Profound Impacts NZ explore the Five Ways to Wellbeing.

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