Issue 4: To build the future of mental health, we must speak our minds

Welcome to the fourth issue of Innovation For Better Lives, our monthly newsletter where we share the tools, books, practices and people that inspire us to do better every day.  

This month, TACSI’s Future of Mental Health team has compiled a list of resources designed to get you thinking, feeling, and talking about how to move the dial on the effectiveness of our mental health systems.

1. Researching Happy: A podcast with Matthew Iasiello PhD that dives into the weeds of happiness and wellbeing research

2. The Wisdom of Trauma: A webinar in which Dr. Gabor Maté explores the connection between climate trauma and colonialism through discussion with Indigenous climate action leaders

3. Nadine Burke Harris 's TED Talk presents the facts we should all be listening to about how childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime

4. This discussion from Fitzroy Legal Service on women's lived experience in decarceration and carceral resistance is worth watching through to the end. It’s so important that we listen to the perspective of women who have been so let down by the systems that are meant to support them

5. Judy Atkinson ’s TED Talk on the value of deep listening is a powerful lesson in how First Nations knowledge can be incorporated to improve our systems of change, and it’s one we watch over and over again

6. Stutz: A Netflix documentary from Jonah Hill (of all people) about the many simple and tangible tools developed by his psychiatrist Phil Stutz, which have seen him labelled as one of the most effective mental health practitioners in the world. 

7. Beyond Possible: How the Hearing Voices Approach Transforms Lives is a beautiful short film from The Flower Alliance about respecting and seeking to understand, diverse human experiences

8. Shawn Ginwright’s piece The Future of Healing: Shifting from trauma-informed care to healing-centred engagement is an excellent lesson in how to move beyond being merely informed about the effects of trauma to actually mobilise healing

9. Adam Grant ’s fantastic 2021 article on the feeling of languishing for the New York Times was the most-read piece that year – and for good reason. (And if you love this article, don’t miss this discussion on languishing with Dr Cory Keys on the Researching Happy podcast.)

10. The Zone of Fabulousness is a paper by Vikki Reynolds that talks about some refreshing considerations for care professions

11. This webinar from The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) puts forward an interesting proposal for the integration of alcohol & drug support and mental health sectors. It’s curious that we seem to go through cycles of integration and fragmentation – perhaps there’s a middle ground with the best parts of each approach. Let us know your thoughts on this 👇🏼

12. We’re still hearing about the fact that the mental health of young adults has been severely impacted by pandemic

13. Australia becomes the first country to recognise psychedelics as medicines – shame it’s a potential last resort, rather than an option within a person's journey

14. Minister Mark Butler has announced $8.5m in funding to help build systems that will support those with a lived experience of mental health to shape the policies and programs that affect them. It’s a testament to the hard work of many lived-experience leaders over the years, and we hope it heralds the beginning of a new era of health reform

15. One of our favourite quotes of all time comes from Ian Hickie AO in Marnie McKimmie ’s 2011 article Community response is the best remedy: "So the answer is not flying in plane-loads of psychologists or counsellors or anyone else, it is about the community responding through its normal structures - families, community organisations, church and sporting clubs."

16. Sonny Jane Wise ’s list of green flags for neurodivergent-affirming health practitioners is important reading

17. This article about the Indigenous trauma specialists who worked to avoid a mental health crisis in flood-affected NSW last year continues to get us thinking about how we could support more First-Nations-led responses

18. A downloadable framework for holistic community development from Enterprise Community Partners that’s bursting with practical steps for understanding our colonial legacy of harm

19. We love how the Power Threat Meaning Framework makes a shift from what's wrong to what’s happened

20. A first-hand experience of co-design in mental health service design: Opportunities, challenges, and lessons by Rachel Tindall, Melissa Ferris, Meredith Townsend, Gayle Boschert and Steven Moylan: We had the pleasure of connecting with Rachel about their learnings from this research – we’re so grateful to those who share stories about what goes into work like this

21. There’s something so powerful about intergenerational responses to mental health support. For example: We love this heartwarming story from the Boston Globe Media of how a group of Zimbabwean grandmothers came up with a seemingly simple solution to the complex issue of community connectedness

22. People living inside our mental health system must not be left outside its reform. This incredible article written from Simon Katterl ’s lived experience of Australia’s mental health system is essential reading

23. The Australian mental health system is getting in the way of the very people trying to reform it. That’s why we think that for mental health reforms to work, we need to make it mentally healthy work

24. In 2020, we put forward a report that found four actions that could help transform Australia's mental health. Read that report here

25. If you’re on Kaurna land, don’t miss any of the fantastic mental health workshops and masterclasses from Humane Clinic Adelaide

26. Dr. Gabor Maté’s practice of Compassionate Enquiry is an excellent framework for providing care with safety and consent

27. The Resilience Project. This book is beautifully written, and Hugh van Cuylenburg has a wonderfully relatable way of writing. He explores his experience of supporting a family member through mentally-ill health in Australia, and he contrasts this with his learnings about mental wellbeing through teaching in Northern India. It’s a must read. 

28. If you loved the last rec, check out the Perfectly Imperfect podcast from The Resilience Project . These chats with Australian household names are the perfect reminder that struggle is part of the human experience

29. Growing up in Australia: This compilation of stories from the likes of Benjamin Law, Anna Goldsworthy, Nyadol Nyuon OAM and Tara June Winch perfectly showcases the diverse experience of growing up in Australia. The series includes such titles as Growing Up Disabled in Australia, Growing Up in Country Australia, Growing Up Queer in Australia, and others

30. Into the Fold Podcast from Hogg Foundation for Mental Health . We deeply appreciate how this podcast looks at mental health through the lens of research – it makes the complex subject matter so approachable

31. Here’s another article on languishing that we revisit again and again for Sarah Fielding’s excellent practical tips for identifying and managing like you’re not making any headway

32. Beverly Barnett-Jones’s recent opinion piece for The Guardian asks hard-hitting questions about why our social support systems are still failing children when we know negatively this is impacting society and systems

33. There’s been a jump in demand for Adelaide’s Urgent Mental Health Centre – we’re thrilled to see this important service being a true alternative to the mainstream mental health system

34. A new kind of mental health education is being trialled in schools across Australia in an effort to tackle wellbeing issues early

35. Andrea Downie poses some interesting questions on the effectiveness of society's focus on wellness in the prevention and treatment of mental health in her article titled Could redesigning education end the mental health crisis?

36. The Compassion Project: A case for hope and humankindness from the town that beat loneliness by Julian Abel and Lindsay Clarke. A book full of stories about how we can improve systems of change by harnessing the power of compassion

37. The Work: A film that many have described as the rawest depiction of group therapy they’ve ever seen

Did we miss a resource you think we should know about? Drop it in the comments 👇🏿👇🏽👇🏻