I’m a big Masterchef fan. I love food, I love stories, I love Melissa Leong’s choice in BIG earrings – what isn’t there to love?! So it was with some trepidation that I approached the last 15 minutes of tonight’s episode. Channel 10 had been promoting an emotional farewell all weekend. It was apparent that … Read more
I have a list as long as my arm of blog posts I have been meaning to write of late, not least a reflection or two on the recent Royal Commission Report into the Victorian Mental Health System. Unfortunately, they are all on the backburner a bit as I focus on client work. In the … Read more
Late last year, the Productivity Commission inquiry into mental health released their draft report of findings and recommendations so far. It is a huge report (over 1000 pages!) that covers immense ground, picking up on many of the flaws in the current mental health system. I opted to provide a response to the draft report. … Read more
I’ve been lucky throughout my career to work with managers who have been focused on my professional development. But whenever we sat down for a semi-regular performance chat, one question would always stump me – “What are you doing well?” I could point to hundreds of flaws, but ask me to say a nice thing … Read more
One of the surprisingly common reactions to my recent announcement that I have started my own business is the question of what my goals are. How soon before I employ someone else? Where is my office going to be? How big do I anticipate growing? It seems I’m not alone in answering these questions. In … Read more
Tired of reading my writing? Hear me speak instead! Such a privilege to participate in this Beyond Blue webinar on supporting someone with a mental illness to stay at or return to work.
Clark Kent takes off his glasses and suddenly he’s Superman. Jo Farmer leaves work and suddenly she’s a person experiencing mental illness. The facade is superficial but somehow works. For a long time, this was me. A mental health consumer who happened to also work in health policy. I kept the two sides – the … Read more
One of the most important practices I have incorporated into my daily life is that of gratitude. It might sound like new-age nonsense, but at its heart is the simple premise that we should look for the good in life, even amongst the bad. And even when life is objectively not going well, look to … Read more
At the 2018 Australasian Evaluation Society conference in Launceston, I gave a paper reflecting on my experiences of conducting evaluation in the mental health sector while having a lived experience. I experience mental illness, and for some time, I have also worked on projects in the mental health sector, as a consultant, an employee in … Read more
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Always was, always will be
I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which I live and work, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations, and pay my respects to elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded. Colonisation and dispossession have an ongoing impact on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples and these lands.
