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I offer expert guidance on engaging people with lived experience and broader communities in co-design work, with a specialist focus on mental health and suicide prevention. I can advise on approach at the project’s scoping phase or serve as a long-term advisor for developing organisational and systemic capability.

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My advice is informed by extensive experience in facilitating and building capacity for lived experience engagement and co-design within the health and social care sectors, including in my role as the National Mental Health Commission's first Director, Lived Experience.

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As a professional writer with high-level strategic communication skills, I can also develop to lived experience and community engagement frameworks and associated resources, which I have done for both public sector agencies and non-government organisations.

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STRATEGIC ADVICE & COMMUNICATIONS

I deliver tailored workshops to people and organisations seeking to strengthen their lived experience and community engagement capabilities. Content ranges from foundational knowledge building of key concepts and principles to interactive workshops focused on their real-world application.

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Training content is informed by my own deep practice-based knowledge which has evolved through conducting an Environmental Scan on lived experience engagement practices for the National Mental Health Commission

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I also provide mentoring and supervision to people seeking a trusted space to explore the challenges associated with doing meaningful community engagement and co-design work, and to lived experience advocates wanting to enhance their influencing skills through practice reflection and peer support.

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I take a strengths-based approach, supporting a person to draw on their existing knowledge, skills and personal resources to find ethically sustainable ways to meet professional challenges. My approach integrates social work theories, peer work principles, and the practice wisdom I've developed as a social worker, peer worker and workshop facilitator.

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TRAINING, MENTORING & SUPERVISION

WORKSHOP & GROUP FACILITATION

I can convene one-off workshops, deliver a series for larger consultation and co-design projects, or facilitate ongoing engagement mechanisms like advisory groups.

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With extensive experience facilitating consultations between service providers and people and communities impacted by complex social issues, I’m highly skilled in creating the conditions for equitable participation, working productively with power and ethically negotiating conflict. I have also facilitated peer support groups for people experiencing severe distress, often as the result of systemic harm.

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My techniques are informed by social work education and specialist training in trauma-responsive group work and restorative justice process facilitation, as well as hands-on experience fostering collaboration within social change movements.

I work on Wiradjuri Lands, acknowledging and extending respect to First Nations elders past and present. 

© 2024 Troubled Dog

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