August edition
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In the August edition of MHPN Connect:
Browse MHPN network meetings near you
Join our newest networks
Learn about our Online Mental Health and Deaf and Hard of Hearing People Network
Read a summary of MHPN's recent webinar evaluation paper
Register for our upcoming professional development webinars:
- BPD: How to apply the principles of mentalization-based therapy in your practice
- BPD: Caring for the carers
- Working therapeutically with children who have experienced trauma from physical or sexual abuse
Listen to our podcasts:
- A Conversation About… Schizophrenia, Quality of Life and Performing Arts
- A Conversation About… Creative Arts Therapy
Networks
What's on
350+ interdisciplinary mental health networks meet all over the country and undertake professional development and peer support about a range of topics, relevant to their needs. View upcoming meetings below, or find a network near you.
NEW SOUTH WALES
Griffith - The Theory and Practice of Trauma Processing | Wednesday, 4 September
Hills District - Perimenopause - Multidisciplinary Approaches - Evidence and Service Gaps | Thursday, 26 September
QUEENSLAND
Brisbane Diabetes & Mental Health - Medical Traumatic Stress & Type 1 Diabetes: A family perspective | Thursday, 5 September
Toowoomba and Darling Downs - Cultural Formulation | Tuesday, 10 September
Sunshine Coast ADHD Network - Brain & Mind Hub: Offering a different experience through an innovative approach to mental health care on the Sunshine Coast | Thursday, 12 September
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Darwin Chapter of Social Prescribing - Youth Social Prescribing within Integrated care | Friday, 6 September
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Perth Emerging Psychedelic-Psychotherapy Community of Practice - Psychedelic integration | Thursday, 12 September
VICTORIA
Victorian Older Persons Mental Health Network - Network catch-up & share session | Thursday, 5 September
Abbotsford Eating Disorders - Learnings from the field of peer work | Monday, 9 September
Outer Eastern Perinatal and Infant - Men at birth and our role as father-inclusive practitioners | Monday, 9 September
Berwick - Network relaunch | Wednesday, 11 September
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Murray Bridge & Surrounds - Information sharing session on Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and Open Networking | Thursday, 5 September
TASMANIA
Huonville - Equine Supported Program’s Elements of Practice | Wednesday, 11 September
If these topics interest you and you live in the area, join the network via your MHPN account to get involved!
Pictured from left to right: Cairns and Beaches MHPN; Rockingham/Kwinana MHPN; Geelong Family Violence MHPN.
New networks!
MHPN are excited to welcome the below NEW networks to our National Networks Program! As they are just starting out, now is a great time to join.
💻 Lived and Living Experience Practitioners’ Network (National/Online) - The Importance of Lived and Living Experience. What is it and why share? | Thursday 5 September
💻 Peer supervision for practitioners in private practice (National/Online) - Peer supervision session | Wednesday, 4 September
📍 Neuro & Queer Affirmative Network (Perth, WA) - Breaking Free From Autistic Inertia and ADHD Paralysis | Saturday, 7 September
📍 Creative & Expressive Therapy Network (Richmond, NSW) - The role of symbolic language in mental health and communication | Tuesday, 17 September
📍 Bellarine Peninsula Mental Health Network (Vic) - Animal Assisted Therapy | Thursday, 19 September
📍 Bunbury & SW Eating Disorders Network (WA) | Next meeting TBA | Join network
📍 Dandenong CALD Network (Vic) | Next meeting TBA | Join network
📍 Milton/Ulladulla Network (NSW) | Next meeting TBA | Join network
📍 Fleurieu Mental Health Community of Practice (SA) | Next meeting TBA | Join network
New Balint groups:
📍 Balint Group (Northcote, Vic) | Join network
📍 Third Wednesday Balint Group (National/Online) | Join network
📍 Tuesday Balint group (Melbourne/Online) | Join network
To join, navigate to the network via the above hyperlinks, and request to join. You'll need to be logged in to your MHPN account. Please note some networks have criteria for membership and require an application to join.
No network that suits your needs? Find your nearest network or apply to start your own!
Network story: The Online Mental Health and Deaf and Hard of Hearing People MHPNA desire to connect with others who support the psychological needs of deaf and hard of hearing people saw clinical psychologist Christina Clarke become Coordinator of the Online Mental Health and Deaf and Hard of Hearing People MHPN Network. “I was eager to find others who work with this niche client group... and create a supportive practitioner community working in what is often an isolated specialty.” Read more about the Network Coordinators below and consider joining the network in time for their next meeting on 19 September: Allyship: a model for reconciling lived experience and evidence-based approaches. |
Celebrating 10 years with MHPN!Congratulations and thank you to our Coordinators who achieved their 10 year anniversary with MHPN! Julie D, Burtta M, Sandra R, Louise B and Shirley M have all shown outstanding dedication to improving interdisciplinary care in Australia by leading their respective networks for an entire decade. MHPN are pleased to present trophies and certificates of appreciation as acknowledgement and thanks for their work, passion and ongoing commitment. |
Webinars
BPD: How to apply the principles of mentalization-based therapy in your practiceMonday 9 September | 7.15 - 8.30 PM (AEST) This webinar will discuss how practitioners can apply the principles of mentalization-based therapies and use it in a multidisciplinary approach to support people living with BPD. |
Working therapeutically with children who have experienced trauma from physical or sexual abuseThursday 19 September| 7.15 - 8.30 PM (AEST) Our interdisciplinary panel of experts will explore how practitioners can respond to the challenges of working therapeutically with children and their families when children have experienced physical or sexual abuse. |
BPD: Caring for the carersWednesday 9 October | 7.15 - 8.30 PM (AEST) Attend this webinar to hear our panel discuss multidisciplinary approaches that can improve how practitioners engage and support those who care for a person living with BPD. |
Evaluation of MHPN’s webinar program publishedEarlier this year MHPN’s evaluation committee-led research was published in a peer-reviewed journal. Supporting interdisciplinary mental health professionals through online professional development: eleven years of the MHPN webinar program in Australia, investigated the changes in practitioner engagement and outcomes of MHPN webinars from 2010 to 2020. |
Podcasts
A Conversation About… Schizophrenia, Quality of Life and Performing ArtsProfessor Mark Creamer (clinical psychologist) and Neil Cole (consumer consultant, mental health advocate, writer and playwright) talk about supporting people living with schizophrenia and psychosis. Their wide-ranging conversation touches on diagnosis, symptoms and treatments exploring the positive and negative impacts on quality of life. LISTEN NOW: |
A Conversation About… Creative Arts TherapyYou’ve likely heard of Creative Arts Therapy, but how much do you really know about it as a mental health profession? Join clinical psychologist, Professor Mark Creamer, as he sits down with Dr Kate Dempsey, CEO of ANZACATA: the peak professional association for creative arts therapists in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. LISTEN NOW: |
External opportunities
The Hamilton Centre
Interested in learning more about integrating mental health and addiction care?
The Hamilton Centre, Victorian Specialist Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, provides free educational online modules, a calendar of training opportunities, a podcast series, and a range of other resources on integrated care for mental illness and substance use. If you want to enhance your skills on this topic, learn more about their work at
The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN) respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri and the
Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nation, the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land on which our office is situated. We also acknowledge Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and pay our respects to their Elders past and present.
