Mental Health in Practice
Practical conversations about mental health care across Australia’s health system.
Mental Health in Practice is a podcast for health professionals working across the mental health system, featuring conversations grounded in real-world experience.
Each episode brings together perspectives from clinical practice, research, and sector expertise to explore contemporary mental health care.
The show focuses on what thoughtful, collaborative care looks like in practice – and how professionals across disciplines can better support mental health outcomes for Australians.
Episodes
105 episodes
Peer-led Digital Spaces for LGBTIQA+ Young People
How can peer-led digital spaces support LGBTIQA+ young people?Hamish Czygan (Online Peer Work Team Lead at headspace National) is joined by Kevin Tran (Peer Worker) and Jack Ebacioni (Senior Mental Health Clinician). Together, they highl...
School Can’t: Attendance Challenges and Re-engagement
What does engagement-focused care for young people with school attendance challenges look like in multidisciplinary practice? Join Paige Davey (School Re-engagement Specialist and Trainer) and Richard Crawshaw (Founder of
Complexity and Youth Mental Health: Leading Effective Teams
What does effective conflict management in multidisciplinary teams look like? Host Radhika Santhanam-Martin (Clinical Psychologist) is joined by guests Aly Butchers (Manager of Legal Practice for the Family Violence Program at Youth...
Young People and Trauma: Applications of Systems Theory
How can a systems approach improve care for young people with complex trauma? Join host Dana Shen (Consultant), and guests Seanna Davidson (Systems Change Practitioner and Education) and Tim Crowley (Nurse Practitioner in Child and ...
Barriers to Care: Designing a men’s mental health service
Content advice: This episode discusses the topic of suicide, listener discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is in crisis, support is available. In Australia, contact Lifelin...
Anxiety in the Perinatal Period: A Peer Work Perspective
Anxiety can often be difficult to recognise during the perinatal period, with many people hesitating to seek support. Robyn Stanislavski and Katie Rogerson from PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia) discuss their roles as peer work...
What Makes ADHD Burnout So Different?
Mental Health Occupational Therapist Emma Ketley and ADHD and autism advocate Amy Green explore neurodivergent burnout and why it is so often misunderstood in clinical settings. Amy candidly shares her lived experience, highlighting how burnout...
ADHD: Support Beyond Medication
How can people with ADHD be supported beyond medication?Occupational Therapist and ADHD Coach Emma Ketley and ADHD and autism advocate Amy Green bring their professional insight and lived experience, for an honest conversation about supp...
Social Work in Legal Practice: Improving Client Wellbeing
What happens when social workers work inside a law firm? Clients get more support than you might expect. This episode features Olga Gountras and Alexis Stonebridge from Slater and Gordon. They speak about supporting clients’ mental ...
Anger: Practical Skills to Support Client Goals
When people learn to understand their anger, it can become a tool for insight, stronger relationships and positive change. In this episode, Dr Tony McHugh and Prof Glen Bates explore how mental health professionals can support indiv...
Anger: Building Literacy for Both Practitioners and Clients
Anger can be a helpful and productive emotion, but for some people it can impact what matters most to them. Join Tony McHugh and Glen Bates as they explore effective ways for mental health professionals to better support individuals...
A Conversation About… Connecting Through Music and Art Therapy
Music therapist, Jason Kenner, and art therapist, Pam Hellema, explore how their disciplines overlap, influence and amplify each other. Drawing on their collaboration in acute mental health at The Alfred, they describe what happens when art and...
A Conversation About… Supporting Families and Patients in Palliative Care
In this episode, Senior Mental Health Nurse and Family Therapist, Kate Cogan, joins Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Sidney Bloch, and Palliative Medicine Consultant, Dr Adrian Dabscheck, to explore providing support and care for people receiv...
Book Club: Reflecting on Life and Death with Leo Tolstoy’s ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’
In this episode of Book Club, Sidney Bloch and Jeremy Holmes unpack The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy’s exploration of mortality, self-deception, and the search for meaning. They reflect on Ivan’s experiences with illness, the reac...
A Conversation About… Why Interpreters Matter in Mental Health Care
Interpreters do so much more than translate words. In mental health, they offer support to help clients feel understood, and practitioners to deliver care across cultures and languages. Dr Radhika Santhanam-Martin speaks with Nellie Bi, Blossom...
A Conversation About… Culture, Connection and Indigenous Flourishing – Part 2
Culture and connection are at the heart of Indigenous wellbeing. Professor Pat Dudgeon, Dr Abi Bray and Professor Alan Rosen return for the second episode in this two-part series on Indigenous flourishing. Building on their earlier ...
A Conversation About… Culture, Connection and Indigenous Flourishing – Part 1
Culture and connection are at the heart of Indigenous wellbeing.Professor Pat Dudgeon, Dr Abi Bray and Professor Alan Rosen explore Indigenous flourishing in this first episode of a two-part series. During their discussion, they explore ...
A Conversation About… Multidisciplinary Mental Health Care in Remote Settings
Supporting mental health in remote communities requires strong relationships, clear communication and a shared understanding. In this episode, Timothy Corcoran (Social Worker), Wendy Hall (Mental Health Nurse), and Josephine Tan (Me...
A Conversation About… Supporting Recovery: Eating Disorders and the Role of Multidisciplinary Care
What does meaningful support look like for someone living with an eating disorder? In this episode, Peta Marks (National Programs Manager – InsideOut Institute) and Stephanie Boulet (Provisional Psychologist) share insights for ment...
A Conversation About… Shaping the Future of Care with GP Registrars and Psychiatry Trainees
In a convergence of medical practice and governance, this episode’s guests are both practicing medical professionals and representatives at their respective boards: Ava Carter (Psychiatrist, RANZCP) joins Rebecca Loveridge (GP, RACGP) and Chris...
A Conversation About... Navigating Complexity in Mental Health through Systems Theory
How can systems theory help navigate the complexity of mental health work? In this episode, Dana Shen (Consultant) and Seanna Davidson (Systems Change Practitioner and Educator) explore the principles of systems theory, and how reco...
In The First Person… Living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
In this episode, Jessica Birch speaks to clinical social worker Prue Walker and shares her lived experience with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). She reflects on her personal journey, the stigma encountered surrounding FASD, and how an ...
A Conversation About… Alcohol, Pregnancy and FASD
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is a condition that often goes undiagnosed, yet understanding it is vital for providing the right support. In this episode, Dr Hester Wilson, GP and addiction specialist, speaks to clinical p...
A Conversation About… Multidisciplinary Care: Rhetoric or Reality?
In this episode, Dr Radhika Santhanam-Martin speaks with Dr Elly Scrine and Summayyah Olawunmi Sadiq-Ojibara to explore the complex realities practitioners face in delivering multidisciplinary care. They discuss the barriers, professional tensi...
In the First Person… Improving the physical health of people living with mental illness
Content warning: This episode contains discussions of childhood sexual abuse which may be distressing for some listeners.Mental and physical health are deeply connected, yet they are often treated separately in healthcare.J...
