Get Real: Talking mental health & disability

Get Real presents frank and fearless conversations about mental health and disability, including people with lived experience, frontline workers in the sector, as well as policymakers and advocates. Get Real is produced and hosted by Emily Webb and co-hosted by Karenza Louis-Smith on behalf of ermha365 Complex Mental Health and Disability Services provider (https://www.ermha.org/).

Contributors

Host

Emily Webb

Emily Webb is a journalist, podcaster and is employed at leading mental health and disability organisation ermha365 as their Advocacy and External Communications Advisor.

Emily produces and hosts GET Real: Talking Mental Health and Disability. Emily is an experienced journalist and communications specialist.
As well as talking about mental health and disability on Get Real Emily also specialises in true crime and has co-hosted the popular Australian True Crime podcast and is the author of Suburban True Crime.

Co-host

Karenza Louis-Smith

Karenza has over 25 years industry experience working in the UK and Australia, 16 of these have been as the CEO of leading, award winning for-purpose organisations. Her areas of expertise include designing and leading services that respond to mental illness, psychiatric disability, offending (including services for those at risk of entering the criminal justice system) as well as drug treatment and homelessness.

Karenza’s unique perspective as a sector leader and innovator includes her own lived experience of mental ill health as a young person.

A passion for radio sparked the idea to co-create Get Real and build a platform for frank and fearless conversations with others about mental health and disability.

Guests

Guest

Armon Tamatea

Armon (Rongowhakāta; Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) is a clinical psychologist who served as a clinician and senior research advisor for Ara Poutama Aotearoa/Dept of Corrections (New Zealand) before being appointed senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Waikato. He has worked extensively in the assessment and treatment of violent and sexual offenders, and contributed to the design and implementation of an experimental prison-based violence prevention programme for high-risk offenders diagnosed with psychopathy. He was also president of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuse (ANZATSA) from 2018-2021. Armon currently divides his professional time between research, teaching, supervision, and clinical practice in the criminal justice arena.

Guest

Cheryl Jameson

Cheryl Jameson is a mental health support worker and the mother of four adult children.

Cheryl found herself on the other side of systems when her eldest child was 16 and developed psychosis. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which was drug-resistant for many years.

Cheryl shares her insights and experiences of working with service providers to meet the complex needs of her son so that he is living the best life that he wants.

Guest

Phillipa Thomas CEO Mental Health Victoria

Phillipa Thomas joined MHV as CEO to lead the organisation in collective actions pursuing a better mental health and wellbeing system for Victoria. Phillipa’s past work with the Victorian Government and as a Clinician has given her a holistic experience in both client facing care and system reform which she brings to us now in her role.

As CEO, she leads collaborative efforts to advocate for and support a modern, accessible mental health system, support a thriving workforce, and promote impactful sector reforms. Her work connects people, influences policy, and sustains momentum for positive change in mental health across Victoria.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipa-thomas-030305113/