Emerging Minds Australia

The team had a great time connecting with over 40 mental health organisations from across Australia today at the Mental Health Expo organised by Mental Health Australia and hosted at Parliament House. Fantastic to see interest from MPs and parliamentary staff around prevention, early intervention and improving the mental health and well-being of Australians of all walks of life and backgrounds. Fantastic to catch up with friends old and new and heartening to know we’re walking this path together. Thanks Mental Health Australia!

In our next webinar with the Mental Health Professionals' Network (MHPN), our interdisciplinary panel of experts explore how to increase the knowledge, confidence and skills of mental health professionals when supporting the mental health of children living in out-of-home care. Facilitated by Nicole Rollbusch (Practice Development Officer, Emerging Minds) our panel includes: - Kate Headley (speech pathologist) - Candice Butler (child protection social worker) - Felicity Kime (peer worker/child and family partner). Register for our webinar: https://bit.ly/4gZ4aEe

Our online course 'Supporting children who have experienced trauma' aims to use trauma-informed practice to study the detail and skills of therapeutic engagement, from working with reluctant children to identifying their resilience and strengths, helping them move past self-blame and hopelessness. Check out our course on Emerging Minds Learning today. https://bit.ly/3iW0Sng

Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) is celebrating 20 years with a research afternoon and anniversary oration showcasing its breadth of research, government and organisational membership. The research afternoon will consist of two concurrent sessions including basic research and government, along with short, community-focused presentations. The Hon. Kate Ellis will present the 20th anniversary oration on the subject of 'Early childhood in South Australia: Time for doing the doing'. Join us on 16 October by registering your attendance through the HDA website, where a full program for the afternoon is also available. https://bit.ly/3NbG0IG

How can services continue to develop forms of service delivery that are more accessible and responsive to the needs of children and their families? How can services be designed and implemented so that they are also sustaining and invigorating of practitioners and their skill development? In this two-episode series, we speak with Joanne Donne, a practice manager with Relationships Australia South Australia (RASA), about their single session consultation service. In this first episode, Joanne outlines some of the key elements of single session thinking, and how RASA has brought these ideas into their own context when working with children and families. Listen to this episode 🎧: https://bit.ly/4eLNVs8

Being removed from home and placed in out-of-home care (OOHC) can be a distressing and confusing experience for children. They often don’t know why they are being removed and, in most cases, do not wish to be, even if their home life is unsafe.   With much research and focus on poor outcomes for children in care, it can feel as though negative effects on their mental health and wellbeing are inevitable.   This course was developed to demonstrate that there are many opportunities for practitioners who have contact with children in OOHC to shift these outcomes, even in the face of a complex system like child protection.   By supporting children’s identity, participation and self-worth in small ways, you can help make a big difference to the mental health and wellbeing of children living in OOHC.   Log in or register on Emerging Minds Learning: https://bit.ly/3Y63JR1

Check out the latest child mental health research. This month’s highlights include: - co-producing an intervention to prevent mental health problems in children in contact with child welfare services - children’s screen time and psychosocial symptoms at five years of age – the role of parental factors - the views of mental health clinicians on self-harm and suicidal behaviours in children - the exposure of culturally and racially marginalised migrant children to domestic and family. https://bit.ly/3Zpn8NP

Our latest online course provides ways for you to be aware of your own cultural lens and the importance of connection to culture, and how to apply cultural understandings to their practice. It invites you to be an ally and enhance communication strategies to align with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing. By providing higher quality and culturally responsive care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, you can better address these needs and work towards reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. Log in or register today: https://bit.ly/4dR0gej

The month of September is recognised as International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Awareness Month, with International FASD Awareness Day acknowledged on 9 September each year. It is a time to raise awareness of FASD and the importance of an alcohol-free pregnancy. Our FASD research papers have been designed for practitioners working in child-centred and adult-focused services, as well as general practitioners and allied health professionals working with pregnant women. Check out our full suite of FASD resources: https://bit.ly/3yGaHMG

Emerging Minds Families produce a great range of information to share with the parents and families you work with, including this resource which looks at supporting children through separation and divorce. Each year, many parents separate or divorce. Parents often worry about the impacts their separation will have on their children, but most children adapt well with the support of their parent/s, family and community. There are many ways parents can help their children adjust, cope with changes and keep thriving. This resource is for parents who are currently navigating separation or have separated or divorced. It offers information about children’s experiences and reactions to parents’ separation, plus advice from other parents, health professionals and researchers about ways parents can lessen the impacts of separation on children. https://bit.ly/4dXWdNE