[csaa-forum] Prof. Patricia Dudgeon seminar - March 27th, 6-7:30pm - Now online

[Jacqueline Dalziell]

Hi everyone,

Prof. Patricia Dudgeon (UWA) was due to speak on March 27th, 6-7:30pm this Thursday at USYD.

Her seminar will now take place online; the date and time remain unchanged.

Further details and zoom link available at: https://www.psychoanalysisatsydney.com.au/event-details/prof-patricia-dudgeon

Please find Pat's abstract and bio reproduced below:


Title: Decolonising Mental Health

Abstract

In psychology, decolonising strategies are necessary and some of these involve reframing the discipline of psychology to incorporate Indigenous knowledges and worldviews.  Also, concurrently increasing the involvement of Aboriginal psychologists, mental health practitioners and community healers in contributing to an Indigenous psychology. Our work involves advocating for the integration and legitimation of Aboriginal concepts of mental health and social and emotional wellbeing within mainstream health and the mental health sector. Indigenous psychology has become a global concern and will be an important emerging discipline in the next decades. This presentation will provide an overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and will describe decolonising initiatives such as the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP). Emerging from a national consultation, the Centre of Best Practice operates from an anti-colonial viewpoint and is grounded in strengths-based concepts of community ownership and valuing culture. Mental health and wellbeing amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities has become a critical issue and evidence suggests that it is worsening. This increasing concern stems from increasingly high rates of psychological distress, hospitalisation for mental health conditions and most critically, increasing suicide rates.

Mainstream western approaches to mental health and services have an ongoing history of failing to consider and address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ needs. This includes the failure to acknowledge historical and cultural contexts within conceptualisations of mental health and wellbeing. The wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples cannot be understood without appropriate recognition of these important contexts. <http://contexts.in/> In recent times, innovative approaches are emerging within the field of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing that confirm a promising way forward. An example is SEWB, which has emerged as an important concept within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing. Whilst the term SEWB is often used to refer to issues of ‘mental health’ and ‘mental illness’, the concept of SEWB is actually much broader and more holistic. SEWB recognises the importance of connection to land, culture, spirituality, ancestry, family and community, as well as how these interrelate to impact the individual, their family, and their community. This concept has been further developed by the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association. Such discussions involve the holistic nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing as well as the historical impacts resulting in social determinants that adversely impact wellbeing. This presentation will address how work within the wellbeing and mental health space must be undertaken in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and prioritise the importance of culture in programs and services. Further, groundbreaking national efforts to decolonise mainstream psychology – the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project - will be discussed.


Bio

Professor Pat Dudgeon’s (AM, BAppSc. GDip(Psych). PhD. FAPS. FAHMS. FAHA.) career spans 40 years, commencing as Australia’s first Aboriginal psychologist. The social change resulting from her formidable work cements her as a founding person in Indigenous psychology who remains at the forefront of a movement towards the empowerment of Indigenous peoples worldwide and at all levels of mental health services.

Pat has led several national multidisciplinary integrated projects, including:


  *   Since 2011, National Empowerment Project (NEP) has facilitated Aboriginal community-led empowerment and development projects in 11 national sites. Comprehensive evaluations have attested to the project’s success as evident in extensive citations related to the role of ethical practice and community participatory action research, and the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) model.
  *   Working Together Book (eds. Dudgeon et al., 2014) is recognised by Government and peak regulatory bodies as seminal in supporting the workforces, academics, clinicians, and policy makers. The text is referenced in major international textbooks and translated into 11 languages, across 28 countries. Over 48,000 hardcopies and 100,000 e-copies have been disseminated worldwide.
  *   The Solutions That Work: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Project (ATSISPEP) report revolutionised the evaluation frameworks being used with Indigenous suicide trial sites across Australia. The processes outlined in the report have guided Primary Health Networks, informed parliamentary submissions, state plans and underpinned Indigenous mental health and suicide prevention policy.
  *   Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP2) is a national community of practice with over 30 partner universities and all major principle regulatory bodies: Psychology Registration Board, Australian Psychology Accreditation Council, Heads of Schools and Departments of Psychology Assoc, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA). Due to AIPEP1, the competencies for curricula in psychology included cultural responsiveness in 2016. This second iteration of the project furthers increasing Indigenous perspectives in psychology courses and increasing Indigenous students engagement.
  *   The NHMRC Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing Project (TIMHWB), involves developing culturally and clinically capable services with Aboriginal organisations and mainstream mental health services that mark a turning point in transforming Indigenous mental health by supporting a decolonised system that supports self-determination, reflects Indigenous values and meets the needs of Indigenous peoples.
  *   She is also the director of the Centre for Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at UWA.
  *   Also, a commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Self Harm that has been recently released.


Pat’s prominent role as a trailblazer in psychology is clear through her position as inaugural chair of AIPA and continued board membership; former chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leaders Mental Health and board membership of Gayaa Dhuwi Proud Spirit Australia. In 2016, Pat received the APS apology on behalf of Indigenous Australians and has continued to work in partnership with the APS to decolonise the psychology discipline. Her extensive corpus of research in SEWB and self-determination has become integral to mental health and suicide prevention policy in Australia, for Indigenous health and health broadly. Importantly, SEWB was included as a target in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (2020). She co-chairs the SEWB Policy Partnership. Her work has been recognised by being elected a Fellow to the Australian Academy of the Humanities (2024) and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (2022).


RSVPs appreciated but not obligatory:

https://www.psychoanalysisatsydney.com.au/event-details/prof-patricia-dudgeon

Thanks so much everyone,

Jac


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