After the first day of Open Dialogue training last week in Shepparton to support a whole-of-community response to youth mental health and wellbeing in the region, ODC received this incredible message from Dr Tejas Golhar, Child and Adolescent psychiatrist at Goulburn Valley Health.

His words are moving, energising and inspired so please read on.

“For the 13 years I’ve lived and worked in this region as a child and youth psychiatrist, I’ve dreamed of professionals across all levels reorganising ourselves into an accessible, well-connected relational safety-net for our region’s struggling youth.

Today, it began!

Thirty five professionals from across different services in our region – professionals from the wellbeing team at the only public high school in the region, from various NGOs supporting youth in challenging times, clinicians from headspace and from the publicly funded local area mental health and wellbeing service, and, quite excitingly, peers from lived and living experience workforce – all of us turned up to TOGETHER start a year-long training in Open Dialogue.

We all share a desire to help, but not infrequently feel the pressure to “do” or “say” something (at times prematurely), which can inadvertently undermine the young person’s agency (“you don’t get it!”).

This training promises to be the antidote: fostering a core competency in relating – i.e. compassionate empowering deep listening, and “being there” authentically – irrespective of our backgrounds. It’s about connecting all of us into a strong, responsive, interlacing fabric of support/safety-net with a golden thread while allowing the young person to own their trapeze act.

I’m hopeful this is the start of a positive culture change for youth mental health, and that we can engage more services and organizations as we progress in our endeavour.”

Our thoughts?
This work is powerful and it’s only just beginning.
Open Dialogue training can bring people together through a shared agenda for change – for young people, for families, for the whole community and for our mental health system.