Anita McCurdy is the senior manager of both the Education First Youth Foyer and Better Futures program in Shepparton, Victoria. The Youth Foyer works to support young people who are unable to live at home to achieve their education goals and build skills for independence, and the Better Futures program aims to support independence once a young person leaves Out of Home Care. ODC talked to Anita about the principle of Tolerating Uncertainty and how it can be a tough but important challenge for those working in environments where understanding risk is crucial.  

“The way I work sometimes clashes with the way that a lot of other people in the same field work – with a certain script within a medical model that allows mental health workers to feel as though they’ve followed steps. And these steps often miss some really important considerations.

The principle of Tolerating Uncertainty in the Open Dialogue approach sits really well with me because I’ve always valued being trauma-informed, and holding risk carefully without rushed decisions.

In Open Dialogue there’s a lot of listening and trying to be in tune with what’s happening to the person, and enabling the person to direct the conversation around what they feel comfortable talking about. Uncertainty and flexibility comes with this. Having no actions after an Open Dialogue meeting really throws people and makes them uncomfortable, but it also allows people to come up with more creative ideas and forces them to be reflective.

Sitting in uncertainty allows people to take in what the views, thoughts and feelings of the young person are so they are at the centre of support when thinking about what next steps could be. You can still do risk assessments but it doesn’t have to be at the forefront of the whole process. I think immediate diagnosis leads to excuses for not connecting and understanding more deeply. For me, Tolerating Uncertainty strips it all back and fosters a sense of letting go to see what happens, and it allows for more creativity in teams so they can go to the next level and be more in tune.”