Perspectives
Welcome to the July 2024 edition of Perspectives!
Our July issue includes updates on upcoming events including the School Symposium and the Free Online Discovery Workshop, some relevant research about mental wellbeing in schools, a deep dive into one of the Open Dialogue principles and a recap of recent events such as our First National Conference and our Brisbane Launch.
Some of the key findings from this report included:
The demand for support for wellbeing focused initiatives has grown from 31% in 2018 to 48% in 2023
71% of wellbeing focused applications for support in 2023 identified professional development for teachers as the best strategy to better support children’s wellbeing
In 2023, 97% of requests for support from schools included an aim of addressing mental health and wellbeing needs of their students
53% of teachers don’t feel well equipped to deal with mental health and wellbeing issues
Lack of family engagement is one of the top drivers of children not wanting or not being able to attend school
Schools should be at the centre of a whole-of-community solution, contributing to a vital and well-supported early intervention and prevention resource to help children, their families and carers to positively reconnect, and stay connected with the school experience
The report includes some key policy recommendations which are in line with Open Dialogue principles. These include the implementation of ‘Wellbeing Navigators’ to coordinate effective identification, prevention and early intervention wellbeing and mental health strategies, as well as ‘Educator Professional Development and Wellbeing Learning Programs’ to equip staff and teachers with timely, evidence-based professional development that will help them create safe and supportive learning environments whilst being able to identify student wellbeing needs.
Open Dialogue is an approach that can help address these issues in schools, by creating a whole-of-school approach and improving student engagement and learning, wellbeing and relationships with parents and families, whilst also providing better support for staff and educators.
The School Symposium is Right Around the Corner!
To hear about the real impacts that implementing an Open Dialogue approach has made in a school setting, join us at our School Symposium in partnership with Korowal School in Katoomba New South Wales on Friday the 2nd of August 2024. There will be opportunities to hear from staff, students and families about their journey adapting Open Dialogue Principles into their school and the positive wellbeing outcomes this has had. This event is also a chance to discover how a school network is being formed, convened by ODC so that we can grow Open Dialogue in any school setting in Australia
Brisbane Launch Highlights
After building our presence in both New South Wales and Victoria, The Centre held a Queensland Launch event in Brisbane on the 20th June where over 45 guests were welcomed by our host Sara Parrot, CEO of Hand Heart Pocket.
Joining the Open Dialogue Centre’s CEO Keith Bryant and our Head of Training, Mark Hopfenbeck, Steve Lewin and Telly Fogg from Youth Insearch gave attendees a powerful sense of their involvement with ODC, speaking about the impact that the Open Dialogue approach has had on their organisation and work with young people.
As an organisation with a national vision, ODC has relationships in Queensland through Youth Insearch’s regional presence in Gladstone and Bundaberg, and through ongoing interest from the Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Mental Health Service in Townsville.
Our launch in Brisbane included representation from Queensland Health, the Queensland Mental Health Commission, the Queensland Alliance for Mental Health and the Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership. We also had representation from one of the local Primary Health Networks – from the Darling Downs West Morton district.
A number of community organisations also attended including staff from Micah Projects, Roses in the Ocean, Relationships Australia (Qld) and Peach Tree.
We would like to thank Hand Heart Pocket’s Sara Parrot, Amy Maynard and Donna Duncan for making the event a great success.
Get to Know an ODC Team Member - Mark Hopfenbeck
What is your role at the Open Dialogue Centre?
I am the Head of Training which means I have the privilege of working with an inspiring group of experienced Open Dialogue trainers in designing, developing and delivering a large variety of educational programs – from our annual, free, one-day, online introduction to our one-year foundation course. I also supervise Open Dialogue teams and collaborate with the rest of the ODC team in supporting our partners with implementation, evaluation and research.
What is something you find valuable about Open Dialogue?
There is so much of value working with Open Dialogue! For me, the essence of Open Dialogue is that it combines a compassionate, radically person-driven, and human rights-based approach with a whole-of-society understanding of how to support a person and their family and networks when they are in the midst of a crisis. Working in this way provides responsive, holistic care that is inclusive, empowering, healing and sustainable.
Open Dialogue Principal Unpacked: Tolerating Uncertainty
Tolerating Uncertainty is one of the seven Key Principles of Open Dialogue. The aim is for mental health teams to avoid making premature decisions about the nature of a crisis, a diagnosis, or medication when a number of pathways or solutions could be explored.
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.”
Open Dialogue Centre 2024 Conference Recap
Thank you to everyone who joined us on the 27th and 28th of May in Macquarie Park for our first Open Dialogue Centre National Conference!
We brought together a room of nearly 100 people from diverse background areas in mental health, including prevention and intervention right through to mental health settings, as well as schools and community organisations, some new to Open Dialogue and some not. We had the opportunity to hear from an extraordinary line-up of panellists and presenters sharing their journey with the Open Dialogue approach and experiences within the mental health space.
These two days were made even more valuable from the group’s sharings in our various firepit groups, as well as the breakout sessions on day two where there was opportunity to express new ideas about using Open Dialogue in various contemporary contexts.
We have had lots of positive feedback and we hope people left feeling inspired, supported and ready to continue the conversation about Open Dialogue in their own lives.
Applications are open for the One-Year Foundation Course Sydney!
We are excited to announce that applications are open for the Open Dialogue Centre One-Year Foundation Course in Sydney!
The Open Dialogue One-Year Foundation Course Sydney runs across four blocks of four days from February – November 2025. Facilitated by Mark Hopfenbeck, Lisa Dawson and Flick Grey, participants get the chance to deeply explore the Open Dialogue approach, principles and origins and understand the underlying theory of effective systemic and dialogical practice with families, networks and organisations.
The course involves different aspects of learning about Open Dialogue, such as supervised dialogical practice-based learning, relational self-work, theory studies, peer study groups, lived experience partnership and various reading and coursework elements to reflect on your journey towards becoming a dialogical practitioner or worker.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to practice Open Dialogue as an ethical, human rights-based approach to mental health and adapt the use of dialogical practices to their own personal styles and settings.
We invite those who are currently learning or want to learn how to use Open Dialogue in their treatment practice, as well as those leaders who want to lead their team towards working with Open Dialogue, in mental health and wellbeing and other fields where it may be beneficial.
Places are limited and the application process is detailed on our website.
Get involved as a supporter or find out more
We invite interest from new supporters as we expand the potential for Open Dialogue to meet the increasing demand for new approaches in mental health care.