Perspectives
Two Days of Exploring Open Dialogue!
We’d love to hear your thoughts about the Open Dialogue Centre 2024 Conference.
Thank you all for joining us in Macquarie Park over the 27th and 28th of May for our first National Open Dialogue Centre Conference!
We brought together a room full of people from various backgrounds in mental health, schools and community organisations, some new to Open Dialogue and some not, 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 and wellbeing space.
Some of the topics and themes discussed over the two days included the art of deep listening, Open Dialogue in action in mental health services, schools and communities, the potential and future of Open Dialogue globally and the role of a lived experience workforce and leadership. There was also the opportunity for shared insights and new connections in the room as we reflected on the presentations each day – around the firepit. We have had very positive feedback about the dialogical conversations over the two days not only within the intimate firepit settings, but also with the whole conference room and the breakout groups which allowed for some engaging, provocative and inspiring sharings.
Here are just a few of your takeaways from the day:
“Authenticity and honesty is the way we can integrate our teams and really show up for our communities.”
“This conference has confirmed/reaffirmed the importance of many perspectives/experiences that bring us together.”
“Loved the broader view of settings where this can be applied. Looking forward to broadening my view even more!”
“Focus on where you want to start.”
Join us at our next event:
School Symposium in the Blue Mountains
Creating change in mental health and wellbeing with Open Dialogue utilising a Whole-of-School approach
Or spread the word and invite your local school health and wellbeing leaders to an event not to be missed.
On day two at the conference, we had the chance to hear from people like Sarah Farell-Whelan and Andrea McCloughen about their five-year journey in implementing Open Dialogue at Korowal School in New South Wales.
On Friday the 2nd of August, the Open Dialogue Centre in partnership with Korowal School is hosting a School Symposium to learn more about the potential of Open Dialogue in school communities and hear from a diverse range of voices in the school setting. We invite you to register and join us for a day of experiential learning to explore further how Open Dialogue can benefit schools, families, teachers and the wider school community.
Involving family and community with Open Dialogue
We hope you gained a deeper understanding of Open Dialogue and how the approach is being applied and described in Australia and around the world. Open Dialogue brings people and organisations together to involve family and community, shift power structures and enable the change our systems need to see better outcomes in mental health and wellbeing.
We encourage you to keep this conversation going in your personal and professional lives, and continue your Open Dialogue journey by learning more about ways the Centre offers support to organisations and schools who are interested in learning more. This includes our educational and training programs like the Open Dialogue Discovery Workshops and the One-Year Foundation Course, as well as our co-design and implementation support. Please reach out if you would like to discuss your organisation’s needs and how Open Dialogue may be a good fit.
The ODDESSI Trial Outcomes Webinar
As discussed at the conference, the ODDESSI (Open Dialogue: Development and Evaluation of a Social Network Intervention for Severe Mental Illness) trial has been happening in London since 2019, and has worked with participants in the National Health System (NHS) who are either receiving Open Dialogue care or care as usual to determine which approach is most helpful for people experiencing significant stress on their social and emotional health and wellbeing. The research also aims to determine how well Open Dialogue can fit within the existing NHS, and evaluate the experience of service users, carers and staff throughout their experience.
The Open Dialogue Centre will be running a webinar on the ODDESSI Trial outcomes later this year, hosted by Russell Razzaque and other members of the trial team. This webinar will be free to all conference participants, so we encourage you to keep an eye out for more information on this session.
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