Psychology for everyone everywhere all at once

Damien Riggs (he/him) is a professor of psychology at Flinders University and a psychotherapist in private practice.  He writes extensively (over 200 publications!) about family diversity, including gender, sexuality, surrogacy, out of home care, animal companions, and the intersections of race and queerness.  His PhD, completed in 2006, was entitled "Belonging, benevolence and the repression of white violence."  Damien's psychotherapy practice focuses on working with trans children and their families.  Anita chatted with Damien about what it means to have lived experience in an area, what that means about what you're allowed to talk about, and psychology's failure to talk about its context and limitations.    

Smruthy Nair (she/they) is a Psychologist and Board Approved Supervisor with a passion for simplifying the idea of mental health. She has extensive experience working with children, adolescents and adults, both in India and Australia since qualifying in 2011. Smruthy is committed to intersectionality and collaboration, uses anti-oppressive and systems focused lens, and has worked in clinical, inclusion and advocacy roles in mental health, education, youth mental health and multiculturalism in private and public settings. Smruthy and her Unhyphen Psychology colleague Bimba Chavan run The Other Chair, a peer supervision and support network for psychologists who are People of Colour. She currently works on Larrakia country (Darwin) for the Department of Education and Training, leading the implementation of the Respectful Relationships Education program across all schools in the Northern Territory. Aileen and Smruthy shared their varied experiences of being migrant psychologists in Australia. ***Apologies for poor audio quality at times***  

Den Abreu (they/them) is the Principal Psychologist, Founder and CEO of Haven Psychology, a private practice with offices in Brisbane/Meanjin and Melbourne/Naarm. They are a Board Approved Supervisor, Psychosexual Therapist, a person of colour and identifies as NeuroQueer (ADHDer, Genderfluid and Queer). Haven Psychology is a trauma-informed, sex-positive and identity-inclusive and affirming practice. Den has a special interest in complex mental health, such as complex and developmental trauma, psychosis, dissociative disorders, and personality vulnerabilities. Their favourite ways to work include EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Ego State Therapy, and Narrative Therapy. Anita appreciated the opportunity to talk to and learn from Den.  

Professor Pat Dudgeon (she/her) is a Bardi woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia.  She was the first Aboriginal person to qualify as a Psychologist in Australia in 1985, and since then has had a long and distinguished career as a leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing, Indigenous suicide prevention, decolonising psychology education and practice.  Pat is the Director of the University of Western Australia’s Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention and was the head of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtain University for 17 years. She was a founding Chair of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association and a founding board member of Gayaa Dhuwi Proud Spirit Australia.  Her list of achievements and publications is far too long for me to list but hopefully this gives you a taste of Pat’s role as a pioneer in Indigenous psychology and mental health in Australia.  Anita was honoured to have this conversation with Pat, who generously talked about her experience of studying and creating change in psychology, about self-determination, and also about the Working Together book which celebrates it’s 15th anniversary this year (downloadable for free here). Pat spoke to me from Whadjuk Noongar country in Perth, while I was on Wurunjeri woi-worrung country in Melbourne.

Averil Cook (she/her) is a clinical psychologist and founder of Bodhi & Psychology, a practice located in Leichhardt on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation (Sydney). She is a family therapist and has background leadership in psychology training programs and academia, NSW health services and hospitals. Bodhi & Psychology works towards decolonising therapy and clinician practices through therapy, training, supervision and consultation. Across her career Averil has been passionate about social justice and has woven this into her work supervising and training psychologists, in her work with mental health organisations and in research. Her current work includes research collaborations examining climate change on the mental health of diverse communities with NSW Health, the Bureau of Meterology and the Ingham Institute, and consulting to the Human Rights Commission to support intersectional and embodied change. Aileen was inspired by her discussion with Averil about the path ahead for Australian psychologists to decolonise their practice.

Nasalifya Namwinga (she/her) is a clinical psychologist and co-founder of Pola Practice in Ascot Vale in Naarm (Melbourne) in 2018, on the lands of the Wurundjeri people. Nasalifya is a Zambian woman who was raised in the UK and Aotorea/New Zealand before settling in Naarm. Pola Practice focused on culturally responsive and intersectional practice. Nasalifya provides consultation with a specialisation in culturally responsive mental health service delivery, executive coaching from an intersectional perspective and is pursuing a PhD professional burnout and the role of emerging technology. Anita was lucky enough to chat with Nasalifya about her experiences of studying and practicing psychology, what helps practitioners who are people of colour, and how our profession can better serve people who have experiences of marginalisation.

Dr Judy Tang (she/her) is a clinical neuropsychologist and director at Invictus Health in Preston in Naarm (Melbourne), on the lands of the Wurundjeri people. A daughter of refugee migrants, Judy is a queer Asian-Australian who co-founded the Solis network, a “capacity-building, support & resource network for culture-oriented mental health advocates and practitioners”. Judy is also a Victorian Multicultural Commissioner and on the board of the Victorian Pride Centre.  Anita had the pleasure of speaking with Judy about her experience of studying psychology, of advocacy, and of connecting practitioners to make their voices stronger.

Aileen and Anita talk about their plans for this podcast.  Stay tuned for a series of conversations about diversity in psychology in Australia.