This supervisor has been approved to provide supervision under the ACCESS TO SUPERVISION PROJECT.

I have been working in the family peer support field for 17 years, bringing 19 years of personal lived experience as a carer supporting two sons through their mental health journeys, including substance use disorders and schizophrenia. Currently employed as a Senior Family Peer Worker at Alfred Health - Headspace Early Psychosis, I also serve as Co-Director of APOD Family Support. My journey began from personal necessity and has evolved into professional expertise, recently recognised when I won Alfred Health's 2024 Recognising Excellence Award for Patient Outcomes. My purpose is to support other family peer workers to navigate their roles with confidence whilst maintaining the authenticity of lived experience that makes our work so valuable. I am passionate about building a sustainable family peer workforce that can genuinely influence mental health systems from within.

This supervisor has been approved to provide supervision under the ACCESS TO SUPERVISION PROJECT. If you are a supervisee who has received an approval email/letter from the CMHL you may contact this supervisor for supervision for this project, then follow the stated processes for supervision payment.

Senior Family Peer Worker at Alfred Health - Headspace Early Psychosis (May 2017 - current), providing direct support to families navigating early psychosis whilst collaborating with multidisciplinary teams

Serious Incident Review Panel member, representing family peer perspective in serious incident reviews

Open Dialogue peer facilitator for training practitioners at Alfred Health and other tertiary services with Rachel Barbara-May, Senior Lead Capability and Impact, Infant, Child, and Youth Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (ICYAMHWS)

Conference presenter at TheMHS 2020, 2024 and Psychosis Australia Conference 2025

Co-Director of APOD Family Support (2018 - current), leading strategic initiatives, overseeing operations, training family peer volunteers in evidence-based support models, and facilitating support groups whilst providing direct peer support to families

Media advocacy work providing lived experience perspectives on mental health and family support through television, radio, and print media to advocate for systemic change from a relatable, everyday background

Family Peer Specialist at Family Drug Support (2009-2018), facilitating support groups, training family peer volunteers across Australia, and providing telephone support line services to families in crisis

Multiple advisory committee roles including NCCRED OLAM Study Consumer Advisory Group and Australian Open Dialogue Symposium Working Group co-facilitator

Parliamentary evidence provider at Victorian, NSW and Federal levels on family/carer perspectives

Training our volunteer family peer workers volunteers at Apod Family Support

Single session training

Senior Family Peer Worker at Alfred Health - Headspace Early Psychosis, where I support families experiencing their first encounter with psychosis services. Co-Director of APOD Family Support, providing leadership in community-based support services for people supporting those with mental health and or substance use disorders.

5-Step Method Practitioner certification, providing evidence-based training foundation. Diploma of Youth Work. Certificate in Advanced Group Work. Open Dialogue peer facilitator for training workers at Alfred Health and other tertiary services with Rachel Barbara-May, Senior Lead Capability and Impact, Infant, Child, and Youth Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (ICYAMHWS). Conference presentation experience including TheMHS conferences and Psychosis Australia. Extensive committee and advisory group participation providing ongoing professional development. Parliamentary evidence experience across three jurisdictions. Reflective practice and motivational interviewing training through 360 Edge.

My supervision approach recognises that family peer work emerges from the profound wisdom gained through navigating your own family's mental health journey. I create supervision spaces that honour the complexity of integrating lived experience with professional practice, acknowledging that this integration requires ongoing reflection and support to sustain both authenticity and wellbeing.

Central to my approach is recognising that the skills essential for effective peer work are forged through lived experience itself, the capacity to remain grounded during crisis, to hold hope in uncertainty, and to connect authentically with families in distress. This experiential wisdom creates credibility and genuine dialogical connection that formal training cannot replicate. My supervision draws on values of authenticity, empathy, and resilience-building, using reflective practice that prioritises the knowledge embedded in our personal journeys and the evidence-based strategies we have personally tested and refined through necessity.

What motivates me is seeing family peer workers develop deep confidence in the unique value of their lived experience whilst building sustainable and meaningful ways of working. I aim to provide supervision that truly honours the lived experience wisdom that makes our work so distinctive and recognises that your competence comes directly from having navigated your own challenges and grown from them. Through collaborative exploration, I support workers to trust their lived experience knowledge whilst learning how to share it thoughtfully, work effectively within existing systems without compromising their authentic voice, and prevent burnout from giving too much of themselves.