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

Lauren (She/Her) has a passion for developing the Lived and Living Experience Workforce, and strongly aligns herself with political human rights movements.

As an abolitionist at heart, Lauren is constantly reflecting on how to remain grounded in consumer values and resist co-option, whilst also balancing the tensions of working within systems

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.

Lauren has a background in youth work and community mental health. She has held identified lived experience roles, contributing to mental health reform initiatives, within community health organisations and for the Victorian Consumer Peak (VMIAC). She has experience working as a Peer Worker, Peer Practice Leader, and a Senior Consumer Consultant.

Lauren has experience in: -providing discipline specific supervision within the Consumer Perspective Supervision framework

• facilitating Intentional Peer Support training

-leading lived experience projects and programs, -co-designing and implementing lived experience workforce initiatives, -facilitating co-reflection and group reflective practice, -facilitating consultation with community members, -presenting collective consumer perspectives to executives, -providing practice leadership, coaching and mentoring to multidisciplinary community mental health teams, -providing supervision and line management within community mental health settings, -public speaking and storytelling, -co-development and facilitation of training and workshops, -facilitation of group and individual peer support spaces.

Lauren currently leads the Peer Cadet Program at Neami National. This involves supporting the emerging peer workforce whilst developing leadership skills amongst experienced Peer Workers who take on the role of Peer Mentors.

Lauren also engages in some independent work as a Consumer Consultant and a Consumer Perspective Supervisor. Lauren is open to exploratory conversations in areas of collaboration and co-reflection.

Lauren has completed: -Consumer Perspective Supervision training, -VMIAC’s Consumers Leading in Governance program, -Intentional Peer Support trainings (‘core’, ‘advance’, and ‘train the trainer’), -Alternatives to Suicide ‘when conversations turn to suicide’,

-Hearing Voices (Introduction) -Open Dialogue (One day workshop), -CMHL Consumer Consultant training, -Working with Lived Experience with Morgan Cataldo and For Purpose, -Co-design and co-production training with TACSI, -Neurodivergent training with Sonny Jane Wise, -Wounds and Wisdom Resilience training with Shayne Hood, -Recovery Star training, -Collaborative Recovery Model training, -Dual Diagnosis training, -Reasons for Use training (SVMH), -Advantaged Thinking training, -Child Safe training, -Critical Incident Stress Management training, -Cultral diversity training, -LGBTIQA+ training, -MARAM Identifying Family Violence training, -Refugee and Asylum Seeker Cultural Safety training,

Lauren also holds a Bachelor’s degree in health sciences with majors in Health Promotion and Disability, and a Bachelor’s degree in arts with majors in Psychology and Sociology.

Lauren is guided by the Consumer Perspective Supervision framework in her approach to both individual and group supervision sessions. Within this framework, Lauren holds space for reflective and reflexive practice. Using these practices to contextualise shared consumer workforce experiences can enable supervisees to process challenges while landing at meaningful and strategic solutions.

Lauren wrote a paper on how these practices take place in consumer perspective supervision, and the benefits they can have for consumer workforce members. Her work is featured on the Inside Out and Associates website as a resource, available here: https://insideoutconversations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/12_Reflective-and-Reflexive-Practice-in-Consumer-Perspective-Supervision-by-Lauren-Naismith.pdf

Lauren is guided by consumer values and understands the political nature of lived and living experience work.

Lauren prioritises connection and well-being through supervision, and sees this as an opportunity to learn and grow together. Having said this, Lauren will always allow the Supervisee to lead the session to the place they need it to go.

A working alliance of how you would like to approach supervision can guide Lauren in meeting your needs, whilst setting up the space to meet boundaries and expectations of supervision.