Resources & Info

This page shares resources & ideas about mental health, madness, trauma and recovery. Use them for yourself or a loved one, or in your mental health work or organisation.

For more ideas, read my blog, check out some of my public talks or follow me on social media.

All the resources on this page are freely available to use and share, although I do appreciate a reference if you are using them in a professional context.

Resources for recovery and healing

Coping Skills

Download flyer: Coping skills (pdf)

Coping skills help us to survive difficult emotions, thoughts and experiences. They give us a break from our pain, which in turn gives us space to build our personal skills, strengths and resources.

Coping skills won’t solve our underlying issues, but they can be an important step on the road to recovery. Sometimes they can be life-saving.

I’ve put together this information sheet about coping skills in the hope that it may be helpful to others. It’s based on what has helped me get through difficult times, and the wise advice I have learned from others.

Please feel free to share this flyer with anyone who may be interested. I am also interested in your feedback and ideas to improve it.

Living with Difficult Emotions

Download Booklet: Living with difficult emotions (pdf)

Difficult emotions like anger, fear, shame and sadness can cripple our lives. But finding new ways to understand and respond to these emotions can also free us from suffering and create new opportunities in our lives.

I created this 12 page booklet for people interested in understanding more about difficult emotions. It includes worksheets to explore your own experiences with difficult emotions.

Resources for mental health workers

Co-created notes

Download the Co-Created Notes Flyer

Has your organisation considered implementing co-created notes?

They’re a great opportunity to become more recovery-oriented, to create more respectful relationships, and to make notes something of value to consumers as well as the service.

In clinical settings, co-created notes can help staff to move away from subjective observations, and towards more therapeutic and respectful engagement with consumers. Staff will gain a deeper understanding of the consumer’s experience. And they’ll be out of the nurse’s station.

I implemented co-created notes at Voices Vic, Prahran Mission, and they were a great success with participants and workers.

Read more about my personal experience of typical notes, and co-created notes, in the blog post ‘Writing about me without me’.

The participation ladder: A consumer/survivor lens

Download the resource

People want to have a say about the things that affect their lives. The bigger the impact, the more say we want.

And if a service or system has the power to take away our human rights, if it can hurt us—then we should be the people whose voices matter most.

Are you thinking about setting up a co-design or co-production project?

Wondering how to set up participatory processes with consumers in an authentic and respectful way?

This short resource provides a consumer/survivor lens on the ladder of participation, including the difference between each level. It includes:

• A self-assessment tool to work out the highest level of participation that’s feasible for your project
• Best practices for engaging with consumers and survivors, regardless of participation level
• For each different level of participation, there is a brief overview of the key activities, implications and how power operates

Want to learn more? This thoughtful resource by Cath Roper, Flick Grey and Emma Cadogan provides a rich introduction to co-production.

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