Learning from Lived Experience Leaders Workshop - Day 1:

 A series of virtual fireside yarns about Indigenous Healing Practices in practice

 

Contact: Professor Judy Atkinson, co-Convenor, PACFA College of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Healing Practices (CATSIHP)

This series of virtual fireside yarns about Indigenous Healing Practices will navigate through diverse landscapes, including:

1.       We are now in the 8th Generation of post-colonisation First Nations families and communities. This is at the point at which Nerida Blanca and Peter Levine tell us that “the grown children of the colonisers will live in fear of the grown children of the colonised”. We will hear stories of how First Nations youth are caught in behaviours that harm themselves and others at this stage of colonisation, and take a deep dive into the research that is exploring the original historic traumas that make sense of these modern day behaviours.

2.       Responding to the youth – we will yarn about the different ways to provide sustained positive care, attention and recognition to youth that shifts away from the negative attention that these youth, their families and communities usually receive in response to their behaviours.

3.       Allowing space for the bad stuff – we will share stories (case examples) that illustrate how focusing on the good stuff can miss a key opportunity when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and how truth telling about the bad stuff can enable healing and connection.

4.       The real world experiences, such the work being done in response to child sex offending in remote Northern Territory communities, that demonstrate the power of truth-telling and unpacking the traumas of colonisation and sexual violence, while being mindful of the need for sufficiently long-term trajectories to engage effectively with this kind of work.

5.       Yarning about how we navigate existing systems and cultural landscapes to access and engage the people who really need the help.

6.       The importance of working with the unskilled workforce within existing systems & structures, such as police, child protection, and allied health & community service providers.

7.       International developments in Indigenous Healing Practices.

Day 1 Collaborators:

-          Judy Atkinson

-          Judy-Kaye Knox

-          Carlie Atkinson

-          Bianca Stawiarski

-          Joey Williams

-          Tyson Carmody

Emeritus Professor Judy Atkinson (Co-Convenor) is a Jiman (central west Queensland) and Bundjalung (northern New South Wales) woman, with Anglo-Celtic and German heritage. Her academic contributions to the understanding of trauma related issues stemming from the violence of colonisation and the healing/recovery of Indigenous peoples from such trauma has won her the Carrick Neville Bonner Award in 2006 for her curriculum development and innovative teaching practice. In 2011 she was awarded the Fritz Redlick Memorial Award for Human Rights and Mental Health from the Harvard University program for refugee trauma. Her book ‘Trauma Trails – Recreating Songlines: The transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia’, provides context to the life stories of people who have been moved from their country in a process that has created trauma trails, and the changes that can occur in the lives of people as they make connection with each other and share their stories of healing.

 

Bianca Stawiarski (Co-Convenor) 
Bianca Stawiarski is a strong Badimia and Ukrainian woman, committed to driving community change through decolonising the mental health and wellbeing space on a global scale. Combining western clinical qualifications and Indigenous healing practices, Bianca empowers a diversity of women worldwide, to embrace healing on their own terms, outside of four walls. Her certified Indigenous social enterprise, Warida Wholistic Wellness, takes its vision from Warida (wedge-tailed eagle in Badimaya / Badimia), delivering quality training in wellbeing, healing and systems change. Bianca is a Lead Facilitator, SA Manager and Sovereign Business with Indigenous healing organisation We-Al-Li.  She is a PACFA Mental Health Practitioner whose qualifications include a Masters in Counselling Practice, Diploma of Life Coaching, Post grad. Diploma of Counselling, Certificate in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, and Bachelor of Aboriginal studies. Bianca is a best-selling international co-author on a range of business and therapeutic topics, and is also a published children's author. 

Bianca is honoured to live on Kaurna Country and treasures time reconnecting to Badimia Country with her family. As part of her life's work, Bianca is currently undertaking a PhD with Batchelor Institute exploring Ngardi Guwanda (deep listening), Indigenous Healing and lived experiences of First Nations Plural Communities (people with a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder). Bianca hopes these explorations can continue to create awareness, instigate change, and provide a platform for some of our world's most disadvantaged and vulnerable people to have their voices heard.

 

JudyKaye Nungala Knox 
JudyKaye is a Gamilaraay/Yuwaalaraay woman (SW QLD/NW NSW border), with family roots in the Kooma and Manandanji peoples (SW QLD) and adopted by the Waramungu/Kaytetye people (NT Barkly region). JudyKaye has relocated to Tennant Creek to deliver for the Barkly Regional Deal, Culturally Informed Trauma Integrated Healing Approach (CITIHA) training packages. This initiative is to enable workers to skilfully respond to the needs of local communities. She also delivers informal workshops to local communities and schools; and offers counselling support. She believes in facilitating an atmosphere that invites creative activities and conversations for change.JudyKaye is grounded in over 23 years of extensive experience in the field of trauma and trauma recovery, community development and education ranging from teaching in primary schools through to lecturing at University.

JudyKaye lectured/facilitated the Masters of Indigenous Studies (SCU 2004-2012). JudyKaye has worked in case management, counselling, therapeutic groupwork, family wellbeing and trauma therapy for families and communities in remote, rural and urban settings. JudyKaye headed a ‘Crisis Response Team’ addressing community distress throughout Australia has delivered trauma and recovery training/workshops in Timor Leste and PNG. She is a registered PACFA practitioner and We Al-li’s longest serving facilitator. Holds a Masters in Indigenous Studies - Wellbeing, which I then taught into for 9yrs at SCU and also taught a Diploma in Community Recovery. Certified NLP Practitioner/Coach; Certified TimeLine Therapy Practitioner.