Reflective practice

The Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN) in partnership with Emerging Minds has established this national network for practitioners who work with families to support infant and child mental health.
 

This Community of Practice will facilitate interdisciplinary professional development and networking. It will complement Emerging Minds’ existing resources, including online courses, webinars, podcasts, videos and more, by providing an interactive forum for discussions about infant and child mental health.  
 

The network’s aim is to support practitioners to connect, foster peer learning, and integrate learning through reflective practice discussion. The online interactive format will enable participants to ask questions and deepen their understandings by sharing their experiences and discussing short video case studies.   

This group is suitable for GPs and rural medical practitioners working in and around the Daylesford region who are interested in reflective practice and collegial support through a Balint-style process. The focus is on learning from one’s own and other group members’ clinical experiences, relationships, and reflections rather than didactic teaching. Initially, the group will meet online for three sessions commencing in June to explore how the group may work together, with the possibility of continuing through to November for a total of six sessions in 2026. The group will meet every 4 weeks online.

This Network provides a safe, reflective, and collaborative space for mental health professionals to engage in peer support, case discussion, reflective practice, and professional development, with a focus on understanding and responding to experiences of loss and grief across diverse contexts. The network explores compassionate, culturally responsive, and recovery-oriented approaches to supporting individuals, families, and communities navigating bereavement, complex grief, and life transitions.

Join the network to be added to the mailing list and receive invitations to future meetings.

Save the Dates

Network Coordinator: Dr Hellen Kemp 

Hellen is a registered psychologist with a wealth of experience supporting people through loss, grief, and trauma. She has researched grief extensively and has spent the past 7 years working closely with the bereaved across settings such as aged care, violence/crime-related loss, and suicide. Helen has supported diverse communities, including Indigenous and LGBTIQA+ individuals, and is an experienced grief group facilitator, educator, and supervisor of other practitioners.

This network connects multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and students that are working in trans and gender diverse healthcare fields. Practitioners from a broad range of disciplines are welcome, including mental health, allied health, community services, and lived experience informed practice. 

The Network provides a safe, collaborative space for peer support, case discussion, reflective practice, and professional development, while aiming to enhance clinical competence, integrated care, referral pathways, resource exchange, and family, and carer support. By sharing resources and mentoring, this Network also aims to enhance workforce capability, increase access and equity, and foster evidence-based, multidisciplinary trans health services.

Join the network to be added to the mailing list and receive invitations to future meetings.

Save the Dates:

Please mark your calendar with the FY26-27 meeting dates, held from 6-8pm (VIC time).

• Friday 3 July 2026 | Trans Space 3rd Birthday & MHPN Network Launch
• Friday 6 November 2026
• Friday 5 February 2027
• Friday 7 May 2027

Network Coordinator:

Lee Taube (they/them) is a gender-queer trans masculine psychologist with over a decade of experience supporting Trans and Gender Diverse (TGD) people and their families. Lee is the founder and director of Trans Space, and has authored peer-reviewed papers about the unique strengths of trans people, which guides their approach.

This Network provides a safe, reflective, and collaborative space for mental health professionals to engage in peer support, case discussion, reflective practice, and professional development focusing on thoughtfully weaving spiritual care into mental health assessment, intervention, and recovery-oriented practice, while supporting services and communities to elevate and prioritise spiritual and mental health wellbeing.

Join the network to be added to the mailing list and receive invitations to future meetings.

 **All new members are encouraged to please complete the Express of Interest (EOI) Form**

Save the Dates:

Please mark your calendar with the 2026 online meeting dates, held from 11:00am to 12:30pm (NSW/VIC time).

• Tuesday 24 March 2026 | Introductory session – What does it mean when someone says, ‘I’m spiritual but not religious?’
• Tuesday 26 May 2026 | Medication or Meditation?
  Tuesday 28 July 2026 | Being Jesus or Mohammad
• Tuesday 22 September 2026 | Letting go of things that no longer serve you
• Tuesday 24 November 2026 | Is this an undiagnosed UTI or spiritual distress?

Network Coordinator:

Rachael Wass (CEO, Meaningful Ageing Australia) 

Rachael’s previous experience was Associate Director (Aged Care specialist), Management Consultancy for KPMG, a CEO and Founder of Business Strategic Planning Consultancy in aged care and medical devices industry. She joins the Meaningful Ageing Australia team with extensive Brand Product Leadership roles, including a solid foundation in Healthcare Account Management spanning over 25 years. Based in Naarm (Melbourne), Rachael was formerly a carer for 15 years, a life-long Buddhist practitioner and her passions include learning about indigenous culture, meditation and philosophy, pilgrimages and the power of song.

This network connects clinicians, early researchers, and students working in mental health within palliative care across rural Southern NSW and North East Victoria, including Albury, Wangaratta, and surrounding shires (Federation Shire, Indigo Shire, Hume Shire, Snowy Valley Shire, Berrigan Shire, Murrumbidgee Shire, Rural Cities of Albury and Wangaratta).

The Network provides a safe, collaborative space for peer support, case discussion, reflective practice, and professional development while aiming to enhance clinical competence, integrated care, referral pathways, and family and carer support. By sharing resources, mentoring, and rural-focused strategies, this Network also aims to enhance workforce capability, improve access and equity, and foster evidence-informed, multidisciplinary palliative care across these regional communities.

Join the network to be added to the mailing list and receive invitations to future meetings.

 **All new members are encouraged to please complete the Express of Interest (EOI) Form**

Save the Dates:

Please mark your calendar with the 2026 online meeting dates, all held from 6:30–8:00pm (NSW/VIC time):

• Wednesday 18 February 2026 | Mental Health in Palliative Care in Rural Communities - Inaugural Session
• Wednesday 15 April 2026 | Caring at the Crossroads: Mental Health in Palliative Settings
• Wednesday 17 June 2026 | Navigating Death and Dying: Aboriginal Perspectives in Palliative Care in Remote, Rural and Regional Settings
• Wednesday 21 August 2026

• Wednesday 21 October 2026