Multicultural youth bring expertise and lived experience to mental health.
Reverb 2.0 A prevention and early intervention mental health initiative, co-designed and co-delivered by multicultural young people. In this unique partnership, youth mental health expertise and lived experience are brought together in a multi-pronged, preventative mental health initiative.
Research shows that multicultural young people are under-represented in Australia’s youth mental health services. Many multicultural young people experience the mental health service system as failing to be culturally safe or relevant to their lives. As a direct response, headspace, Australia’s national youth mental health services, have requested support to enhance culturally responsive practice, to ensure that staff work effectively with multicultural young people and their families.
First developed as an idea from CMY’s Metropolitan Youth Advisory Group, REVERB 2.0 embeds multicultural lived experience to address stigma, build cultural responsiveness, and increase young people’s confidence to seek support. In this unique partnership, CMY, headspace and young people bring their unique expertise in working in multicultural communities, youth mental health and lived experience together to create a lasting impact. The program is focused on two areas;
Wellbeing Workshops for Young People to be delivered in schools
Culturally Responsive Professional Development Workshops for headspace staff
Both areas will enable young people to co-design and co-deliver workshops that will break down barriers to young multicultural people accessing mental health services.
Reverb 2.0 officially commenced in April 2024, with 10 Youth Advocates hired to form a dynamic team of facilitators. The team is made up of a diverse range of young people with different areas of knowledge and attachment to the mental health sector. Youth Advocates will take part in a 10 part training, where they will learn facilitation skills, whilst also co-designing and co-delivering mental health workshops.
In the first training session held in June at the headspace Melbourne office, youth advocates were invited to learn more about CMY, headspace and each other. Facilitation training encouraged the new facilitators to talk about creating a safe space, respecting each other boundaries and taking care of themselves and each other. The group also covered Leadership, Zones of Learning, Collective Care, Introduction to Facilitation and an overview to the Reverb 2.0 Program.
Reverb 2.0 will continue with expected delivery in the second half of 2024. Learn more about Reverb 2.0 here.