Flick Grey

About me

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

I am passionate about thinking deeply about distress/madness and fostering humane responses to people having these experiences. This has led me to travel the world, exploring inspiring practice and sometimes giving keynote addresses sharing what I've found. I'm especially passionate about Mad Studies, exploring intersections between mental health, social justice and critical thinking. I've experienced the mental health system personally, including positive and intensely negative experiences (including involuntary treatment) and supported others through their diverse experiences, both personally and professionally.

I love being in wild spaces, especially rivers and the Australian bush, camping and composting. I buy too many books (I read all the ones with pictures) and am a mum to a small human.

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.

My experience

I have worked in the consumer workforce for over 10 years, in a diversity of roles. Previous roles have included:
*Resource Co-ordinator at Our Consumer Place, an award-winning, innovative resource centre for the consumer movement and workforce;
*the first consumer consultant at Spectrum, a clinical service in Victoria;
*Consumer Academic at the University of Melbourne, as well as several other research roles;
*lead trainer for Intentional Peer Support training, as part of the Expanding Post-Discharge Support Initiative, training peer support workers in every clinical mental health service in Victoria as well as many clinicians supporting the peer support workforce;
*an independent consultant to many services;
*Peer Support Manager (which included peer support work) at PartnerSPEAK, a peer-run family violence organisation;
*trainer for Insideout&associates (this role is ongoing).

My current role/work

Currently, I practice as an independent Open Dialogue practitioner, supporting families in distress, provide supervision (group and individual) to people working in a range of roles and contexts (including several individuals and organisations interstate, people in leadership roles and Open Dialogue practitioners), and am a trainer, mentor and group co-reflection facilitator for the Consumer Perspective Supervision project (which includes writing curriculum). I also sometimes guest lecture at universities and in training courses in various mental health disciplines.

My training

More broadly, I am trained in Intentional Peer Support and Open Dialogue (through Open Dialogue UK), I have a degree in social and political theory from university, and am trained as a Warm Data Lab host (trained by Nora Bateson). That said, I believe my personal lived experience and networking widely with others is my primary training! I first trained (and practiced) as a supervisor through Monash Health in 2012, as part of the Consumer-Perspective Group Supervision Project. At that time, I was already trained in Intentional Peer Support, including Advanced training (which includes training in Co-reflection, the IPS version of supervision). Since then, I have also attended supervision training from a Narrative Therapy perspective. I have been one of the trainers of the newly established Consumer Perspective Supervision training in Victoria, which has included co-learning alongside the participants in this inaugural training.

My approach to supervision

My approach to supervision is highly responsive to different supervisee needs and preferences. I trust the process and have experienced the depth of thinking that emerges from shared reflective space. I am influenced by my training in both Intentional Peer Support and Open Dialogue, but also by many years engaged in this community and networking widely.

If I'm honest, I personally enjoy reflective space - holding it and being held in it. I find myself coming alive when there's a certain quality of space-holding, and I aspire to share this with others - I find it helps my own thinking/being shift to another, deeper level and have witnessed it do the same for countless others.