Training
Through SPLEWDI, we offered funded training for Lived Experience workers working in suicide prevention in Central & Eastern Sydney.
Training in the Open Dialogue approach
What we did
About Open Dialogue
Who was involved?
One of the key priorities in the SPLEWDI Action Plan was to improve availability of training and onboarding for suicide prevention Lived Experience workers working in suicide prevention in Central and Eastern Sydney.
In consultation with members of the SP LE workforce, we identified Open Dialogue training as an opportunity to support experienced Lived Experience practitioners to further develop their skills and practice.
We partnered with the Open Dialogue Centre to curate a 4-day course ‘Introduction to Open Dialogue’ for peer workers in the Central and Eastern Sydney region who were working in suicide prevention.
Open Dialogue is a person-centred, compassionate and relational approach to working with people experiencing distress and crisis that offers an alternative to the biomedical way of understanding and responding to these experiences.
While not specific to peer work, Open Dialogue can equip Lived Experience workers with an approach that places relationships as foundational to prevention and recovery through social network meetings. Find out more about the Open Dialogue approach here.
The training aimed to provide participants with:
a basic understanding of the Open Dialogue approach and core elements of practice
foundational skills to practice Open Dialogue techniques and implement dialogical principles in direct support work, as well as in team and organisational contexts
an opportunity to connect with peers and begin to build a regional community of reflective practice based on the practical application of the Open Dialogue approach.
The training was externally facilitated by Flick Grey and Mark Hopfenbeck from the Open Dialogue Centre.
The training involved an initial orientation session (virtual), the core 4-day training held over two x two-day blocks in welcoming community spaces in the region, and post-training reflection sessions. All training was funded and free to participants to attend, with those working outside of paid hours able to access paid participation for their time.
A small group of participants (~10) working in a range of peer support roles and contexts across Central and Eastern Sydney participated in the training.
Participants were able to express their interest in getting involved — particularly those who had at least a moderate level experience working in a role where they utilise their lived experience of suicidality to support others with these experiences, and were working in a setting where there is a meaningful opportunity to apply Open Dialogue principles and practices after the training.