*Please note, you must be based in Narrm (Melbourne) to access in person sessions. If you are based elsewhere in Australia, we can offer online support. Unfortunately we cannot offer support outside of Australia.
We are a grass-roots collective of mental health practitioners with diverse skills and expertise, based in so-called Australia. Many of us have worked alongside people who have survived war, occupation, forced displacement, and migration. Many of us work with communities and individuals who continue to respond to the ongoing effects of violence and trauma. We have come together to advocate for a Palestine free of imperial and colonial occupation as a mental health imperative. We believe that one of the major sources of mental distress is injustice. We don't believe in individual pathology.
We have been asked to support groups and communities who are currently involved in organising efforts around Palestine. Please note, we continue to support individuals through 1-on-1 sessions with a mental health practitioner. We aim to provide collective care to support individuals and communities to sustain the fight for a Free Palestine and a world free of oppression.
Our practitioners have an understanding about the effects of police violence and brutality. We know that this violence is part of state-sanctioned control that attempts to suppress those who speak out against injustice, and put their bodies, minds and spirits on the line. Some of us have lived and living experience of police violence in activist contexts and blockades.
What can we offer your group?
We can offer different types of community offerings, depending on your context. We could support you through the following:
Healing circles
Incident debriefing sessions
Group reflective spaces
Therapeutic group work with arts and craft
Anti-colonial, anti-oppressive, systems based group practices including games, sport
What would a community offering involve?
We might encourage your group to build on strategies you are already using to sustain each other, focusing on practices of collective care rather than self-care
We might offer further practices to alleviate stress, to invite calm or rest into your group
We may speak with your group about the skills and knowledge in organising against oppression and violence, and how this is connected with social, community or cultural practices and movements.
We may support you to utilise art, games, movement or music to express what you’re experiencing, depending on the practitioner/s
What we can’t offer:
If this offering resonates with your group, please fill in your details below and a practitioner will be in touch.
Note: We value protecting your privacy, so we will only collect minimal details to be able to follow-up with you to schedule a collective care session. Your email address will not be collected or stored by our collective.
We are a fully volunteer run collective. It may take us a few days to a few weeks to get back to you. Thank you for your patience.
Sending love, care and solidarity,
Mental Health Practitioners for a Free Palestine
