Welcome to Lived Experience Psychology

Your experience counts

Services include: Mental health coaching, Single Session/Brief Family Support, Supervision/Co-vision, Community Projects & Co-design, Guest Speaking/MC

30 Min free, obligation free conversation available for all services

MY STORY

Hello, my name is Craig Wallace (he/him) and I am a Community Psychologist working across Australia and Internationally with bases on Naarm (Melbourne) on Wurundjeri Country and Jaara/Dja Dja Wurrung Country (Bendigo) in Victoria, Australia. I love meeting people and learning from them, and I bring this enthusiasm and curiosity to all aspects of my life including of course my work.

Community Psychology is one of the specialisations of psychology -and it means that I am especially interested in the context people are in, their environment, the structures and processes which assist or inhibit them being well, and staying well. Sometimes the match between a person and their environment is called "person environment fit". I'd love to know what you think is a good environment or context for you.

Studying and then working in Community Psychology have been great fits for me because of Community Psychology's values such as Voice, Participation, Collaboration, and Empowerment. These values are congruent with my own lived experience.

My own lived experience includes overcoming mental health challenges since I was in my adolescence. Modern Western Psychiatry has lots to say about my own experiences but I and many others do not accept these ideas uncritically and I love that space of contestation. I have had a strong journey and a powerful story which continues - I have been a user and shaper of mental health services in Victoria since 1990 and I use that declared lived experience in my work in very purposeful ways. I am also, amongst other things, a parent, a cyclist, and a Midnight Oil fan, but I don't mind if you're not into those things! 😊

TOGETHER WE CAN FIND THE RIGHT QUESTION

Working with you, using your expertise

CONTACT CRAIG

craig@livedexperiencepsychology.com.au

0400 845 058

My service is not currently structured to provide an emergency response. Please call emergency services if an emergency response is needed.

Services

After over 20 years working in Community Services and Mental Health including very closely observing Australia's mental health system, I developed the services of Lived Experience Psychology to best use my expertise to help meet the needs of individuals, families and communities.

Mental Health Coaching

This is a service for individuals who would like to get a check-in and update on the way they manage their mental health challenges. I work with and utilise your expertise and what you already do, and then we draw upon my expertise and bring our ideas together to make a plan for the future. This service is available as single session or up to six sessions - you choose what works best for you.

Single Session/Brief Family Support

Having a plan at a tough time

Supporting a family member who is experiencing mental health challenges can be stressful and challenging and it is common to feel disempowered and/or isolated. It can be helpful to take some time to develop strategies for supporting your loved one, looking after yourself and getting the best out of the mental health system. I can work with you and your family to do this in one or more sessions. Please get in touch to discuss this further and we can see if what I can offer will be helpful for you.

Professional Supervision / Co-Vision

Getting the best of you in your role

I have always found a reflective space outside of my usual working environment really helpful. Would that be helpful for you? I offer supervision / co-vision in all areas of "human services" work, and I have a special interest in mental health consumer peer work / consumer work / lived experience work, the roles in which people have a personal declared lived experience of what is usually called "mental ill health and recovery" and use that experience purposefully in their work. I have worked in six distinct lived experience roles, peer work, project work, advocacy, consumer workforce development, State Government adviser, and CEO of Victoria's Consumer Mental Health Peak body VMIAC (Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council). My work has involved experience in community, clinical and government settings, as well as interface with the NDIS/NDIA.

Community Projects, Research and Co-Design, Co-Production, Co-Evaluation

Let's talk about the process

Do you have a project or some research underway or in the planning stage? Do you need to co-design, co-produce, co-evaluate? Would a reflective/ideas space be helpful? Let's talk

In addition, using my extensive experience in the community and mental health sectors, I love thinking about projects that would involve and benefit individuals and their communities. I'd love to know about your ideas and plans to see what we could come up with together. We can talk about the level of support you would find helpful.

Guest Speaking / Keynote/ MC

High impact, strong focus

I'd love to contribute to your event, conference, or forum etc. With 34 years personal experience of accessing or trying to access mental health services, and 13 years of working in declared/desired consumer lived experience roles, and extensive public speaking experience, I am well placed to work with you to tailor a powerful lived experience presence to enhance your event.

Partners

Lived Experience Psychology collaborates on certain projects with Andrew and Isaac from MindSpark. MindSpark delivers mental health training and Lived & Living Experience supervision, with a strong emphasis on the value of Lived Experience. They believe in 'Shared Journeys, Stronger Together,' creating a supportive environment for learning and growth. You can check them out at: https://mindspark.life/