Our recent Anxiety Forum in Bega - “Let’s Talk About Anxiety in the Bega Valley” – was a great success!
The free public forum helps people to understand and identify anxiety, and connect people with services in their area. Our Keynote speaker – Prof Doug Boer, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Head of Department at the University of Canberra, spoke about identifying and addressing different anxiety disorders, including phobias, panic, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The Mayor of Bega, Counsellor Russell Fitzpatrick and Deputy Mayor, Counsellor Liz Seckold opened the event with a message to the community about looking after their mental health. The Minister for Mental Health NSW, the hon. Bronwyn Taylor, recorded a video welcoming the people of Bega to the event, the Member for Eden Monaro, Ms Kristy McBain, supported the event with a personal letter. We heard from local people, including a person with lived experience of an anxiety disorder, and a carer and saw performance videos from the wonderful Fling Physical Theatre, that included excerpts from their show ‘Black Dog’, which won a Mental Health Matters Award in 2019.
‘Meet the Services’ brought together the mental health sector in the Bega Valley, to unite in their efforts to manage anxiety disorders in their community, and help connect people to support in their area.
Liz Priestley, WayAhead’s CEO said – “We know residents of the Bega Valley have been through a lot over the last 18 months and we’re glad to be able to run one of our anxiety forums in the region,”
“We’re excited to be continuing our relationship with the Bega Valley after awarding two of the 2019 Mental Health Matters Awards during Mental Health Month to organisations in the region, Rainbow Waves Festival and FLING.”
WayAhead would like to thank One Door Carer Services, Flourish Australia, Grand Pacific Health, headspace, RUOK, Wellways, Catholic Care, Katungul Aboriginal Corporation Regional Health and Community Services, Southern NSW Local Health District – Mental Health Services and a big thank you to Pepper Money for their generous support in helping our mutual cause for better mental health in rural and remote NSW.