Facilitators

Jess is an experienced child and family psychologist working with children, young people, and their families in community mental health settings. Currently working for Child, Adolescent and Family Community Services at Te Whatu Ora – Waitaha (formerly CDHB), she is skilled in supporting children and adolescents across a range of difficulties including helping adolescents with chronic suicidal and self-harm behaviour.

Julia is a Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Canterbury and the Director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab. In the past decade, she and her lab have been running clinical trials investigating the role of broad-spectrum micronutrients in the treatment of mental illness, specifically ADHD, mood disorders, anxiety and stress. Julia has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, given talks all over the world on her work on nutrition and mental health and is frequently featured in the media on her work. She is currently on the Executive Committee for the International Society of Nutritional Psychiatry Research. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the Ballin Award from the NZ Psychologist Society, a Braveheart award for her contribution to making Christchurch a better place to live, and was named in the top 100 Most Influential Women in New Zealand in 2018. Her 2014 TEDx talk has almost been viewed 1.5 million times. Having witnessed current conventional treatments failing so many people, Julia is passionate about helping people find alternative treatments for their psychiatric symptoms and being a voice for those who have been let down by the current public healthcare system.

Katie is a Child and Family Psychologist with over 8 years experience in working with children, young people, and their families in the areas of mental health, neurodevelopmental disorders, learning needs, and childhood trauma. Katie's particular area of passion and interest focuses around providing trauma informed care for children and young people who have experienced chronic relational and developmental trauma.

Kore brings around 26 years of experience working predominantly as a self-employed private practitioner, and around 9 years of medico-legal experience as a clinical advisor, along with also having developed a number of special interest areas and roles in both work and community-based settings. In addition to this, Kore also brings a unique perspective involving his own neurodiversity, along with mentoring from early childhood in Social Work and Te Ao Māori. These experiences have motivated Kore to write with the aim of publishing and conducting further research in a variety of areas relating to distress, health and well-being, clinical practice, causation, and traditional Māori matauranga.

Lee descends from Tainui Waka, Ngāti Maru, Raukawa and Maniapoto Iwi. She has over 25 years’ experience in health /Māori sectors. Her work experiences include Cultural Advisor, Professional / Cultural Supervisor, Business Management Services, Mental Health 101 facilitator, Operations Service Lead for Perinatal Maternal Mental Health Service, Kaiwhakahaere of Te Tai o Poutini COVID Hub, Kaimātai Mahi Māori, Workforce Development Partner – Mana Taurite (Equity, Inclusion and Diversity), Recruitment and People Partnering, Staff Wellbeing Coordinator, Team Leader, Inaugural member of the Health in All Policies, He Oranga Poutama Kaiwhakahaere for Ngāi Tahu and President of the Public Health Association of New Zealand.  Her education portfolio includes lecturing and CAPL assessor for the Bachelor of Applied Science Degree at ARA.  Named New Zealand Fitness Leader of the Year and Awarded the National Award for contribution to the Fitness industry. 

Lucy is a NZ Registered Dietitian and has a decade of experience in helping clients find food freedom. With a background in health professional education, Lucy’s true passion is teaching others how to coach their clients with compassion and effective support. She believes the more people there are dismantling the diet industry, the better. Lucy is a Board-Certified Lifestyle Medicine Professional (IBLM & ASLM), Fellow Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine Member, Approved Practitioner for the Australian Centre for Eating Disorders and Affiliated Dietitian for the Christchurch Ballet Society.

Mel has over 25 years’ experience working in multiple mental health and addiction settings in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom.  He has held a number of diverse roles - in residential, community, custodial, detox and crisis services - within statutory, voluntary, culturally specific and the commercial sector.

In addition to clinical practice, he has experience in governance, leadership, tertiary education, project management and supervision.  His passion is to develop and deliver client-centred and recovery-focused services, built on a foundation of social justice values. 

He has facilitated a range of workshops for MHERC over several years.  Mel currently works in private practice and contracts to a number of local, national and multinational organisations, working with a broad and diverse client base.

Nikki is a registered social worker and cognitive behaviour therapist with 18 years’ experience in the area of youth mental health, and has worked at Youth Specialty Services in Auckland and Christchurch. She currently has a private practice helping children, youth, their families and adults develop skills to reduce anxiety, depression, self-esteem, eating, anger and many other problem areas in their life with a Cognitive Behaviour Therapy model of intervention. Additionally Nikki is a clinical advisor with Clinical Advisory Services Aotearoa providing consultation to Child, Youth and Family and communities in the area of suicide prevention and postvention.

Employed by the Mental Health Education and Resource Centre since 1998, Paula also has over 20 years’ experience working as a community support worker in the field of intellectual disability. She has lived experience of an anxiety disorder and has had 12 years’ experience in a voluntary coordination role for an anxiety-related peer support organisation. Paula has been involved in facilitating Anxiety Disorder workshops for MHERC, community organisations and tertiary institutes for a number of years. With a love for learning, Paula enjoys attending relevant conferences and workshops on anxiety disorders when the opportunities arise.

Ruth is an experienced Physiotherapist, Leader, Innovator, Supervisor and Educator. She has worked as a Physiotherapist in a range of different clinical areas (such as Older Persons Health, disability, musculoskeletal), with more than half her experience based in Mental Health. In her role as the Clinical Leader Physiotherapy, Specialist Mental Health Services, CDHB (2014-2020) she provided leadership in promoting awareness of neurobiological perspectives, including the integral role of physical health, trauma informed care, wellbeing, and lifestyle practices for mental health.