Matapiata | Just a Thought

Can you tell us about the mahi you’re leading and the impact you’re seeing in your community?

Our team at Just a Thought deliver digital cognitive behavioural therapy courses to help ensure New Zealanders can access treatment and support for a range of mental health and wellbeing challenges they may be struggling with.

Last year we were tasked with designing and delivering three courses to people experiencing substance harm. We wanted to ensure a wide range of people could connect to the course content and see a part of their own journey within it, so we gathered together a beautiful co-design whānau to guide us on our journey.

We’re excited to see people engaging in the courses and look forward to identifying the impact they are having when it comes time to run our first evaluation.

What drew you to this kaupapa, and how has your journey shaped the way you approach this work?

Technology provides vast opportunities to scale and deliver mental health and substance harm support, however there is a high risk of digitally replicating the same design and delivery flaws we see across our sector.

One of the most essential ways to avoid this, is the purposeful partnering with lived experience experts throughout the codesign journey and beyond. We set out to bring together a co-design whānau, developing authentic relationships where power was shared and people’s lived experience stories were valued and honoured as the taonga that they are. The voices and stories of our co-design whānau were so beautiful, therapeutic and powerful that we decided to build our entire courses around them.

What do you love most about the mahi?

I love the challenge of trying to help people experience a sense of meaning, hope and connection through a digital experience, as they work through their struggles which are more often than not so common to us all. Technology can support us if it is created and delivered using the very same values, beliefs and approaches required in our face-to-face services that allow us to honour people, support them and help them heal.

What are some of the most powerful stories of transformation you’ve witnessed through your work?

In the digital space alone we’ve been able to hear powerful stories from our learning whānau where they described a transformation of being ‘bedridden’ through their suffering to getting out in life and finding purpose and new meaning through our courses. It is amazing to think that people can get that from a digital course, but I believe they can feel our aroha behind the content and the support of others who have walked the same path.

What have the challenges been?

Being brave enough to step away from some of the limitations and risk aversion that some clinical content and approaches can provide! The clinical world is great at over-intellectualising approaches, creating complexity and barriers that lessen impact and remove the sense of ‘humanness’. Being able to learn how to step aside from that whilst still delivering impactful, safe and evidence-based content has been a real journey for our team and one we continue to work on.

What inspires you and who have your greatest teachers and mentors been?

I love anyone who is authentic and brave enough to speak their truth and step outside the box where needed – transformation doesn’t happen through mere replication! Some of my biggest heroes are lived experience experts like Debra Lampshire, Kerri Butler and Patte Randall with who continue to work to pave a better path for our sector. It was also a huge honour to work alongside the late and great Richie Poulton who ensured Just a Thought came into being. My team at Just a Thought inspire me daily, so too the people I’m lucky enough to work alongside in my practice

What’s one whakaaro or piece of advice you’d give to others working in this space who want to create meaningful change?

Don’t be scared to speak your truth or bring your whole self into your mahi. It makes for a richer experience and reduces some of the obstacles we can put in front of ourselves.