Authors: Peter White, Joy Laloli
Year: 2019
Event: 2019 TheMHS Conference
Subject: book of proceedings
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
ISBN: 9780994570260
Abstract: Paper from the 2019 TheMHS Conference by Peter White and Joy Laloli. Published as part of the 2019 Book of Proceedings.
Biography:
Joy Laloli has a lived experience of schizophrenia, has volunteered and worked at Flourish since 2014. Joy
has studied Millinery, Fashion, Hospitality and Art at Newcastle TAFE, participating in a group exhibition at
the Lake Macquarie Art Gallery in 2017. She has hopes and dreams off living a creative life.
Peter White has been diagnosed with reactive depression and anxiety. He has survived multiple physical and
emotional traumas, from being hit by a bus to being bullied and harassed in the workplace. He is presently
doing what he can to overcome these limitations and challenges, so he can achieve recovery.
As members of Flourish Australia, Newcastle we have been attending Flourish services for several years,
which has greatly assisted our wellbeing and recovery opportunities. We have a lived experience of
schizophrenia, anxiety and depression although we do not let diagnosis define or stop us!
Whilst we have similarities in our recovery stories we each have very unique personal experiences and
needs. We would like to discuss how these shared experiences with Flourish have become our proud life
stories of resilience and hope.
From a client perspective, Flourish has been a positive and beneficial experience on so many levels; from
completely valuing our lived experience, managing our physical wellbeing and along with the effectiveness
of the programs and support the organisational staff provide has all assisted us on a course which goes
beyond the achievements of recovery and wellbeing, to expanding our education goals and increasing
meaningful employment opportunities. Last year we completed a Cert II in Hospitality and we are currently
enrolled in the Cert III Hospitality.
Flourish has enabled us to regain hope in claiming a positive future and has been a game changer to our
lives as life would’ve been much more challenging without Flourish and its individuals.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: Learning how to run services from the perspective of people with a lived experience
Learning Objective 2: How services and communities can best facilitate and support a relevant ‘personcentred’
approach towards recovery, fostering hope and strengthening resilience in individuals who then
contribute to building a healthier community.
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