The Race for Mental Health

DCU’s School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, in collaboration with Black Therapists Ireland (BTI), and with the support of DCU’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit, invite those studying toward or working in clinical roles across mental health settings in Ireland to participate and engage in discussions around the continued lack of meaningful attention to Race and Inclusion in core professional practices, trainings and dialogues across mental healthcare in Ireland.

There will be two individual but related sessions on the day.

Session 1 10am - 1:30pm

The first session will take place in the Bea Orpen Building in DCU and is exclusively available for racially minoritised students and professionals working in mental health in Ireland. This space aims to open to those all too often in the minority, a safe and unique experience of collectively meeting in person and acknowledging some of the challenges and barriers facing racially minoritised students and professionals working around Mental Health in an Irish context. The intention is to facilitate interactive discussions in order to share experience, connections and ideas as an orientation towards more inclusive practice, conversations and trainings.

This particular session is strictly limited to forty attendees who identify as racially minoritised; and will be provided without charge. To register your interest in attending, please email Ejiro Ogbevoen at ejiro@blacktherapistsireland.ie

Session 2 3pm - 6:30pm 

The afternoon session will take place in the SOLAS Room of DCU’s SU Building and is open to anyone wishing to engage with speakers who will highlight potential obstacles, challenges, and pathways to racially inclusive practice for mental health workers and students in Ireland.  

To register your interest in attending, please email Ray O Neill at rayb.oneill@dcu.ie.

The cost for attending this afternoon session is €25 for the waged, and €10 for the unwaged.

Some learning outcomes from this day would include:

• Exploration of varied aspects to being more responsive to diversity in mental health locales.
• Some explanation to encourage responsive practices and awareness around Intersectionality
• Develop some skills in the Multicultural Orientation toward education and service provision.

Certificates of Attendance are available on request

Speakers include:

Malcolm Phillips is a board member of the UK Chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists. He has spent more than 30 years developing and managing mental health and counselling services for Black communities in the NHS, local authorities and in the voluntary sector. He was the founder and chair of Safoa, the National African and Caribbean Mental Health Network. Malcolm is currently the Director of Kawaida Therapy which provides individual and group support to Black communities and organisations, addressing racial trauma, and building resilience. Malcolm also delivers a Diploma course in Black Psychology and African-Centred Therapy.

Dr Naomi Masheti is a Psychologist, with a huge interest and focus on Psychosocial Wellbeing of Non-Western Population. Naomi was instrumental in setting up the Cork Migrant Centre Psychosocial Wellbeing and Integration Hub at the Nano Nagle Place, focused on culturally sensitive services and transformative social justice work. She is a guest lecturer at the School of Psychology, University College Cork (UCC). Naomi was the recipient of UCC 2020 Athena SWAN Equality Award.

Ejiro Ogbevoen is a Dublin based Counselling Psychotherapist with a B.Sc degree in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management, and in Counselling & Psychotherapy. She founded Black Therapists Ireland http://www.blacktherapistsireland.ie/ with the intent of actively promoting mental health and wellbeing amongst black people living in Ireland and globally. Ejiro also runs a successful private practice and is an assistant lecturer at Dublin City University.

Ravind Jeawon MIACP is a psychotherapist and founder of Talk Therapy Dublin, a service providing inclusive counselling. Born in Dublin, to an Indian immigrant father and rural Irish mother exposed him to challenging and enriching experiences around race, identity and religion. Ravind’s wife also immigrated to Ireland from the Balkans for economic reasons, including a vulnerable period as ‘undocumented’. These experiences fire Ravind’s advocacy for inclusivity within mental health practice, particularly linked to core trainings and stronger multicultural responsiveness from caring professions in providing services to minoritised communities. He also mentors students and newly qualified therapists from diverse backgrounds and provides counselling services to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Ireland linked to their voluntary return program.

Dr. Ray O’ Neill is an Assistant Professor in Psychotherapy with DCU's School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health and a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist in private practice working mainly, but not exclusively, within the LGBTQ community. He previously worked as a Research Associate with the Centre for Gender and Women Studies at Trinity College Dublin. Current research explores individual and collective transmission of trauma across generations, with particular emphasis on the Irish Famine experiences. His clinical website is available on www.machna.ie