This presentation highlights the critical need to prioritise the mental strength and emotional wellbeing of the mental healthcare workforce. The escalating community challenges and its impact on practitioners underscore the urgency for a comprehensive and systemic approach to support practitioner and whole-team mental, emotional, and physical health.

Alarmingly, recent studies show high rates of practitioner burnout and mental health concerns, with up to 70% of workers across Australia and New Zealand affected. Symptoms include depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2024, Mental Fitness Training was delivered to multiple New South Wales Rural Mental Health Services and the feedback throughout the process also highlighted the high stress and overwhelm experienced by practitioners. Not only does this impact the mental health of individuals and teams, but the services provided to clients can also be significantly compromised.

There is a pressing need to move beyond traditional self-care approaches to intentionally building the mental strength of the workforce. Focusing on evidence-based insights into the role of neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology in understanding wellbeing, this presentation explores the intricate interplay between the mind, body and relationships. A commitment to intentional mental strength practices in the workplace increases the resilient circuits within the brain, supports the nervous system and aids emotional regulation, which significantly reduces burnout risk. By recognising how stress becomes embodied, we can lay the foundations for supporting a healthy and resilient working environment.

Mental strength is like a muscle and needs to be strengthened over time through intentional, focused and consistent practice. A strategic and planned approach, which incorporates mind-body practices into everyday work schedules, is vital for increasing professional wellbeing. Grounded in scientifically proven mind-body practices, this presentation offers practical insights and tangible tools, including heart-brain coherence, formal and informal mindfulness and developing mental fitness plans, at individual and team-based levels.

Three Key Learnings:
The key objectives of this presentation are to:
1. Address the urgency for reducing the high and alarming rates of burnout and mental health concerns amongst mental healthcare practitioners
2. Provide evidence-based understandings of the role of neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology, as a foundation for increasing the mental and emotional wellbeing at practitioner and team-based levels
3. Provide a strategic, systemic and practical approach to increasing the wellbeing of the workforce through mind-body practices, heart-brain coherence and mental strength fitness plans.