2026 T2 Session 2 - MyTime Penrith x Relationships Australia

 During our MyTime session this week we had a visit from Nicole from Relationships Australia who did some mindfulness activities for the participants. Activities were gentle and low intensive including tai chi, chair yoga and developing one's own mindfulness box. Upon speaking to Nicole pre the session delivery, I tapped into her strengths and asked her to make her guest speaking role her own. I spoke to her about challenging the way traditional guest speaker roles engage with participants. Usually there is distance and disconnect between guest speakers and participants. Usually guest speakers are seen as the holders of knowledge where participants act in a receiving role. How do we overcome this? My chats with Nicole centred on her strengths beyond her role of presenting information about counselling for carers as well as ways we can bring out the knowledge of the participants in that space to create trust and shared knowledge from both presenter and participants.

I had met Nicole and her colleague Sophia at Penrith Sector Connect. There we discussed how we could better help carers through the supports we provide. Sophia had mentioned that Nicole is an art therapist and would love to present at MyTime Penrith. Nicole was able to get to know the participants through sharing her own experiences and listening and getting to know the participants stories and journeys. This made Nicole feel welcomed and part of the group. This approach attempts to dismantle the transactional relationship that usually occurs with presenter to audience. 

Enabling the space for a person to be who they are and play on their strengths enables empowerment and trust amongst individuals. This further removed the rigidity of presentation of information as part of the job and moved more into authentic and purpose driven information sharing. Nicole was able to adapt the presentation to her skill sets and knowledge drawing from her experiences as an art therapist. She brought along flowers from her garden and had even collected leaves along the Nepean River that morning to incorporate into the mindfulness activities she ran with the group. Provision of information sheets on how to do the mindfulness activities were given to participants to continue at home. I will upload them when I receive the digital versions from Nicole.

When we empower others to be their authentic selves they can affect others positively in their role. 

Nicole also presented on the availability of 6 free counselling sessions without needing GP referral as part of Carers Gateway support that carers cant tap into if they're overwhelmed and need support beyond their usual circle of support. 

Our group has also expanded and we are looking to expand and make use of the outdoor space with the children that attend. Over the coming weeks, we will be experimenting with sessions that blend indoor and outdoor space at the Braddock Flexihub to see what best works and to cater for our numbers and busy children. Additional play equipment has been ordered to facilitate more play outside.