Advisory Groups

Dan became an MHFA Instructor in 2021, having spent a 12-year career in the technology industry which ended in burnout. He founded ByMindSide and now dedicates his time advocating the benefits of peer support and MHFA training programs for mentally healthy workplaces and communities.

With a continued passion for technology, Dan delivers MHFA training and leverages his knowledge by using data to ensure that workplaces can run safe, effective peer support programs and that roles like MHFA Officers can feel that they are supported.

Dan is currently studying a GDP of Psychology at Monash University and working with a charity, The Men’s Table, which helps men form meaningful connections and express vulnerability by sharing in a safe, confidential, and no-judgemental peer support environment.

Dan is licensed to deliver Standard MHFA.

Chris is a highly experienced mental health professional with over 20 years of experience, including national-level policy, strategic thinking and planning, as well as leadership of high-performing teams across primary health, social services and mental health sectors.

Chris’s passion is driven by being part of many of Australia’s major mental health reforms over the past 15 years, including Partners in Recovery, PHN stepped care mental health approaches and, more recently, Head to Health. Chris has considerable policy knowledge and expertise having worked with the National Mental Health Commission on system reform approaches, including some of the early scoping of the National Suicide Prevention office.

Chris is a Master MHFA Instructor with 13 years’ experience in delivering this course. He has worked extensively with people with disabilities, carers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and organisations, and CALD individuals and organisations.

Chris is licensed to deliver Standard MHFA and Youth MHFA.

Having ‘grown up’ in the corporate world, and leading recruitment teams for many years, Rebecca decided to retrain and impact workplace culture in a different way.

As a Master MHFA Instructor, Rebecca runs her wellbeing training business Infinite Presence, partnering with workplaces who are looking to make a difference to their people and their culture. She does this by offering a range of training including MHFA, meditation and mindfulness, mindful leadership, stress management, and bespoke wellbeing sessions.

Rebecca has a bachelor’s degree in HR and is currently studying a Graduate Certificate of Mental Health and Wellbeing (for workplace and community).

Rebecca is licensed to deliver Standard MHFA.

Nick has a long and varied career in education and training, as well as mental health. He has worked across commercial and not-for-profit and community organisations, and leads his own business.

He brings his unique mix of skills and qualifications in teaching, training, coaching, mental health, counselling, psychosocial safety and more to everything he does. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Nick also advocates for the mental health and wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ folks everywhere, having designed and supported many specific programs in this space. 

Nick is an empathetic and creative practitioner, who strives to create impactful learning experiences for his clients, whilst having a laugh or two along the way.

Nick is licensed to deliver Standard MHFA, Youth MHFA, Teen MHFA.

Pauline has spent the past 35 years working alongside young people, communities, and workplaces. An active Instructor since 2012, Pauline is a Principal Master Instructor who runs her own business delivering MHFA and other courses to workplaces and the community.

Pauline had the pleasure of rolling out the Senior Teen Mental Health First Aid pilot with four other instructors to more than 1,000 students in metro and rural Victoria in 2013. She has also been heavily involved in the suicide prevention space since 2009.

Pauline is licensed to deliver Standard MHFA, Youth MHFA, and Teen MHFA.

Margaret identifies as a proud and respected descendant of the Wongaibon people of the Bogan River from the Wiradjuri Nation. Through her vast lived experience, she is able to effectively relate with her participants in ways that show cultural integrity, respect and understanding.

Being a Principal Master instructor and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MHFA (AMHFA) Instructor since 2017 has enabled her to deliver the AMHFA, Youth AMHFA, Talking about Suicide and Talking about Non-Suicidal Self-Injury courses, and pilot the Youth Yarns course, across Australia and in particular, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Margaret is a Trainer and Assessor and facilitates the Certificate IV in Mental Health.

Margaret is licensed to deliver Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MHFA (AMHFA), Youth AMHFA, Talking about Suicide, Talking about Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, and Youth Yarns AMHFA (pilot program).

Baydon Widdicombe is a proud Dharug Man living on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Central Victoria. Baydon is passionate about reducing Mental Health stigma and building the capacity of community to lead their own suicide prevention program. Baydon has worked within the local community and has a passion for educating others through sharing knowledge and opening up discussions.  Baydon holds a Bachelor of Business Management and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Simon is an Emmy Award-winning screen editor, father of two teenagers, and partner to screen producer Bridget Callow-Wright.

With a passion for storytelling that focuses on representation and making a difference, Simon has worked on acclaimed projects such as Love on the Spectrum, a docuseries that follows young adults on the autism spectrum as they navigate the world of dating; Employable Me, which highlights neurodiverse individuals as they search for meaningful work; and The Role of a Lifetime, a new series exploring the challenges of parenting teenagers in today’s world.

Simon also serves on the executive committee of the Australian Screen Editors Guild (ASE) and recently joined the MHFAider Advisory Group. Through the Advisory Group, Simon is able to highlight the mental health challenges faced by creative professionals, particularly freelancers and contractors. As someone who is neurodivergent and lives with bipolar, Simon also brings valuable perspectives to ensure discussions are informed by lived experience and promote representation and inclusion of the neurodiverse community.

Simon represents the community setting and is trained in Standard MHFA.

Becoming a MHFAider has impacted numerous aspects of Kerrie’s work and community life. It has reinforced the need to be involved, vigilant and prepared to help her community and others she comes in contact with.

She hopes to shine a light on the benefits of being an MHFAider to encourage the community around her to be involved and be there when the need arises.

Working for the Australian Red Cross, Kerrie manages 14 volunteer emergency services teams across the Greater Western Region of NSW. Alongside her volunteers, she organises and undertakes community engagement, preparedness programs, EmergencyRedi workshops, and pillowcase programs for schools.

In emergencies, Kerrie and her teams are the first people you see in evacuation and recovery centres giving help, psychological first aid and support at a time of most people’s darkest moment’s.

Kerrie is heavily involved in her community as a:

• Little Athletics Western Zone Controller
• Peak Hill Sporting Group Secretary
• Peak Hill Community Consultative Committee Member (Town Improvement)
• Community (Peak Hill) Representative – Western Health Department 
• President – Community Hall – Peak Hill Southern Cross Hall 

Lyndel is a proud pakana woman from Lutruwita (Tasmania). Deeply connected to her culture and community, Lyndel’s strong ties stem from her mother’s upbringing on the Aboriginal Reserve on Cape Barren Island.

Lyndel is married and the proud mother of 2 adult children, and a new nan to a granddaughter and grandson from each of her respective children.

For over 32 years, Lyndel has passionately served as the Aboriginal and International Student Support Manager at TasTAFE, a role she continues to love. Her commitment to building knowledge and fostering connections drives her work, and she looks forward to sharing insights and experiences with the MHFAider Advisory Group.

Lyndel represents the tertiary setting and is Trained in Standard MHFA.

Kelley is deeply committed to supporting people in times of crisis, driven by a desire to make a meaningful difference for those experiencing overwhelming emotions or traumatic loss. Kelley aims to offer compassionate, practical support to individuals during challenging times, helping them to feel heard and supported.

Through her frontline experiences, Kelley hopes to contribute valuable insights to the MHFAider Advisory Group, contributing to discussions that shape and enhance their collective impact. She is passionate about learning, connecting with like-minded individuals, and helping to create a more resilient, supportive community. 

Kelley represents the setting and is trained in Standard MHFA and Youth MHFA.

Maddy’s understanding of the importance of mental health support began early in life, growing up in a single-mum household where her mother struggled with mental illness. With the strength of her mum and the support network around them, they created a good life together.

Now, as part of the People Team at an IT company, Maddy has come to see how difficult mental health conversations can be, especially in a field where many work in a remote environment. Joining the MHFAider Advisory Group allows her to foster meaningful connections, encourage essential conversations, and help bridge the gap in mental health support. 

Maddy represents the workplace setting and is trained in Standard MHFA.

Andrew is an experienced accredited social worker and qualified mental health counsellor with over 25 years in the human services industry. He has worked in a wide range of roles, including in child protection, youth justice, residential care, disability support, pastoral ministry, and counselling and wellbeing in schools. Currently, Andrew supports student mental health within the Department of Education.

Passionate about mental health and wellbeing, Andrew is committed to equipping people with the skills, resources, and mindset to enhance their capacity to live balanced, fulfilling lives. He is particularly focused on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, aiming to help them build skills, resilience, and a strong sense of self through listening to their needs.

Andrew is married with four children and enjoys beach walks and playing basketball with his youngest son, Levi.

Andrew represents the school setting and is trained in Standard MHFA and Youth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MHFA.

Professor Nicola Reavley is a Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on population monitoring and interventions to improve population mental health and mental health literacy and reduce stigma and discrimination. She has led trials of MHFA, including in the global south.

Areas of expertise: Population monitoring, intervention trials.

Michael Deuschle works at the Central Institute of Mental Health in the Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. As vice head of the department, he is involved in the organization of out- and inpatient care for a catchment area of about 300.000 persons. As clinician, he is focused on mood and sleep disorders. Michael does research in psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine and sleep medicine. He is head of the research group “stress-related disorders”. This group mainly deals with the lasting effects of strains and environmental challenges in childhood and youth on adult health and phenotype. Together with Tabea Send and Simona Maltese, he is head of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Ersthelfer, which he initiated in Germany in 2018.

Areas of expertise: clinical focus: affective disorders, sleep medicine; Research: stress, early adverse events, physical sequelae of stress

Georg Spiel is the CEO of several ventures to provide help for people of different age suffering of different mental health problems (see: https://www.pro-mente.at/). He is also chairman of pro mente, which is devoted to applied research in mental health.(see: pro mente Forschung – pro mente forschung).
Areas of expertise: Neurology, Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Neurology, Psychotherapy; Evaluation/applied research

A/Prof Morgan is a MHFAI Research Fellow, who leads a program of work in population mental health, focusing on interventions to improve mental health literacy, prevent mental ill-health, and reduce stigma. She aims to generate high-quality evidence to address critical gaps in knowledge in the evidence base of mental health first aid training.

Areas of expertise: research design, statistical analysis, Delphi studies, meta-analysis/systematic reviews, and measurement of MHFA outcomes.

Sanjana Bhakta is a public health professional with over 10 years of experience. She currently serves as the Research and Evaluation Strategist for Mental Health First Aid USA and is also a 5th year doctoral candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In her role at the National Council, Sanjana sets the strategy for all MHFA research and evaluation projects – ensuring that research and evaluation initiatives contribute to the growth of the evidence base of MHFA in the US. Her work includes leading ongoing evaluations of MHFA products, developing course evaluations, and establishing partnerships with academic institutions and researchers. Her research interests and passion include advancing mental health literacy, decreasing stigma, and increasing access to mental health care using innovative programming, data-informed decision-making, and implementation science.

Areas of expertise: Monitoring & evaluation, mixed-methods research, implementation science, mental health literacy, stigma reduction, data visualization, research translation.

Erinda Shah has led Mental Health First Aid India since 2017. She brings 25 years of experience in the development sector, having served in various roles and capacities. Among her notable engagements is her work as the North Region Coordinator for the national reform on decentralisation and deinstitutionalisation of the mental health system in Albania—an initiative of the World Health Organization and the Government of Albania.

For nearly a decade, she has collaborated with several organisations in India, including UNICEF, ActionAid, and The Banyan. She is deeply committed to applying her professional expertise to drive sustainable change through a bottom-up approach, empowering communities to influence policy and systemic reforms.

Her core areas of interest include improving mental health outcomes and advocating for the rights and protection of children and women—issues she strongly upholds as critical public priorities and human rights concerns.

Areas of expertise: management, MHFA instructor expertise, and social impact on women and children studies

Prof. AlHadi is a Professor and Consultant in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, and past chairman of the department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is the supervisor of SABIC Psychological Health Research and Applications Chair (SPHRAC). He is a certified CBT therapist by the Academy of Cognitive Therapy in USA and Founding member in Canadian Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CACBT) since 2011. He got Psychotherapy Clinical Fellowship and Clinical Teacher Certificate from University of Toronto, Canada. and Clinical Fellowship in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He had Saudi Specialty Certificate of Psychiatry SSC-Psych (Saudi Board of Psychiatry), since Dec. 2006, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He conducted and attended more than 200 workshops, courses and conferences in psychiatry and psychotherapy. He published more than 50 scientific papers and book chapters. He participates in many research projects currently.

Areas of expertise: clinical experience in psychiatry and psychotherapy for more than 23 years. He is a psychotherapy supervisor and researcher in mental health and medical education.

Markus Spletzer is a researcher and evaluator at pro mente forschung. He has years of experience in applied and academic research with a focus on quantitative psychology and health promotion. At pro mente forschung he develops and conducts participatory evaluations of mental health programmes for adults. He is also involved in research cooperations with universities in the context of use inspired basic research. A further focus of his activities at pro mente forschung is to foster innovation in the mental health care sector, for example, by participating in a co-creation process with experience experts and mental health professionals to develop new tools or programmes for health promotion. At IERAC he wants to add to the development of evaluation, implementation research, and evidence on the effectiveness of MHFA.

Areas of expertise: evaluation, quantitative psychology, implementation, environmental psychology, nature-based interventions