Ann Hamden – Director

Ann has over 30 years experience in the Mental Health sector in various roles including Senior Manager, Senior Clinician and Educator. Ann has worked in most areas of mental health and also has experience in Managing an Alcohol and other Drug service.

Ann is a credentialed mental health nurse and holds a Master of Nursing in research, publishing in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing in 2008. Ann also has a Bachelor of Nursing, Graduate Certificate in Gerontics and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Ann is an accredited Master trainer in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills (ASIST) and Principal trainer for Older Persons, Standard, Teen and Youth Mental Health First Aid trainer (MHFA).

Ann is passionate about de-stigmatising mental illness and believes education is crucial in reducing stigma and the impacts of mental illness, trauma, alcohol and substance abuse and suicide rates in the community. She is a highly interactive presenter with a good sense of humour and ensures participants understand the material in a supportive and integrative setting.

The instructor did a fabulous job and clearly has lots of experience in the subject presented. She presented the information in an engaging and easily understood format with a little fun thrown in as well.

Participant July 2022

Thank you Ann for providing us with such a clear and concise Mental Health First Aid 2 day Course. Your manner was so engaging and you allowed everyone to share their stories. Your own personal stories added a personal touch to the sessions, and I feel showed that you were just like us, anyone can have experiences with Mental Illness regardless of profession.

OPMHFA training July 2022 ~ Participant

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID – 2 DAY TRAINING

‘Ann was awesome. She had a lot of knowledge and experience and was able to make clear anything we asked. Ann was able to show us real life examples so as to make the learning relatable’

‘Ann was VERY knowledgeable in this field drawing upon theoretical and practical experience which gave her a huge amount of credibility. She was very engaging and allowed a great deal of student participation’

‘Ann was a wonderful facilitator and tailored the content delivery to make it relevant for our team’

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Country Fire Authority ~ Participants April 2022

ASIST Training May 2022

‘Thank you! I found the training very supportive-also excellent pace and extremely relevant to my work. Facilitators were extremely skilled and passionate’

‘Committed, professional and committed trainers’

‘Excellent Training Program-content was extremely useful and the facilitators were very skilled and responded to all our concerns/questions. Thank you Ann and Michelle’

‘Michelle and Ann were wonderful facilitators, creating a supportive and positive training experience on a very difficult topic of suicide. I now feel more comfortable in providing suicide intervention at work and personal environments’

ASIST 2 day Training ~ Participants - Dementia Australia

Facilitators Ann and Vee were amazing. Really enjoyed the content and loved applying the PAL model via role play.

Participant ~ ASIST training Wonthaggi, March 2021

Participant ~ Thank you for your patience and the relaxed and neutral way in which the 2 days were run. The snacks and lunches were excellent and the role plays are essential, I would have liked more.

Participant ~ The ASIST training humanised and simplified responses to suicidal behaviours, made practical and user friendly

Both instructors gave me a clear overall understanding of mental health issues and solutions. Your

knowledge and personal experiences shared made the course very real, without being ….”I’ve done this and

seen that”. Thank you Ann ad Susanne, I really enjoyed your course.

Anonymous surveys ~ Youth Mental Health First Aid - Feb 11th and 12th, 2021, Traralgon

I very much appreciated the friendly nature your presented this course and made me feel very at ease. Your

knowledge and experience you so discreetly shared and your professionalism was very much appreciated. I

will move forward into my role as Liaison Officer Volunteer with the confidence you have taught me. Many

thanks Ann.

Participant ~ Youth Mental Health First Aid - Feb 11th and 12th, 2021, Traralgon

‘Good group engagement and lots of practical examples and interaction with other participants’

‘It was very well presented! Ann and Chris did an amazing job for a wonderful day, thank you!’

‘Easy to understand, loved that she had a full understanding of what she was presenting, including real life experience after years in the field’

‘Ann was a very engaging instructor, who clearly understood this area of practice. It was great to get examples of clients/situations to be able to relate the course information to’

‘Thank you Anne for well ...

Participants from Standard Mental Health First Aid ~ Wonthaggi PCP and Royal Flying Doctors Services, Victoria, Oct 2018

‘Your presentation which encompassed mental health, substance abuse and trauma, together with information on service providers, your participation on the panel, and the materials and links you provided, were very well received. You provided a very informative, insightful, engaging and entertaining presentation. The inclusion of Gippsland specific statistics, which was a shock, was also a highlight for many attendees. You provided attendees with the opportunity to engage in dialogue with you, which was greatly appreciated’.

November 2016

~ Australian Human Resource Institute Gippsland (AHRI)

‘Ann was an excellent instructor, she explained everything in a way it was easy to understand and I felt no question was dismissed’

‘Ann was a very engaging instructor, who clearly understood this area of practice. It was great to get examples of clients/situations to be able to relate the course information to’

‘Ann was an excellent facilitator. As an ex facilitator myself, who plans to do more of this again in the near future I took away lots of new ideas for teaching activities’

‘Ann you were fantastic so open and ...

Participants from Standard Mental Health First Aid ~ Yarram District Health Service November, 2018

‘It was really good to get prepared for when we come across someone having a mental health problem’

‘It was really good doing this course and now I feel I can use what Ive learned in my day to day life’

‘I liked learning what sort of things you need to look for in a friend if they may have a mental health issue’

‘it was a really good curse that I gained lots of info from’

‘this course was very informative. It was an eye opener. I learned how to ...

Students from Year 10 ~ Point Cook Senior Secondary College, May 2018

‘It was great to learn how to help people out and learning how to deal with someone who is injured’

‘My favourite part was learning about the action plan’

‘It was really good to learn all this’

‘My favourite part was learning how to help a friend who is going through hard times’

‘It was educational and I feel like I could help a friend having a mental health problem’

‘Overall it was really good and educational’

Students from Year 10 ~ Point Cook Senior Secondary College, May 2018

“Great presenters, very knowledgeable. Good to learn about how to implement it.”

“This was excellent- really compelling and insightful.”

“Very interesting session, very informative.”

“Excellent information and scenarios relevant to workplace.”

Various attendees ~ Trauma Informed Care (one hour session), May 2018