November Organisational Newsletter

November: Wrapping up Creative Community Care

Hello there,

In 2024, we were selected by the Victorian Department of Health as one of twenty community-led organisations to respond to a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System: to ensure diverse communities are a key part of Victoria’s nation-leading mental health reforms. (You can read about this here!)

As part of this initiative, we developed "CCC", otherwise known as Creative Community Care: Creative arts therapy for Asian international students.

And after delivering 15 art and music therapy sessions across three semesters, we wrapped up CCC in September 2025.

One interesting finding was that we engaged students from across 23 different cultural identities, highlighting the diversity of the Asian population, our international student cohort and our multicultural society in general. 

You can read our wrap up report here and stay tuned as we share updates about how we'll continue to support international students in 2026!

Cheers,
Asami

🌱 Important dates and festivals this month

Some important cultural festival and dates this month include: 

November 5: Loy Krathong. Celebrated in Thailand on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, this festival of lights honors the water goddess and symbolizes the release of negative energy to welcome good fortune.

November 11: Remembrance Day. On this day, nations worldwide honor and remember all armed forces members who have died in the line of duty, symbolizing collective respect and the solemn cost of conflict.

November 16: International Day for Tolerance. This day promotes a global culture of respect and acceptance for the world's diverse cultures and beliefs, fostering peace and understanding.

November 24: Shahidi (Martyrdom) of Guru Tegh Bahadur. This day honors the ninth Sikh Guru who sacrificed his life to protect the religious freedom of Hindus, symbolizing the defense of human rights and faith for all.

How will your organisation be marking these important dates this month? Feel free to reach out to us if you'd like some ideas!

🦉 Research perspectives to strengthen your culturally-responsive practice:

A recent publication by Monash University explored how cultural factors influence the relationship between appraisals (or how one interprets events) and PTSD symptoms. They found that Chinese Australians were more likely to a) view adversity as positive and instrumental to life and self growth, and b) adopt fatalistic ideals, or the idea that events are predetermined (Jobson et al., 2024). 

For Chinese Australians, having fewer secondary control appraisals (trying to change themselves to accept circumstances, rather than actively modifying their situation) was linked to more PTSD symptoms. For European Australians, fewer primary control appraisals (feeling able to directly change a situation) were linked to more PTSD symptoms. 

What does this mean for clinicians and the community? 

The idea of gaining mastery and control over a situation may not be at the forefront of all individuals minds. Culture may influence what people place an emphasis on - whether that is adapting to the environment, or actively trying to change their environment. This then has consequences on how one adjusts following trauma, suggesting that cultural-tailoring of PTSD treatments is crucial. 

Reflective prompt: 

Which forms of appraisal (primary or secondary) do you resonate with more? Where do you think this tendency might have originated from? Can your tendency change depending on the situation/context? 

You're welcome to reach out to us by replying to this email, if you'd like some perspective on this.

💡Build your team's cultural-competency in 2025.

The new professional standards for psychologists are fast approaching on December 1st and a core element of this shift is to embed cultural competency throughout all aspects of practice.

As the leading voice for Asian mental health in Australia, we can support you to meet these requirements in regards to the largest culturally diverse community in Australia.

We've supported organisations like headspace Syndal and Elsternwick, Monash Youth Services and The Australasian Genetic Counsellors Society saw improved team understanding and new strategies for delivering better services to Asian clients.

Ready to learn more? Download our info and pricing pack today to find out how we can help your team make a real impact.

🔎 Connect with our new therapists.

Our Asian Australian mental health practitioner list introduces you to private practitioners who are skilled in supporting the Asian community's mental health needs.

Our private practitioners are available for referrals. Please contact them directly via their profile.

✨Thank you for reading up to this point!

We rely heavily on your generous support to provide ongoing and free mental health resources to Asian communities in Australia.

Support Shapes and Sounds HERE.

🐌 And last but not least:

Recently on Linkedin,

We shared our practitioner interview with clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist, and forensic psychologist, Dr Zhi Xiang On. Read our interview with him here.