Recovery Camp, based in Wollongong, and developed at the University of Wollongong, is a provider of life-changing mental health programs and mental health education. We spoke with Dr. Christopher Patterson about the importance of mental health training.

Words Kirsten Hammermeister

For over a decade, Recovery Camp has been running therapeutic recreation camps where people with mental illness and student nurses spend a week together in the Australian bush. The provider is approaching its 40th camp in October 2023, an exciting milestone in its mission to improve mental health programs and education. While not on a camp, Recovery Camp also runs Mental Health Aid courses available to the community.

Dr. Christopher Patterson is the founder and director of Recovery Camp, registered nurse, and senior lecturer in the School of Nursing at UOW. With a decade’s experience in providing mental health first aid training, he is passionate about bringing mental health awareness to the community and providing better mental health clinical placement for students.

What is the course about and why is Mental Health First Aid important?

Mental Health First Aid is about improving mental health literacy in the community and providing people with the skills to talk about mental health and mental illness. Members of the community, who have a lot of mental health questions and are quite nervous about talking to people about mental health, mental illness, and in particular things like suicide, depression, anxiety, help people listen non-judgmentally to what people are experiencing and assist with any mental health issues and mental health crisis.

Who is the course suited to?

Everyone! Everyone is connected to mental health and mental illness in some way, it is just not talked about as openly as it should be. The course helps people to feel comfortable talking about mental health and mental illness, and so they can talk to their family, friends, colleagues, peers when needed. The course has really been designed to help general members of the public feel more confident or able to help people.

What is the objective of the course?

Raising people's awareness of mental health, and their understanding of how to support somebody experiencing mental health issues or a mental health crisis, whether it be related to depression, anxiety, psychosis, or suicide. The overall aim is to improve mental health across the community, and it is doing that with a community-based first-aid approach.

How did Mental Health First Aid come about?

Mental Health First Aid is a nationwide program, it’s been delivered by many facilitators across Australia over the past 20 years. It started in Australia, and it’s now been contextualised to countries all around the world. As well as running our camps and other programs, Recovery Camp puts these first aid courses on regularly for the community, as we recognise there is a need to improve community mental health awareness and skills. We deliver these programs to members of the public, as well as to organisations and workplaces who send their staff because they recognise the importance of improving mental health awareness and skills in their organisation.

What’s next with Recovery Camp?

As well as the Mental Health First Aid courses coming up, Recovery Camp has three camps this year, and then we are running another eight in 2024. The camps have had a great impact on improving people's mental health and connection to the community, on busting student mental health stigma, and on teaching nursing students how to approach mental health care in a more supportive and recovery focused way.

Here’s what Jade Lehmann, a student nurse who attended the camp for her nursing degree, had to say:

‘I chose this opportunity as a way for me to step outside my comfort zone and more importantly a way for me to gain a deeper understanding of people living with a mental illness.

“I came here with an open mind, but the camp has exceeded my expectations. It has been an amazing journey learning from people with lived experiences and thank them all for being so raw and open with their stories about living with a mental illness because without them this camp would not exist.”

— Jade Lehmann, participant

I also want to thank Lorna and Chris for creating such a safe space for everyone to be vulnerable and most importantly just a time to be our true selves.

Being on this camp has allowed me to conquer many fears I have had and I would not have been able to do that if it wasn’t for the experts and other students’ support along the way.

I will be walking away from this experience with confidence and knowledge about mental illness and I hope to carry those skills over into the clinical setting when I become a registered nurse.

If anyone gets the opportunity to attend this camp, please do, it is such an incredible experience and something I am going to remember forever.’

To attend a Mental Health First Aid course, contact Chris at recoverycamp@recoverycamp.com.au or book here.

Next event:

26-27 September 2023

9:15 am – 4:15 pm (attendance at both days required)

Building 239, Innovation Campus

Squires Way, North Wollongong

The course costs $150 (including GST) and covers the training, manual, and certificate.