Mental health articles

The consequences of parental mental illness for children of refugee and immigrant families A child’s understanding of a parent’s mental illness is obviously age-related and an amalgam of idiosyncratic ideas, egocentric versions of family specific and culturally based belief, and learning from outside the family. Our experience is that children, even of early primary school […]

In culturally diverse societies such as Australia, the cultural norms that inform clinicians’ approaches to mental illness, and clients’ understanding of their illness, are often markedly divergent. While cultural difference is anever-present reality, mutual misunderstanding need not be. We commence our discussion with a case example involving a Chinese–Australian family.An examination of this case illustrates […]

Ideally, children grow up in a stable, predictable environment in which they experience a friendly and safe world. They need and are entitled to stability,consistency, safety and security in their upbringing. In situations in which the parents are unable to provide care to a ‘good enough’ level, it is appropriate that the child be placed […]