PROFILE
Julie Loveny
Started at UWA: 2017
Improving mental health in the workplace
Julie Loveny has more than 30 years' experience as a trainer, facilitator, mediator, counsellor and social worker specialising in mental health, aged care, families and youth.
As a part-time lecturer at UWA, Ms Loveny brings real-life knowledge from working in a variety of government and community organisations, as well as the mining and business sectors.
As a co-founder and director of This Working Life, a training and mentorship program founded to improve mental health in the workplace, Ms Loveny offers consultancy services to organisations to support their employees.
Current projects Ms Loveny is working on include the ‘Thrive@Work’ initiative with the Future of Work Institute at Curtin Business School, and a cross-discipline research study into the impact of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) work arrangements and mental health.
Ms Loveny has a passion for demystifying and addressing difficult topics, whether it is about inherent human fears, traumatic life events or issues typically associated with stigma and shame.
In 2016, Ms Loveny trained with Dr Brené Brown, who is a Professor of Social Work at Houston University, researcher and best-selling author. As a certified facilitator of Dr Brown’s programs, the Daring Way™ and Rising Strong™, Ms Loveny is in the process of integrating these into the Master of Social Work course at UWA. Topics covered in these programs include values, resilience, vulnerability, trust, courage, shame and worthiness.
Ms Loveny’s teaching units are Social Work in Health and Human Contexts and Field Education.
Ms Loveny’s other work includes the development of Workplace Mental Health Standards on behalf of the Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention, investigations of complaints on behalf of the WA Mental Health Commission, independent evaluations and accreditation of community mental health organisations, and providing trauma support and consultancy services to organisations and workplaces.
With funding from the WA Mental Health Commission, Ms Loveny is producing a report on ‘The Impact of fly-in, fly-out work arrangements on the mental health and wellbeing of FIFO workers’.
News
Big problem with Australia’s second mining boom
In 2015, a number of FIFO workers spoke about the industry’s attitude to mental health, including Sue Crook and Julie Loveny, who started the support website This FIFO Life.
Read moreFIFO workers reluctant to seek help for mental health problems
Julie Loveny from This FIFO Life outlined her concerns about the impact of the mining downturn when giving evidence to a parliamentary committee examining the issue. The committee was established following concerns about suicide rates among FIFO workers.
Read moreFIFO workers’ mental health is at risk
Founders of support website This FIFO Life, Sue Crook and Julie Loveny, told the inquiry on Wednesday that there was rampant anxiety and stress across the resources industry because jobs were being cut. Ms Loveny said the stigma of mental illness in the industry meant no one would speak up about their issues in fear of being made redundant.
Read more