Tracy Westerman With Stan Grant

10 September 2024

Talks and Ideas

Turning Indigenous heartbreak into hope

Join us for this Sydney-exclusive event with renowned clinical psychologist and Nyamal woman Dr Tracy Westerman speaking to journalist and Wiradjuri man Stan Grant about the transformation taking place in the treatment of Indigenous trauma.

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Tracy Westerman makes us human and whole.

Stan Grant

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How one Nyamal woman from the remote Pilbara transformed psychology

From humble beginnings in the remote Pilbara, Dr Tracy Westerman was the first Aboriginal person in Australia to complete a PhD in Clinical Psychology and has risen to become one of the country’s leading psychologists. In her clinical practice and charitable foundation, she is revolutionising the treatment of mental health, suicide behaviours and complex trauma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In an event that marks the publication of her powerful memoir Jilya, Westerman speaks to journalist and Wiradjuri man Stan Grant and argues the mental health professions’ one-size-fits-all approach is creating irreparable damage. Drawing on her decades of client stories of trauma and heartbreak, she explains how a different approach has helped to heal the wounds of intergenerational trauma. Join us on World Suicide Prevention Day, Tuesday 10 September, for what promises to be an inspirational and powerful conversation.

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Image credit: Jodie Grieve

Dr Tracy Westerman AM

Dr Tracy Westerman AM is a proud Nyamal woman from the Pilbara region in Western Australia. She has a PhD in Psychology and is the founder of Indigenous Psychological Services and the charity, the Westerman Jilya Institute for Indigenous Mental Health. She is a recognised world leader in Aboriginal mental health, cultural competency and suicide prevention, achieving national and international recognition for her work. Westerman has received many awards including an Order of Australia, Telstra Women’s Business Award Winner (Western Australia) and Australian of the Year (Western Australia).

Stan Grant

Stan Grant is Distinguished Professor and Chair of Yindyamarra Nguluway Trust at Charles Sturt University. He has a Doctorate of Theology and was formerly ABC’s Global Affairs and Indigenous Affairs Analyst and host of news program Q+A. He is one of Australia’s most respected and awarded journalists, with more than 40 years experience in radio and television news and current affairs. For more than a decade he was CNN’s senior international correspondent based in China and the Middle East. He is the author of seven critically lauded bestselling books and the producer and writer of the Australian Academy Award winning documentary The Australian Dream examining the racist abuse of footballer Adam Goodes. Stan has a strong reputation for independence and integrity and has covered the biggest stories of our world for the past four decades including interviewing many Australian and world political leaders.