A view from Australia by Pam Blamey

I am an art therapist living in Brisbane, Australia. A mutual storyteller friend here put me in touch with Eirwen Malin, who in turn put me in touch with Prue. Imagine my excitement when Prue suggested that I submit an abstract for the Storytelling for Health Conference. I had recently joined an informal group of three arts professionals who support each other by sharing articles, conferences and links, so I shared the conference link with the group. One of them, Leanne Dodd, a creative writing PhD candidate, took up the baton and ran with it, also submitting an abstract. Both our submissions were accepted and we decided, at Prue’s suggestion, to combine our workshops into one.
 
As a storyteller of only a year’s standing, and the first conference workshop I had presented, the opportunity afforded us was pretty special and amazing. The warm welcome we were given is greatly appreciated, and Leanne and I have so much to learn from the experience and from the constructive feedback we received.
 
Eleanor was a great chairperson and so helpful, putting us at ease about the different venues, which really were easier to navigate than we thought they would be! Swansea is a fascinating city and I’m glad to have had time after the conference to explore it some more.
 
I am in awe of the innovative work people are doing in mental health with storytelling and the possibilities of working in different ways with diverse populations. It was a joy to listen to Daniel Morden, and to meet some wonderful people and hear their stories. I am inspired to keep trying to bring therapeutic storytelling to the attention of mental health and wellbeing workers in Queensland. I look forward to keeping in touch with new friends and wish I could come back some day. Diolch yn fawr iawn!