Ruth Tarrant

~ Providing Mental Health

& Trauma Care Since 1994 

I never wanted to get into MH. I wanted to be an economist. When I was at school I decided I liked money. Big money. The kind of big money that helps whole populations live better, have better health, better education, better opportunities, better freedom and personal autonomy. In that sense money is a very excellent facilitator of positive living, and strong mental health too. Money management at population level enables groups of people to make better choices and live lives that are productive, lift the human spirit and enable non-greed. A lack of money on the other hand makes people grab for money, and stop caring about who suffers as a result of that grab.

So I thought I could make my best contribution by enabling big populations, and all I knew to help in that way was by influencing those organizing the money at infrastructure level. You know, those who work out interest rate changes, allocate funds to school, hospitals, roads, government departments, and the stuff that influences how the nation's currency through import/export tariffs and so on.

Besides, I was good at school economics. Then our economics teachers decided we should understand environment economics - environment was really important back then. It still is, but we somehow we haven't really progressed as much as we had anticipated by now. Environmental economics is a very cool way to understand how we can create excellent lives and nurture (not just protect) our beautiful planet as well. It's a wholly differentiated science that considers the natural world as a primary resource not for destroying, but for utilizing in positive ways for local ecology and all the creatures within that area. Environmental economics also enables great living, relaxation, a sense of belonging and connection, it helps us build foundation skills of life and living including empathy and compassion.

I stuffed my HSC (someone tried to throw me off the roof of a 3 story building, my grandfather died and I needed saving by a cop becasue of a family friend's behaviour one night) & ended up nursing instead of becoming an economist. I remember being truly miserable about that. Our class undergraduated with a Bachelor Degree in Nurisng - we were one of the first to do so - previous classes had studied diploma level nursing qualifications. Nursing had been in the university system since 1982, but it wasn't a degree level course for another 10 yrs. Coincidentally, one of our subjects was environmental health - how the environment affects our health, both physical and mental health. Naturally I did very excellently in that subject!

At the end of 1st year uni I was diagnosed w cancer. I was devastated, no-one I knew who had cancer had survived very long. Then even worse, by the beginning of 3rd year I was given a 3 month prognosis - I wouldn't live to see the end of my degree. That was my 3rd oncologist, the top guy in all Auatralia and who's work remained cutting edge for many years afterwards. None of them had said any different. I simply got to them too late, as my doctors all told me.

Somehow I didn't die - a story not for here - and continued nursing. I landed in MH through a serendipitous series of events and discovered a natural flair for it. So I didn't become the ICU & ED nurse as my teachers and clinical facilitators expected me to be - they were my best clinical placements - and fell into MH purely because of the location and timing of my grandfather's death - another story not for here.

That was May of 1994 and I still love MH Nursing. I studied to become a Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) in 1995 but that qualification was being phjased out - government decided mental health nursing was no longer a thing (rthey also phased out specialist midwifery nursing quals too - again, not a thing). I'm now a Credentialed Mental Health Nurse (CMHN) since 2016 - the highest qualification specific to mental health nursing. These quals require 2,000hrs and 5,000hrs clinical experience respectively. To be a CMHN you also need to be a Registered Nurse and attain a Masters Degree in MH Nursing. In total I have over 40,000hrs clinical, belly to belly, experience looking after people with MH issues of every kind, every diagnostic and at every level of the intensity spectrum. I have a Masters Degree in PTSD and Secondary Trauma (Secondary means traumatized through the witnessing role rather than through direct experience and it can hurt just as much as primary trauma). I've worked in the old asylums as well as the newest of hospitals, I've been Clinical Nurse Consultant in hospital emergency departments (the highest clinical position for an RN specialising in MH, worked with too-stressed frontline & first responders including military personnel, and in GP clinics which I've done on and off for the last 8 years. I've worked w child soldiers from 3rd world countries and people who've survived childhood abuse of all kinds, people who've escaped cult groups, people who've experienced so much fear and distress for so long they can't do up the buttons on their shirt easily. I've worked with super high achieving people who've fallen in a ditch after some anomalous event and ordinary people living ordinary lives seeking more out of life.

You might be a real tough guy or gal - loads of time at the pointy end. You might be a first responder, a medic, a paramedic, a cop or working in child protection. You might fight wars, or fires, or maybe you don't. Maybe you live a more regular life but hurting because of bad things, tough things you don't have the resources to fix or somehow live with. Maybe you've been diagnosed w something awful, or have too much on your plate. You might be beating up your loved one because of your work stress, or got a bad case of burnout, or you've somehow become an asshole lately and want to stop being that. Or maybe you're messed up by an awful physical condition It could be a MH diagnosis you're dealing with, or a dreadful life experience. Whatever it is, if it's impacting your MH there's a good chance I can help or can recommend someone who can. We'll both know the answer to that after our first session.

Where most MH professionals focus on a populace experiencing xyz type of experience, eg assault, or a particular diagnosis, I specialist instead in people care - whatever you've gone through I can probably help if it's causing mental health symptoms. I've looked after people in pretty well every life experience there is. To put that into context, I've literally looked after thousands of people. That might make me sound like a generalist, but in fact, it has made my practice very focused on the individual going through the problem rather than focussing on the flavour of the problem. I have a real strong belief in the power of the individual and the ability to get through pretty well anything that hasn't killed you.

All my work is focused at the moderate to severe end of MH. If you need medications for your MH I'm experienced in helping manage them and monitoring their efficacy and I'll help explain that to your doctor if you ask me to. If you need help navigating your physical health and it's impact on your mental health, you need a nurse who specializes in MH and gets physical health as well.

I'm also a psychotherapist. That means I provide therapy for your psyche. Most people are aware of psychology - the study of the psyche; -ology being the study of anything and in this case the study of the psyche) - but not everyone knows about psychotherapy. Therapy for the psyche is what's needed when you need to heal a pain, shift an outmoded way of life or way of thinking, or simply to shed that burden you've been carrying all this time. Some psychologists are trained in therapeutic modalities, but it's psychotherapy that is an all encompassing therapeutic approach for mental health care.

The first session we do together will be working out if we're a fit - am I someone you can talk to, can trust and lean on? If not, it will be a short call, if so, it will feel psychotherapeutic - you'll leave after our long hour (standard appointments are usually 75mins or thereabouts) feeling like that was a worthwhile hour we just spent together. It will feel as though you've already achieved something. It will feel nurturing, useful, worth doing. During our work together you'll notice progress, you'll feel differently, and know deep inside you're moving towards positive mental fitness. Well too many people spend a lot of time talking things through but not progressing - our sessions will be pragmatic, starting with "what do you need from me today?" - and you'll be expected to work between sessions on your mental fitness.

In my other MH role - Educator - I've trained child protection, nurses, doctors, counsellors, psychologists in primary & secondary trauma responses and proper self care. I teach at universities and I design courses too. I've written the material for MH subjects in Masters degrees. I love educating people on MH and use trauma-informed teaching methodology for people at risk of compromised MH due to their work (like healthcare, military, teachers and first responders) and working with people suffering MH problems too.

If you want MH training at your workplace, or a speaker at your conference, let me know - we can work out topics together, or just let the audience ask questions on a predetermined theme.

My quals are:

Registered Nurse - 3 year Bachelor degree.

Registered Psychiatric Nurse - 1 year industry based training w nearly 2000hrs clinical work including under clinical supervision and mentoring.

Credentialed Mental Health Nurse - Masters degree (PTSD) + 5,000hrs clinical experience + 300hrs CPD initially & 150hrs CPD per 3 years.

Psychotherapist - 2 year diploma.

Life Coach - 2 year diploma focused on various psychotherapeutic modalities.

Various Certificates -Various counselling certificates mostly mind-body medicine focused such as CBT, Gestalt, EFT

Compassion Fatigue Educator (Canada & US) - trauma-informed teaching methodologies specific to MH topics

Secondary Trauma Specialist Clinical Supervisor (Canada) - clinical supervision is a professional endeavour all clinicians are required to do and some of us provide that as well as receive it. I am authorized by the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses as a Clinical Supervisor.

Trauma care experts internationally, recommend practitioners be trained and experienced in a minimum of 3 different mental health techniques / approaches before working with people who's mental health is compromised. Sometimes a session might lean heavily into a single intervention, other times a session w Ruth can draw on as many as 12 interventions. Often, a mentally cognizant conversation is more useful to the person than any particular intervention.

My work is loosely described as psychotherapy drawing on Gestalt, CBT, Mindfulness, Mind-Body Medicine, Compassion Building, Contemplative Techniques, Positive Forward Movement using Possibility Thinking with a Solution Focused Orientation. My approach is heavily reliant on transpersonal and positive psychological principles and integrated with numeorus individual interventions and techniques.