connection

12/06/2020

Coming Soon: ‘Connection’

We’re just 11 days away from the launch of our digital book Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe which you will be able to purchase and download from Apple, Kobo or Amazon. It has been a long journey since I first viewed artworks by the Carrolup child artists (2013) […]
10/06/2020

The Impact of Removing Children From Their Families

At its heart, the story of Carrolup is about the innate emotional needs of human beings, like feeling a sense of belonging. What happens if these needs are not satisfied? And what can happen if satisfaction of these needs is restored? In our forthcoming book Connection: Aboriginal Child […]
02/06/2020

Why is the Story of Carrolup Important?

‘The first step in re-establishing healthy communities is to acknowledge and understand the impact of the colonial legacy on the lives of Aboriginal people today and the various pathways necessary for healing from historical trauma, using both cultural and contemporary understandings and processes.’ Pat Dudgeon, Helen Milroy and Roz […]
01/06/2020

Forthcoming Carrolup Book

I just wanted to remind you that the book I have been writing, in association with John Stanton, Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe, will be released as a digital book that can be downloaded from Amazon, Apple Books and Kobo on the 23rd of June, just 22 days […]
11/05/2020

The Legacy of Carrolup

On the 2nd February 1950, Mrs Rutter told the boys of Carrolup that she would do all in her power to make their work known throughout the world. Seventy years later, John Stanton and I are trying to help the children of Carrolup reach out again, through our […]
05/05/2020

Book Launch, June 23rd 2020

The book I’ve been writing in association with John Stanton, Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe, has finally been finished. It will be published as an eBook and iBook from June 23rd, just seven weeks away today. We’ve chosen that date for the launch, as it is the […]
10/03/2020

Charles ‘Sammy’ Crabbe, Part 1

Several weeks ago while I was sorting through Noelene White’s family memorabilia relating to Carrolup, I came across a photograph I’d only ever seen in an ABC film about Carrolup. I’d been trying to find a copy of this photograph for ages. The photograph is the one above, […]
17/10/2019

Jan James: My Path To Connecting Aboriginal People

On May 31st this year, I (and many others) lost a very special friend. I wrote a blog about this beautiful person entitled An Extraordinary Human Being: Jan James R.I.P. I know I am not the only person who considers Jan to be extraordinary. ‘Jan James was a genealogist, […]
03/10/2019

‘Morning Meditation. Be Like Geese’ by Judy Atkinson

Back in July 2018, I saw a beautiful posting about geese on Facebook from Judy Atkinson. I couldn’t resist asking Judy if I could use her posting as my Sharing Culture blog that day. Here is Judy’s post again, with modified paragraphing for added impact. ‘Fact one: As each […]
03/09/2019

Without A Life Story: Bruce Perry

I often wonder about the consequences of the government policy of taking Aboriginal children away from their families, the impact on the children and the parents. Children taken away in this way were not only losing the essential care of their parents, but also disconnecting the child from […]
10/07/2019

‘Lost Connections’ by Johann Hari: Part 2

In a Healing blog posting in April, I described Johann Hari’s enthralling and inspirational book Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions. This has to be one of the most important books I have read in the mental health field since I […]
25/06/2019

Meet Cheryle Jones, Whose Mother Was At Carrolup

The story of Carrolup is one that needs to be told in full detail. We must not just relate the story of the Carrolup children and the people with whom they interacted with at that time, but also tell the stories of the impact that the children and their achievements had […]
06/06/2019

An Extraordinary Human Being: Jan James R.I.P.

I am still struggling to come to terms with the fact that my close friend Jan James is physically not with us anymore. Jan passed away last Friday night, the 31st May 2019. She was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known. Here is a […]
20/03/2019

Cheryle Jones’s Mother, Mildred Jones, at Carrolup

One of the aims of our project is to connect with families of the Aboriginal children who were at Carrolup. We want them to be able learn about what we have discovered about Carrolup and the people who were there – if they so wish – and hopefully […]
13/03/2019

Relationships, Connection and Healing from Trauma

For anyone interested in the healing of childhood trauma, I strongly recommend you read, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And other Stories From a Child Psychiatrists Notebook by Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz. Here is a description of the book from the back cover: ‘What happens when […]
20/02/2019

Importance of the Carrolup Story

“The first step in re-establishing healthy communities is to acknowledge and understand the impact of the colonial legacy on the lives of Aboriginal people today and the various pathways necessary for healing from historical trauma, using both cultural and contemporary understandings and processes.” Pat Dudgeon, Helen Milroy and […]
21/01/2019

The Healing Power of Country

The present blog is based very closely on one I wrote in September 2018 for my website Sharing Culture. Sharing Culture is an educational resource I developed in 2014 to help facilitate the healing of intergenerational, or historical, trauma. It was inspired by my reading of Judy Atkinson’s […]
08/12/2018

Recovery From Trauma – Judith Herman (Part 2)

In my Healing Blog postings, I’m going to use a lot of quotes and film clips of people who I consider to be experts in the field, people like Judy Atkinson, Bessel van der Kolk, Bruce Perry, Judith Herman, James Gordon, Karen Treisman and Gabor Maté. Their words are […]
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