FAQs

Anyone age 10 or above. We know age matters when it comes to discussing mental health topics. We work hard to ensure our content is age appropriate, and that measures are put in place to guarantee participants aren’t overwhelmed.

Our most in-demand events address depression, anxiety, consent culture, responsible relationships, cyberbullying and suicide prevention. We can also design new scripts according to your individual needs. Please call our team on 0468912399 to discuss how we can create a program to address a topic of interest to you.

Yes! We often deliver programs in schools and communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. We have engaged with a youth reference group to work with young people to support culturally adaptive programs. In 2018, Mind Blank won an award from The Mental Health Services of Australia and New Zealand for our work in the Top End.

We are also experienced in tailoring our approach to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse groups. We have been operating in Western/ South Western Sydney for several years.

Mind Blank hosts two types of live programs: stand alone theatre performances and multi-session workshops.

Theatre performances involve several actors presenting multiple skits. Each skit lasts 5 to 10 minutes and is followed by a question and answer session led by a facilitator.

Workshops are delivered weekly across ten weeks or in an intensive session over consecutive days.

Sessions for primary school students are typically 45-60 minutes while high school, workplace and community events may range from 1 to 2 hours.

Live theatre performances can accommodate audiences up to 180.

Workshops are delivered classroom-style and are limited to 30 participants to allow for individual attention.

There are no minimum attendance requirements.

Up to 3 events may be booked in one day. A minimum of 30 minutes break is needed between sessions to allow our facilitators and actors to adequately prepare.

• Venue for performance: Halls, classrooms etc. strictly NO gyms
• Access to performance venue: 1hr prior to performance start time
• 3 x mic to be supplied if audience size exceeds 100
• All students/audience must be seated
• Students to be kept orderly during the performance
• Ideally, a school counsellor or EAP service/ social worker to be present at the performance
• Time given to hand out evaluation surveys to attendees for completion on the day

Travel costs apply for areas 80km outside of Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra (ACT) CBD.

Yes! Please click here to find research on the Mind Blank program.

Yes, Mind Blank is listed on the Be You Programs Directory of mental health and wellbeing programs for learning communities.

Before the workshop, we disclose the type of content participants will experience and collect consent forms when applicable. We also
provide post-performance letters for parents, including a list of questions to continue the discussion at home.

During our school performances, we point out where the teachers and support staff are in the room to ensure students receive adequate care if they are
affected by any of the issues mentioned. Upon leaving the event, audience members are given a ‘crisis card’ with national helpline numbers, along with a QR code which provides local information tailored to your specific area.

Mind Blank is guided by best practice. We use mental health consumers that are included in the planning phases of all our programs. This commences with identifying a story of lived experience with mental ill health. Commonly what will happen is an individual is selected to share their story with one of the actors (many who come from a place of lived experience). The selection process is commonly through a partnership with the local health district or a school. This story is turned into a stage script.

The actors then host a rehearsal session with health professionals present to ensure that the team are capturing true integrity of the story, as well as avoiding portraying stereotypes to encourage authenticity of the lived experience. Policies to create programs follow a Do No Harm framework as well as practical guidelines outlined by Mindframe.

Fantastic to hear you are committed to helping support your students, employees and community members. Individuals learn differently; some may find guest speakers supportive and engaging. Mind Blank often complements other mental health literacy initiatives. The more you support early intervention actions, the more we can smash the stigmas involved together.

We have successfully supported school groups and communities that have been in this situation. Communities have found our team helpful in supporting students and community members, and in delivering self-care and help-seeking messages.

We have found audiences impacted by a recent suicide to be receptive to the program and willing to discuss core messages in
the stories. It is important that you let our team know what participants have gone through and provide additional support to those who may be higher risk. We recommend you follow your own governance and implement the Headspace program before our team arrives.

No, we do not have to mention suicide. However, we recommend doing so in order to help reduce commonly-held stigmas. Typically, if suicide is mentioned in the program it will be once at the start where the facilitator mentions the character feels like they have hit rock bottom. We do not stage it. We then develop the story to empower participants to talk about actions steps to help the character make better choices.

Our team has over 10 years experience hosting this conversations and are knowledgeable in knowing how to turn a conversation around if it is not helpful
to the program.

The Mind Blank model fits in with the Australian Curriculum mainly through the PDHPE & Drama/arts curriculum. Our programs are designed to enhance social skills and reflect functioning in children and young people. Personal and social skills that we encourage as part of our program include:

• Self- Awareness – we encourage recognising and regulating emotions by guiding the students to empathise with the protagonists storyline.
• Self – Management – the program facilitator will guide the students to ask questions as to how they would behave differently if they were a bystander in the scenarios presented in the script. This challenges them to show initiative and be adaptive to the scenario changes.
• Social Awareness – we help the students to understand relationships with others. For example, we follow the main character home in which she hesitates to share with her parents what is happening. The moral lesson we wrap up the scene with rationalises that other people cannot read your mind, and so there is a need to tell people in your life what is going on if you need help.
• Social Management – Mind Blank programs invite the entire year group to participate in the workshop as it is a collaborative effort to come up with the solutions on stage.

No, however we have worked with the Department of Education many times. We work alongside health services and follow best practices. We are endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as an eSafety Provider Program.