My Journey
Image Description: White skinned person with short brown hair, brown glasses, brown eyes freckles, grey jackets and pants, rainbow top, pouring from a red watering can, in a room full of plants
Jesse Scott
(they/them)
I am queer, non-binary, neurodivergent, disabled human with a lived and living experience of mental health challenges, on a colourful journey through life.
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I am an experienced Youth and Peer Worker with a passion for mental health, social justice, advocacy, redefining and challenging societal norms, supporting our diverse and marginalised communities, through co-creating community care spaces and building connectedness. I love working in environments where I can make a positive difference and support the development of youth voices, lived experience and LGBTIQA+ inclusivity in service provision.
bio
Jesse is a queer, non binary, neurodivergent, disabled human with a living experience of mental health challenges. Jesse finds it so uncomfortable to write "about me" sections, so is hoping that they will return here and continue adding magical things about themselves. They love plants, tea pots, buttons, and all things creative!
I first begun my journey in the mental health space as a small human, accessing support from a therapist, during a time the world felt all too much. Having had big feeling all my life and having lived through many hard and deeply challenging moments, I was drawn to be part of challenging and changing the way systems and services operate. With multiples layers to my identity and lived experience I often felt out of place and like so many of these "safe space" just weren't right, affirming, or safe for me. We are all the expert of our own experience and deserve to be centre of our care. Finding lived experience work, my community and non-traditional supports, I now know it was never me that was the problem, but that these spaces were just never built for me, I now actively work to listen, learn and co-create the spaces that we all need and often don't have.
Creative Conexions is a collective community, co-constructed by you and I and is continually developing as we learn and grow together. Our foundations are our values, lived experience, peer principles, and affirming approaches.
I've spent time accessing, volunteering, and working community spaces, public hospitals, traditional mental health services and spend time in the NDIS space, I use the learnings I have to develop group, community programs, facilitate training and co-produce services.
As a human, in my time outside of this space you'll find me tending to my indoor plants, which I say are an outwards reflection of me and where I’m at, my current collective is 300+, and at some point, I’ll be trying to gift you a plant baby as my act of love. I collect buttons, teapots and badges and enjoy getting away for some bush camping, hikes, or a road trip.
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Work History
Creative Conexions- Founder, Director, Lived/Living Experience Consultant
Rainbow Muse Clinic - Peer Support Worker, Therapy Assistant, Group Facilitator
Switchboard - OUTspoken Lived Experience Network
Discovery College - Recovery Educator
headspace youth early psychosis program - Senior Youth Peer Support Worker
Alfred Health - Lived/Living Experience Co-design Lead - child and youth hospital outreach post suicidal engagement service (CY-HOPE)
Monash Health - Consumer Consultant
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Volunteer History
headspace youth early psychosis program - youth peer volunteer
Frankston YSAS - Youth advisory committee
MENTIS Assist - Young peoples group facilitator, Reference group
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Professional Development & Qualifications
Decolonial Shadows work - unlearning the white colonial mind
Intentional Peer Support (IPS)
LGBTIQA+, Trans & Gender diversity
Alternatives to suicide group facilitation & train the trainers
When conversations turn
Dual diagnosis and AOD
Queer, trans youth of colour
Food and Mood
Open dialogue,
Youth participation and engagement
Peer support for LGBTIQA+,
Advanced group facilitation,
5 day youth peer support training
Cert III in individual, aged and community support
Mental Health First Aid
Cultural Safety and Diversity Training