Please note that Drive Against Depression is not an emergency or crisis service.
In an emergency please call 000. For 24/7 crisis support please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
The Drive Against Depression Mental Wellness Network is available to anyone who may be in need of some support.
It is made up of positive individuals with diverse backgrounds and experience. It is designed to deliver a range of holistic health services to our member community.
Since connecting with Olly Bridge at DAD’s 2021 Summer Drive Day we’ve been excited by the opportunity which has developed to share Olly’s experience and mental wellness philosophy with the DAD community.
Olly originally trained as a Sport & Exercise Scientist at the University of Bath – English Institute of Sport (EIS) and proceeded to work with elite athletes like Jenson Button and Mark Webber at Benetton/Renault Formula One and the British Olympic Gymnastics Team.
Whilst Olly enjoyed working with elite athletes early on in his career, his real calling came to him during his 7 years in Sales and Marketing for BMW head offices on both sides of the world. It was during this stage of a successful corporate career that he increasingly became concerned by the poor general health of the average corporate worker. Realizing there was a critical need for global change, it was only a matter of time before Olly started to do all he could to empower people to regain control of their own health. This is where he became a Director of the Global Corporate Challenge and helped ‘move’ 1.5 million people into better health.
Olly now has 25 years of health and wellbeing experience. He served as an Executive Director of the Workplace Health Association of Australia (WHAA) and during his time as Head of Health and Wellbeing of an ASX listed company the organisation was awarded the AHRI’s Martin Seligman Prize for Best H&W Program.
Over the years Olly has designed and delivered countless H&W strategies, delivered hundreds of hours of content and successfully translated these sports science rules to the ‘Corporate Athlete’. Olly has proved that regardless of whether it’s on the sports field or in the boardroom, it’s the little things, the 1%ers each day, that add up for athletes and everyday people alike to live their best lives.
As for Olly’s philosophy on mental health…
“I see the body as a complete ecosystem that all inter-relates with each other, I don’t believe that you can separate parts off. The evidence clearly shows that impacting someone’s physical health impacts their mental health or psychosocial health impacts their physical health. Humans are a complex matrix and so working with humans as a whole is key.
My philosophy on health in general comes from my background in working with elite athletes and using the tried and tested methods and strategies and using them with the ‘Corporate/Everyday’ athlete…that’s the you’s and me’s… everyday people deserve to be treated like elite athletes!”
We’re looking forward to introducing you to Olly as a partnered practitioner in DAD’s Mental Wellness Network at future events.
We’re excited to introduce you to the newest practitioner in DAD’s Mental Wellness Network, Alison Tehan.
Alison is a qualified Nutritionist and Wellness Coach who works with clients to provide personalised nutrition advice to support their health and wellbeing.
Working holistically Alison specialises in the area of gut health, teaching clients how to use food to nourish and revitalise their mind and body.
Alison is passionate about personalised nutritional support to help clients understand how to nurture their gut health, which is linked to every aspect of health including mental health. She loves helping clients apply simple strategies to nourish, nurture and support their bodies, with a key focus on the gut and digestive system. Eating the right food to support our health as well as identifying key nutritional deficiencies is critical for achieving good mental health.
Alison has seen first hand the power of food and nutrition with her clients and that when making only small adjustments to peoples diets can have a profound impact on how energised and happy people can feel.
Nutritional psychiatry is an emerging field of research and a growing discipline using nutrition and a holistic approach to improving mental health. Alison uses therapeutic foods, supplementation and lifestyle techniques to help improve mental wellbeing. This approach can provide extra support for more traditional medical treatments for those looking for improved mental health and overall health.
How to Book
If you’d like to arrange an appointment to see Alison please contact her via hello@alisontehan.com or book via her website booking page here.
Appointments are available in person or via phone or video call. Alison offers free 20 minute consultations for members of the DAD community (please mention this when booking), and private health rebates for further consultations apply for some providers.
Understanding and healing the cause/s of a patient’s symptoms and addressing the whole person is the primary goal of a Naturopath.
In clinic I assess which factors have been at play… physical, mental, emotional, environmental, genetic etc… that have come together to contribute to how you now feel. This is important to know, in order to heal in a way that lasts.
Understanding your individual situation, and tailoring the support accordingly, is the best way forward to bring your all back into balance.
After 15 years of practice I’ve come to understand that our bodies want to be in homeostasis! If we create the correct environment, both internally and externally, this can happen.
Assisting the body’s ability to adapt to stress, and boosting the body’s nutrition, encourages healthy neurotransmitter production. This has a flow on affect and can alleviate anxiety, OCD, depression and panic.
Through my own personal experience with anxiety and depression, I have a deep understanding in how it is to live with these conditions, and to be on the road to healing them.
We are each a beautiful work in progress and natural medicine provides us with many options to achieve our balance.
If you’d like to connect with Jacqui, please contact us
I am a specialist psychiatrist who has lived and trained exclusively in rural areas. My clinical interests encompass a variety of areas and include particular passion for eating/body image disorders, with further strong interests in neuropsychiatry, psychogeriatrics and medical comorbidity, in addition to behavioural intelligence and situational awareness in hostile/unpredictable environments.
With regard to my academic appointments, I am a senior lecturer and topic lead in Mental Health for both Geelong and Rural community clinical schools – Deakin University School of Medicine; I am passionate about medical education and professional development.
I have a particular interest in rural/regional/remote mental health, including the improvement of access to mental health care for those living in such areas. I am keen on contributing to the education of students of all disciplines within health settings, and hope to continue to encourage medical students, interns, and junior doctors to pursue a career in psychiatry.
Lastly, over the previous 12 years I have endeavoured to contribute to our local community through volunteering with St John Ambulance, conducting this role in more recent years as a divisional medical officer, delivering pre-hospital advanced life support and advanced first responder capabilities at major local and state level public and private events.
If you’d like to connect with Doug, please contact us
