About Darren Peterson

Founder

Take Charge Wellbeing

Having had over twenty years of experience in blue-collar industries and experience working FIFO, I have seen firsthand the impact mental health and wellbeing issues have – on our work and in our families. I also have a lived experience of anxiety and depression – though at the time, like so many, I could not see it for what was. I have since learnt that these feelings of anxiety or depression are not something to be ignored or pushed aside. ‘Self-medication’ is also not the solution.

Whilst workplaces often provide seminars and booklets or flyers on these issues; ‘encouraging us to talk’ was the main solution offered. However, I found we didn’t all want to or feel capable of, having that kind of conversation with someone else when we weren’t yet equipped to have that kind of conversation with ourselves. I could see this was the missing piece of the puzzle; a desire to be empowered and educated in such a way that we can Take Charge of our own mental health and wellbeing.

Wanting to understand things better, I undertook a path of self-education and training, coming to realise that the better I understood myself and the techniques I could use to help myself, the better I could feel.

Some of the training I undertook as part of my self-education includes:

• Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Mindfulness Teacher Training held at Perth Meditation Centre
• Qualified Instructor of Standard Mental Health First Aid: completed with Mental Health First Aid Australia; and
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Foundation Course: completed with Open Ground Mindfulness Training.

There is a wealth of information out there around mindfulness, meditation and mental health. What Take Charge Wellbeing is about, is presenting the information at the right time, in the right way, to the right people. Allowing us to not only support our own mental health and wellbeing, but also that of our peers, our co-workers and our mates.

It is my hope that by delivering my Take Charge Workshop and Mental Health First Aid to as many people as possible, I can make a positive impact on the stigma surrounding mental health and wellbeing and contribute to stopping the needless loss of life.