OPEN DIALOGUE NETWORK MEETINGS AUSTRALIA | DIALOGUE ROOM
When Many Voices Need to Be Heard
A conversation for the whole network, with two practitioners making sure every voice has room.
Start with a free 15-minute clarity call to discuss what’s happening and explore whether a network meeting is the right fit for you.
AHPRA Registered Psychologist | Private Telehealth Australia
When There Is a Lot to Hold
Some situations involve more people than one conversation can easily hold. Parents who see things very differently. Adult children, grandparents, step-parents and partners who all have a stake. A doctor, case manager or school counsellor who is part of the picture too. Everyone is trying, and everyone is pulling in a slightly different direction.
Sometimes it centres on one person who is struggling, and the people around them don’t agree on what’s happening or what to do. Sometimes there’s a long history, and every conversation lands on the same old ground.
Or you’ve read about Open Dialogue and have been looking for somewhere in Australia that works this way.
Network meetings are made for this.
What’s Different Here
We believe that change happens in relationships. Not in isolation, but in understanding, in finally being heard, in connection. When families and the people around them are given safe space to speak and listen to one another, they have the capacity to find their own way forward. You know your family better than any expert ever could.
We don’t take sides, decide who is right, or arrive with the answers. Instead, we create the conditions for understanding and connection to emerge, and hold that space while it happens.
Two practitioners are present in every meeting. With more people in the conversation, there is more to follow than one person can track. Two of us can stay with what each person is saying, notice what’s sitting underneath, and make sure no single voice dominates and no voice goes unheard.
At points in the meeting, the two of us talk with each other about what we’ve heard, while you listen. You hear our thinking as it forms, and then you respond to it. Nothing is said about you that isn’t said in front of you.
We sit with you in the uncomfortable, messy, and uncertain moments. We do not rush toward tidy solutions. When a family is finally given the space to sit safely in that uncertainty, things shift.
What a Network Meeting Is
Our work is grounded in Open Dialogue and dialogical practice. Open Dialogue was developed in Finland in the 1980s in response to high rates of psychosis and acute mental health crisis. A team of clinicians asked a radical question: what if, instead of treating the person in isolation, we brought their whole family and support network into the room?
What they came to believe was that people make sense of what is happening to them within their relationships, not apart from them. When families and networks are part of the conversation, and every voice is heard, something different becomes possible.
A network meeting is that conversation: the people at the centre, those close to them, and anyone else who matters, meeting together, with nothing decided about anyone who isn’t present. The approach began in crisis care, and it is now used more widely, wherever a family or network is caught in something complex.
Open Dialogue is now globally recognised, yet hard to access in Australia. In research in mental health settings, it and has been associated with:
- Reduced hospital admissions and psychiatric crises
- Less need to return to crisis services
- Stronger engagement with work, study, and social connection
- People rating their own recovery and their care more highly
This isn’t about fixing one individual. It’s about families healing together when they finally have the space to truly understand each other.
Who This Works For
Families Where Everyone Sees It Differently
Parents, partners, adult children and grandparents each have their own view of what is happening and what should happen next. Every conversation turns into a debate about who is right.
Those Supporting Someone Through a Mental Health Challenge
Someone you love is carrying something heavy and everyone feels it. You do not know how to reach them safely, and the while family feels stuck around it.
Networks Where Other Professionals Are Involved
A GP, psychiatrist, case manager or school counsellor is part of the picture. With everyone’s agreement, they can join the same conversation, so no one is working from half the story.
Families Facing a Big Decision Together
Caring for an ageing parent, a separation, a family business, a move. When many people are affected, everyone needs a say in what happens next.
Blended Families Finding Their Footing
Step-families, re-partnered families, and complex family systems need space to build understanding and connection on new ground.
Any Support Network That Wants to Communicate More Safely and Honestly
Friends, extended family, community groups, teams. If there are three or more people who want to understand each other better, this space is for you.
What It Costs
60 MINUTE NETWORK MEETING
$480
90 MINUTE NETWORK MEETING
$660
Every meeting is co-facilitated by our founder and Registered Psychologist, Shubhangi, and another practitioner. We usually recommend 90 minutes for network meetings, so there is time for everyone to speak and for the two practitioners to reflect together.
If your situation is simpler, or fewer people are involved, family therapy with one practitioner may suit you better.
We will talk through exactly what length and structure your network needs during our free call so there are no surprises.
A Note on Medicare & Health Funds: Please note that family sessions are generally not eligible for Medicare rebates under a Mental Health Treatment Plan. However, depending on your private health insurance fund and level of extras cover, a rebate may apply.
A Note on Safety: Network meetings are not an emergency service. If someone is at immediate risk, call 000 or go to your nearest emergency department. For 24/7 crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
