Dr Mel Baker Consultant, Writer, Producer, Speaker
Dr Mel Baker is not your ordinary educator. She is a storyteller, a filmmaker, a podcaster, and a survivor of horrific trauma. She has a doctorate in education, but she also has a wealth of life experiences that have shaped her into who she is today. She has faced childhood abuse, homelessness, domestic violence, adult trauma, mental health challenges, and identity crises, but she has also found healing, resilience, and hope. Diagnosed with C-PTSD, depression and anxiety following trauma in the navy.
Mel believes that everyone has a story to tell, and that sharing stories can help people overcome their struggles and find their purpose. That’s why she created LivingWell Talks and Living Expressions, two podcast shows that feature inspiring stories to help support people to overcome adversity and achieve their dreams. She also writes books that share her own journey of recovery and transformation. Mel recently was the producer and co-writer of Say My Name, a short film based on her early life story, which won over 60 international film awards.
Mel has travelled to 56 countries, speaking to diverse audiences on topics such as mental health, wellbeing, trauma-recovery, identity and hope. She has also trained and collaborated with five police forces around the world as part of her doctoral thesis, and served in the Royal Australian Navy. She is passionate about helping people find their voice and their strength.
Dr Mel Baker is a woman of many talents, but above all, she is a woman of compassion. She is on a mission to inspire hope and recovery into people’s lives following trauma.
Contact Mel | IMDb | FilmFreeway | Shortverse | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
“It was from opportunities given to me after Defence that I was able to find myself again, including learning equine therapy. I was invited to be part of a documentary called The Healing – how ex-racehorses help traumatised military veterans in their recovery. It was being with the horses, utilising my own wellbeing tools and volunteering as an associate producer for the documentary that I learned to overcome. My dream and passion is to provide this to others too through Living Expressions.”
MEET THE TEAM OF LIVING VOICES
Kirily Behning
Hi there, I’m Kirily, and I’m really happy to be involved with the Living Expressions community.
I love to read, watch film and tv, live performances of drama, music and dance. I love arts in various mediums and formats and value the role that arts can play in assisting with mental health.
I was diagnosed with depression at 19 and Borderline Personality Disorder at 34 and personally found Dialectical Behaviour Therapy a huge help for me in my life. I live with two autoimmune diseases which present their own different challenges, though I am very fortunate to be able to work full time and maintain my independence.
Sometimes I hate the world and sometimes I revel in it. This is ok and that is why a place like Living Expressions is great to share with in a way that best allows each person to share and express themselves.
Michelle McIlvride
Hello and welcome. I have lived experience in both childhood and adult trauma, and live with bipolar. I wrote a personal piece on this, in Living Expressions publication, Survive to Thrive. These life experiences have both challenged and shaped me as an empathic person and encouraged me to reach out and work alongside others through mutual empowerment. I believe the Living Expressions platform provides a safe, positive and inclusive space for everyone to share their experiences and begin to heal.
Jen Waltmon
I have a lived experience of previous suicide ideation, and I am bereaved by the suicides of 3 people in my life over a 3-year period. I also have living experience of depression and anxiety, and I’m a carer and support person for family members and friends that have lived and living experience of suicide. In order to have the most impact sharing my lived experience and helping others to do the same, I pivoted my professional life after 20+ years. After several years of volunteering across mental health and suicide prevention projects and events, I changed careers as a Learning & Development professional, and moved into the mental health and then suicide prevention sector, full-time.
I’ve spent the last few years in roles where I use my own lived experience to drive much needed lived-experience-led work. And I ensure that lived experience voices are heard and amplified across policy, services and supports across the wider community. My journey which began in crisis and moved through to recovery, now enables me not only to use my voice, but to also advocate for people with lived/living experience, who may not feel ready to use their voices just yet.