AbstractsPsychology

This dissertation takes the form of a compilation of papers, an overarching essay, and seven interconnecting reflexion pieces. It aims to celebrate the value in diversity of human consciousness, and to model and argue for reform in the way people of difference are treated in community mental health and disability support settings. It seeks more poetically inspired, person-valuing and self-determining autonomy and risk-taking in mental health rehabilitation and disability support settings. The purpose of the original study on which the whole work is based was to illustrate how people living with mental illness and/or intellectual disability could successfully support each other in a peer support, self-help way in community settings, along with volunteer buddies and mentoring professional 'aunties and uncles'. By forming a community of belonging, or 'open urban tribe' (Watters 2004), the 60 multicultural participants (18-35 years of age) from all over the city of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia, came together at first as strangers and then as friends, over a three year period (2004-6), sharing their structure of feelings and experiences (SOFE, Lloyd 2005) in mutually affirming and nurturing ways. This tribe stayed in active interaction well into 2007, when the author moved to the Northern Territory, to continue applying these sorts of approach to community nurture of social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) in both Central Australia, in the Northern Territory (NT) - in Alice Springs (2007-2009) - and Darwin and 'the Top End' of the NT (2009-2010 and continuing). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)