A bit about the founders.

We are Kirstie Ferguson and Marie Murray, the proud founders of The Wellness Initiative. Passion motivates us, and we are driven to empower the community and share our knowledge and experience to improve the lives of others.

We have both completed tertiary education in psychology and hold a combined fifteen years experience working in mental health in the community. Our shared excitement for mental health and wellness has led us to developing The Wellness Initiative. We are the only accredited Advanced Level WRAP Facilitators in Australia, and running workshops has been a particularly rewarding experience for us in our journeys.
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Our goal is to expand and share the knowledge that we have acquired through our own personal journeys with mental health, and through our experiences working with people searching for wellness.

Kirstie Ferguson

Founder / Director

Hi, I'm Kirstie and was born in Perth, Australia but have parents originating from Scotland.  Growing up, I learned the importance of ensuring that I created a strong support network around me and putting different wellness tools into my routine. A great life to me is having the motivation to achieve but also a sense of contentment in day-to-day tasks - it's important to not forget to value the little moments in life! My experiences with wellness have been strengthened by learning about goal setting, changing habits and participating in WRAP.
Developing The Wellness Initiative was important to me as I feel we do not usually give ourselves the time to learn these valuable wellness tools and skills, which for me has created such a positive life-change.  
There are just so many things that we should stop and allow ourselves time to think about - and at The Wellness Initiative I now wish to share that with you all. ​Looking forward to meeting you at one of our workshops, trainings or courses!

Marie Murray

 Founder / Director

Hi, I'm Marie - originally from Denmark. I found love 10 years ago and moved to Australia; best decision I ever made. Creating a whole new life, especially a new support network, has been an interesting journey of self-discovery, and I feel proud of where I am today. Wellness doesn't come easy to me, and I have had to get to know myself a lot better to make a difference. Today I make myself a priority and put in the work for my happiness. A great life to me is quality time with my kids and husband, meaningful conversations with friends, learning from others and exchanging ideas! I was motivated to found The Wellness Initiative to give others a space and time to get to know themselves better, learn from others and explore what really matters to them. Life gets busy, and I wish to encourage people to pause and reflect.
I am excited to meet you all!

Meet our Team of Peer Support Workers.

We are passionate about CHOICE. If you decide to engage in our Peer Support Service, you will be given to choice as to who you would like to work with from our available pool of experienced staff.  We are very proud to have such a wonderful team. Meet them here!

Melissa

Peer Support Worker &
​WRAP Facilitator

Hi, my name is Melissa and I provide Peer Support Work at The Wellness Initiative. I enjoy reading, watching movies, hiking, strength training, spending time with animals, in nature and personal development. I enjoy deep conversations and meeting new people and I’m not afraid to try new things like ice skating or maybe even axe throwing. I am passionate about empowering others to empower themselves, problem solving different ways of doing things and busting limiting beliefs. If You are looking to overcome survival mode, want to feel like you are living more authentically and grow as a person, then we may be the right fit! ​​

Rick

Peer Support Worker

My name is Rick and I have proudly been a peer worker for over 6 and a half years now. I am very passionate about Peer Work because I have my own lived experience, and peer workers have made such a difference in my own recovery, so I try to do the same for the people I support. Other than work, I love to travel and experience new things. I like reading, video games, tv shows and movies, sport, and spending quality time with friends and family. I love to recycle and hate waste, and I love my trivia. I feel that one of the most important things for recovery for most people is connection to others and because of that, I am passionate about people building these connections. I hold a strong belief in social justice.
 

Rebecca

Peer Support Worker

Hi, my name is Rebecca, though you can call me Bec if you prefer. I am a peer support worker with the Wellness Initiative. I enjoy spending time with those I love, messing around with mixed media such as water colours, charcoal, ink, pastels, collage and clay to create art pieces, thinking of ways to up-cycle discarded or unwanted items and furniture, listening to music from a wide range of genres and era’s and appreciating the beautiful, natural landscapes and destinations we have available to us in WA. In my search for wellness and recovery, it was rare to encounter an understanding attitude and I often felt judged. Finding the right support for me changed everything. Today, I have meaning, purpose and joy in my life. I am passionate about supporting others to identify and achieve their own life’s purpose and to help them to implement healthy strategies aimed at increasing their experience of joy in everyday life. 

Jason

Peer Support Worker

Hi, I’m Jason, and I proudly provide Peer Support Work at The Wellness Initiative. I have been a peer support worker for several years, in London and now back in Australia. I have had my own lived experience with mental health and addiction issues and am a strong advocate of peer support recovery, applying it to my own recovery journey. I’m very passionate about helping people achieve their goals and assist them in finding overall wellness and happiness in their lives. I’m a sincere and open-minded person who holds honesty and trust in high regard. I believe in the motto ‘Nobody wins unless everybody wins.’ I enjoy music, movies, reading and writing, and, although I’m not a fanatic about it, I’m a qualified personal trainer and like to keep myself healthy; with some chocolate on the side. And I love animals of all kinds. I’m really looking forward to meeting you and being a part of your recovery journey.
 

Michelle

Peer Support Worker

Hiya I’m Michelle. I was the girl with the frizzy wild blonde hair and unique features from a different country that always felt like a didn’t quite fit in at school.  I have much more self esteem these days and will be forever grateful to the peers and others that helped change my life almost 14 years ago when I put down the booze and came into recovery. I am mother to a teenage son and carer of my 9-year-old cousin so I guess my hobbies right now are driving them to their hobbies, but I also know in order to do this I have to make myself a priority. For me this means working on my personal-development, walking, trying to eat well, developing a work life balance, spending time with friends, my adorable groodle, Sammy, some family members lol and making time to go to South Beach, Freo and if I’m really going all out getting to a comedy show. I am a fun, loving person with a compassionate heart and fiery soul. My hope for you is that our relation will give you space to be open and allow you a soft place to land where you can strengthen your resolve to make your wellbeing a priority.
 

Soraya

Peer Support Worker

Hi, I’m Soraya and I have three years experience as a Peer Support Worker.  It was a Peer Support Worker who first helped me see that recovery was possible for me and I hope to do the same for others.  I have two primary school-aged children who are my greatest passion and my biggest challenge! I love to read and watch movies to relax and love to get out to the shops, parks and the beach.  

Ella

Peer Support Worker

I am 27 and have been working as a Peer Support Worker in the mental health space for four years. Last year I also started working as a peer and mentor for individuals with autism as I was diagnosed with ASD in 2018. I have designed and now run an Autism Awareness and Education Group for adults. Working in peer roles has been truly life changing and I wouldn't change it for anything. I have a cat and I adore him, he is very funny! I like swimming, reading, art and craft activities, and comedy podcasts. For my own wellbeing I try to focus on self-compassion, keeping routines and going for walks. I believe I can offer empathic and open minded support and the right attitude to walk alongside you on your recovery journey.  I am trained in supported decision making and strengths based practices, and I am sensitive to issues for Aboriginal People, Multicultural People and LGBTQI people is also really important to me, as is social justice.
 

Pat

Peer Support Worker

I’m Pat and I have over ten years experience as a Peer Support Worker and Mentor providing individual support as well as facilitating and coordinating groups. I am a firm believer in recovery based support and have had my own lived experience of mental health discomfort and now function well with my own personal mental health. I have learned many (non-clinical) strategies that I employ on a daily basis to maintain good mental health and this includes and is based on having an active WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan). I am passionate about helping people to realise their full potential and find fulfilment in everyday life and believe that we all have the innate ability to accomplish wellness and self sufficiency. My interests include audio editing, desk top publishing, multimedia and cartooning. I also enjoy cycling, Frisbee and roller skating. I am an ardent music fan and an animal lover. 

Sandy

Peer Support Worker

Hi, my name is Sandy and I provide Peer Support at The Wellness Initiative.  I feel privileged to be a Peer Worker as I enjoy watching people grow, as they become more confident and fulfill their goals. My recovery has allowed me to fully believe in the infinite resilience of human beings and our ability to overcome life’s challenges. I have found that finding balance is key in my recovery, I recognise that I need to balance time with others and time to myself, while also finding a balance between challenging myself and taking time out for self-care. In my free time, I enjoy spending (rather a lot of) time with my dog, watching TV and movies, exercise and catching up with friends for coffee (and cake of course). I consider myself a down to earth, introverted and empathic person whose values are integrity, authenticity, perseverance and kindness.
 

Alisa

Peer Support Worker

Hi, my name is Alisa, and I have enjoyed working as a support worker in the community for the last five years. My lived experience of mental health recovery has been a challenging journey of anxiety and low and high moods which has led to both in and out treatment, and am happy to share my experience with you. I know there is always opportunity for positive change, and it’s important for me to inspire hope in others. I am a very talkative and social person and thrive on connecting and relating to others. I enjoy exercise and the beach. I believe that in recovery, finding your purpose is vital, and I would love to support you in finding your purpose and live your best life.

Kate

Peer Support Worker

Hi, my name is Kate and I am 35 years old. I have worked in mental health for over 6 years and over that time I have found out just how amazing and transformative peer support can be. Peer support can be the spark that ignites real recovery and wellness. I live and breathe mental health recovery every single day, as recovery is not always linear, it is very common to have ups and downs. I have been diagnosed with many different diagnoses over the years, and some of these I have recovered completely from, although there are some things that will be a part of my life until the day I die. I have complete acceptance of this, and I am at peace with this. What makes me really tick, is sharing my experience with others, and giving people who are battling similar things, a healthy dose of hope. I truly do believe that anyone can move forward in the process of recovery, regardless of where their starting point is. I have come from having a very empty life, many years ago now, to having a really full life, that is fun, happy and most of all, fulfilling. And I am 100% committed, to helping others reach those same goals. I know it can be done.

The best thing you will ever do is
​believe in yourself.

Community.   Growth.   Heart.   Kindness.   Personal Choice.   Sincerity.   The Lived Experience.

Join our community and explore your wellness today.

Email
​info@wellnessinitiative.com.au
​Phone
​0478 511 825
thewellnessinitiativeAU