Overview

Join Karin Heartwell for a powerful 2-hour webinar designed to uncover how ableism shows up in everyday mental health practice—often unnoticed.

This interactive session will guide you through recognizing hidden barriers, understanding the impact of language, and making meaningful changes to create safer, more inclusive environments.

This webinar will cover a range of essential topics, including:

• an introduction to ableism and its subtle influence on mental health practice,
• the impact of prioritising profit over inclusion,
• the challenges of limited knowledge paired with elevated expectations,
• the importance of inclusive language,
• practical strategies for using respectful, supportive language,
• addressing internalised ableism, and
• recognising the nuances of identity-first vs. person-first language.

It will also challenge you to reflect on your own privilege, confront fear-based narratives, and engage in the ongoing work of decolonising disabilities and your mindset. Through storytelling and practical tools, this webinar supports your lasting personal and professional growth to explore internalised ableism, support decolonising disabilities, and enhance your service delivery.

Whether you are a psychologist, other mental health professional, or in a supporting role, this webinar aims to help you build awareness, shift perspectives, and foster more equitable care.

Target audience

This activity is suitable for: Psychologists, psychology students, general practitioners, allied health professionals, counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers, and human resource professionals.

Level of learning

Foundational. This activity is targeted to those new to the topic.

Professional competencies for psychology

The Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) have updated the Professional competencies for psychology which come into effect on 1 December 2025. 

This activity addresses the following PsyBA Professional competencies for psychology: 2, 3, 6, and 7.

Duration of access

This webinar will be recorded and made available to participants of the live event for a period of two weeks after the conclusion of the webinar.

APS CPD-Approved

This activity has been assessed against the APS Standards for CPD activities and approved for its education quality. Learn more about the APS CPD Approval process.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• develop an increased awareness of where ableism hides,
• recognise the importance of inclusive language in therapy, or in daily interactions, and
• apply practice to reflect and dismantle bias when working with clients.

Presenter(s)

Karin Heartwell

About the presenter(s)

Karin brings over two decades of professional experience spanning journalism, counselling, and disability advocacy.
Since retraining as a counsellor in 2017, she has worked extensively in grief and trauma, including therapeutic support for NDIS participants. Drawing on both clinical experience and lived expertise, Karin now focuses on disability inclusion and provides training to mental health and allied health professionals on recognising ableism and fostering genuinely inclusive practices. Her workshops are grounded in real-world insights and are designed to support reflective practice and systemic change.

Website/s

http://karinheartwell.com/