Mission Statement

• Sydel Weinstein our Master Trainer is  Licensed with MHFA Australia and has over 16 years of experience conducting Mental Health First Aid Trainings in Western Australia, being one of the first to train in WA when MHFA was newly established.  
• Sydel has visited a wide variety of workplaces from corporate, government departments, schools, non-profits  and has become very passionate about promoting mental health and wellness in the workplace.
• Sydel is a Sociologist, Mental Health Educator, Trauma Informed Body Therapist, Senior Yoga Teacher & Mindfulness Facilitator. 
• Sydel founded  the Mental Health Station in 2005.

The Mental Health Station is immensely grateful for the ongoing contribution and work of Jennifer Parker in the area of administration and research over the past 10 years. Jennifer is an invaluable part of the Mental Health Station and its team.

The Mental Health Station grew out of a recognition by its founder Sydel Weinstein and the client base at the Home of Yoga  and Family Nurturing Centre  of the importance of raising mental health awareness and of the need for accessible mental health training that was practical in nature and also promoted compassionate listening as an essential skill for mental health support. 

Sydel and her partner established the Home of Yoga and Family Nurturing Centre in 1985. It became clear that a majority of persons were seeking yoga for mental health reasons as substantiated in a national survey 'Yoga in Australia: Penman, 2008. Through their work supporting parents and new families, which also included a parenting helpline for many years, the need for mental health education and practical knowledge on how to support persons in distress became acutely apparent. 

We are forever grateful to Sam Weinstein (1956-2018) for his compassion, dedication and founding of our original non-profit. His legacy is carried on.

Sydel had a long term interest in Mental Health due to childhood experiences witnessing the suffering of her parents who both experienced trauma, depression. This led to research and exploration by Sydel into the area of mental health and wellness. Sydel completed a Sociology degree with a major in the Sociology of Psychiatry and travelled to the US, Europe and Asia to deepen her studies. Areas of specific interest included workplace wellness, trauma, attachment, childhood development, mindfulness and trauma informed body therapies.

In 2003 Sydel  over heard Betty Ann Kitchener AM an Australian mental health educator who founded mental health first aid  being interviewed on Radio National about her newly created program and knew this would be an excellent training to make available  to the workplaces, communities and families of Western Australia. 

In 2004 the first Instructor Training in MHFA was conducted in WA and Sydel completed accreditation as a Standard trainer, later adding Youth MHFA and going on to become a Master Trainer.  The Mental Health Station was founded in 2005. 

Over 16yrs of conducting trainings Sydel has visited a wide variety of workplaces from corporate, government departments, schools, non-profits . Sydel is  passionate about promoting mental health and wellness in the workplace. 

Sydel has a wealth of experience that brings a depth and compassion to her trainings,:

• As a senior yoga teacher, teaching trauma informed yoga for trauma, anxiety and depression.
• As an experienced mindfulness trainer (trained in MBSR with Jon Kabat-Zinn 2009) and teaching mindfulness and meditation for over 30 years, 
• Supporting new parents in Mindfulness Based Attachment and the Foundations of Mental Health and Well Being for over 30 years.
• As a carer for her mother over a 10 year time period who received a diagnosis of Complex Dementia with psychosis.
• Pivotal in shaping Sydel's interest and experience base was her time working as a Trauma Informed Body Therapist for almost 5 years at ASeTTS with refugees and survivors of torture and trauma. Here Sydel played a key developmental role in pioneering  a Holistic Trauma Informed Model of Body Therapy. 
• Sydel now offers this work as a Trauma Informed Body Therapist privately through Heart Place Body Therapy and through  the Caring Communities / Trauma Informed Communities program.
• Aligned with this is an expertise and interest in Compassion Fatigue, Vicarious Trauma, Resilience and Self Care and Workplace Wellness.