A head for change

If you’ve ever wondered just how long 10 years of study is, look at this photo of Ella Dickison.

When Ella first began university, she started growing dreadlocks. 10 years later, on the day of her graduation, she shaved them off — a physical transformation that represented the shedding of her student years, and her hard-won move into the professional world as a clinical psychologist. 

“I was excited for the shave,” Ella says.  

Shaving for a change

This wasn’t any old haircut. Ella wanted to use her new look to make a bold statement about issues facing Aotearoa New Zealand’s psychologists, and to support the Mental Health Foundation influencing the laws and policies that help create a better mental health system.  

“It wasn’t until I was doing my internship in the public health system that it dawned on me just how under-resourced the mental health system really is, and I was motivated to raise awareness about that,” Ella says. 

Between 20-67% of psychologists in New Zealand are estimated to experience burnout (1).   The main factors causing this burnout are high demand for their work, which leads to longer waitlists and a higher severity of cases when people are seen (2).

It was during Ella’s placements at three different community mental health service providers that she saw these pressures first-hand. A number of experienced staff quit their roles, some due to burnout, some for other reasons. The staff who remained were left to pick up the workloads of the staff who left, juggling clients and appointments. New referrals which didn’t reach a threshold of severe need were either turned away or passed on to other services, because staff were already at capacity.

“Perhaps I was naïve when I started my internship, but it was an eye-opener seeing the stress these incredible staff were under, with a constant discussion between community teams and the inpatient wards,” Ella says.

“No-one was at fault, they were both overloaded and trying to do their best, but they simply couldn’t take on any more people.”

Newly-graduated, Ella has decided to move to Melbourne, both to travel and live somewhere new, but also to earn a larger salary to help pay off her hefty student loan.

That Ella’s left New Zealand at a time when its mental health system is short of staff, is an irony not lost on her.

"The service desperately needs more people, but there’s not enough funding to train new people, and then there’s not enough money or jobs available to employ new graduates like me, who see more opportunities in Australia or elsewhere.”

Still, Ella hasn’t given up on Aotearoa’s mental health system and promises to be back and working here one day.

We mihi Ella for her dedication to the kaupapa. To all those working in the mental health sector – we acknowledge and appreciate you, and promise to keep up our relentless efforts to influence a better mental health system.  

1. Morse et al., 2012; O’Connor et al., 2018

2. Blayney & Kercher, 2023.