Riding the Wave to Wellness: Supporting Innovation in Youth Mental Health
- Shane Warren
- Sep 2
- 2 min read
AWARENESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
2 September 2025
The Vocational Mental Health Practitioners Association Australia (VMHPAA) welcomes and supports the recent findings from Victorian researchers highlighting the mental health benefits of surf therapy for young people. As detailed in recent Deakin University studies, programs that connect young Australians to the ocean are demonstrating measurable outcomes in reducing distress, improving emotional regulation, and supporting re-engagement in daily life.
These insights are not surprising to those working on the frontlines of vocational mental health care.
Whether it’s a youth worker guiding a teen through a beach clean-up, a counsellor hosting a session on the sand, or a peer practitioner supporting someone into their first wetsuit - connection, trust, and place are often just as therapeutic as talk therapy. Surf therapy programs are not just novel; they exemplify the kinds of community-based, culturally resonant, and embodied interventions that so many of our members deliver daily.
As our Chair Shane Warren puts it:
“Mental health support doesn’t only happen in clinics - it happens in waves, on walking trails, around campfires, and in everyday relationships. Surf therapy reminds us that healing is often found through experience, movement, and meaningful connection.” Shane Warren
This research reinforces the importance of investing in broad and diverse mental health approaches, including those delivered by vocationally trained practitioners: youth workers, community mental health workers, counsellors, adventure therapists, and lived experience professionals who are often the bridge between disengaged youth and formal supports.
VMHPAA stands behind innovative, non-clinical approaches that meet young people where they are, physically, emotionally, and culturally. We echo the researchers’ call for further support and scaling of such programs, and urge policymakers to prioritise flexible funding models that include:
Recognition of vocationally trained professionals in community-based interventions
Commissioning of inclusive, culturally safe, and experiential mental health programs
Support for outcome evaluation and evidence-building in non-traditional settings
Surf therapy is just one wave in the tide of change. It’s time we ride it together.
Media Contact:
Shane Warren, Chair
Susan Sandy, Secretary
Philip Armstrong, CEO
VMHPAA
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