RESEARCH FINDS MANY PRACTITIONERS FEEL UNDERPREPARED TO NAVIGATE MEN’S DISTRESS Movember launches national rollout of Men in Mind tools to build trust, foster openness, and improve outcomes for men seeking support
With
Dr Zac Seidler,
Clinical Psychologist & Global Director,Men’s Health Research,
Movember &
Associate Professor, Orygen,
The University of Melbourne
AUSTRALIAN HEALTH JOURNAL SEGMENT
Filmed in Sydney | June 2025
Movember’s Men in Mind expands nationally to equip mental health professionals with the tools to better connect with men before they reach crisis point. Research conducted by the Men’s Health Research team at Movember has found men account for three in every four suicide deaths in Australia, and more than 50% had sought help in the year before they died.
These confronting figures expose a critical disconnect between men reaching out and the mental health system’s ability to engage them in ways that keep them connected to care. Movember is taking action to help close that gap.
Led by the Movember Institute of Men’s Health, Men in Mind is an evidence-based training program developed by Dr. Zac Seidler, a clinical psychologist and Global Director of Men’s Health Research at Movember, that equips clinicians with the tools, confidence, and practical strategies to better connect with men before they reach crisis point.
Despite their best efforts, many practitioners feel underprepared to navigate men’s distress in clinical settings. Men in Mind addresses this gap by providing practical tools to build trust, foster openness, and improve outcomes for men seeking support. The program is specifically designed for mental health professionals, including psychologists, counsellors, and other frontline mental health workers.
Through a mix of self-directed online learning, video demonstrations, and reflective practice, Men in Mind teaches mental health professionals how to adapt their language, build rapport, explore emotional communication and respond to distress and suicidality in ways that resonate with men. It also includes interactive scenarios based on real client experiences.
Australian Health Journal spoke to Dr. Zac Seidler, Global Director, Men’s Health Research, Movember about the world-first randomised controlled trial his team conducted demonstrating significant improvements in practitioners’ confidence and competence to engage and respond to help-seeking men. After completing the program, 82% of practitioners reported increased confidence working with men experiencing suicidality, up from 47% at baseline, with these gains maintained over time.
The national rollout of Men in Mind follows strong interest from mental health services across Australia, with the program already being adopted in both public and private practice settings. Men in Mind is part of Movember’s broader commitment to changing the face of men’s health by backing scalable, evidence-based programs that support early intervention and work to improve the lives of men, their families and communities.
Practitioners can learn more and enrol in the Men in Mind course at meninmind.movember.com.
Source: Adapted from Movember Men in Mind Media Release 9th June 2025
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Medicinal cannabis in Australia Update
According to the Australian Journal of General Practice, published by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, more than 130,000 medicinal cannabis approvals have been issued in Australia to date, mostly by general practitioners, with approximately 65% of these to treat chronic non-cancer pain. Despite robust supportive data from animal models, current clinical trial evidence for THC and CBD efficacy in chronic pain is incomplete. In their prescribing decisions, doctors must balance patient demand and curiosity with caution regarding potential risks and limited efficacy (Source: https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2021/october/medicinal-cannabis)
Australian Health Journal met with 3 speakers at the recent @arcsaustralia ARCS22 Conference providing an update on medicinal cannabis. The discussion with the speakers now centres on affordability and access.
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Awareness campaigns and HCP Toolkits for thyroid health
In 2021, the Australian Thyroid Foundation released analysis to show, well over 1 million Australian are living with an undiagnosed thyroid disorder, including thyroid cancer, lower IQs, lifelong disability, and a causal or possible contributory factor – in the development of other neurological disorders such as ADHD and autism. Some of the challenges for diagnosis and treatment can be addressed by producing material for health care practitioners during patient presentations.
‘Recent statistics show well over 1 million Australians are living with an undiagnosed thyroid disorder, awareness and testing can prevent unwarranted outcomes for mothers and their babies’ says ATF CEO Beverley Garside OAM
The Australian Thyroid Foundation has lodged a Pre-Budget Submission for the Federal Budget 2024-25 to counter increasing misinformation on social media creating dietary deficiencies such as an increasing number of young women, who are planning pregnancy or already pregnant opting for plant based milks such almond, soy or oat milk coffee as an alternative to standard cow’s milk, which is a source of iodine and alternate milks do not include.
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Interventional radiologists offer alternative to hysterectomy
In Australia in the last five years, an estimated 6066 women per year have undergone hysterectomies to treat fibroid-related diseases, while just 145 women each year have undergone a uterine artery embolisation, or UAE.
The procedure can effectively treat the majority of bleeding uterine fibroids. Each year, thousands of Australian women undergo invasive and life-altering hysterectomies to treat debilitating pain and blood loss caused by uterine fibroids. But there’s another option: a minimally invasive, pin-hole procedure that treats the symptoms, yet leaves the uterus intact.
