Fortem launches search for Youth Ambassadors
For the past three and a half years, Marnie Donovan has been helping ensure first responders and their families have access to high-quality, evidence-based mental health and wellbeing support through Fortem.
As Fortem’s Lead Clinician, Marnie provides clinical leadership across our mental health programs, supports our team of clinicians and works to ensure services remain safe, effective and responsive to the needs of participants.
Alongside this leadership role, Marnie continues to work directly with clients and helps introduce and deliver programs that respond to the needs of the first responder community, including the STAIR program and webinars on topics such as moral injury.
Marnie’s connection to supporting first responders began early in her career.
After completing degrees in Social Work and Criminal and Community Justice, her first social work placement was at a psychiatric hospital in North Richmond, NSW. It was there, on an occupational PTSD ward, that she first began working with first responders.
That placement led to a role at the hospital, where Marnie facilitated group therapy and joined the Trauma Recovery Program, working directly with first responders undertaking trauma processing.
She later gained her mental health accreditation and moved into private practice, working one-on-one with clients experiencing childhood trauma. She also supports the next generation of social workers by providing supervision to students completing their placements.
While much of Marnie’s professional life centres around supporting others, connection is also one of the most important ways she looks after her own wellbeing.
‘My favourite wellbeing activity is anything that involves chatting or connecting with people I love,’ Marnie says.
That might mean spending time with her husband or girlfriends, embracing her role as the ‘fun aunty’, or heading out into the sunshine with her Great Dane, who has a habit of attracting plenty of attention from people they meet along the way.
Her nieces and nephews even have their own name for her: ‘Arnie’, which came about when they couldn’t quite manage ‘Aunty Marnie’.
One piece of advice Marnie carries with her is not to let fear make decisions for you.
‘Some of the best opportunities, experiences and personal growth come from stepping into situations that feel uncomfortable or a little scary,’ she says.
It’s also reflected in what she would tell her 15-year-old self: give everything a go, even when you’re not sure you’ll succeed.
‘Confidence doesn’t come before you try something new, it comes from trying it. Often, the things that scare us the most end up being the most rewarding.’
Thanks for sharing, Marnie, and for everything you do to support Fortem’s first responder community and clinical team.