From Trauma to Healing Through Compassion and honesty with Darren Wagner

Darren grew up in a military family, moving often as a child and experiencing different cultures and ways of life. As a young man, he dreamed of acting but instead served as a paramedic and police officer, always drawn to helping others.

Long years of frontline work took a toll, leading Darren to struggle with depression and eventually be diagnosed with PTSD. Life brought further challenges, including living through the Sandy Hook school tragedy, which deeply shaped Darren’s perspective on trauma and community.

After a major turning point, Darren decided to leave his policing career behind and start fresh, moving from America to Australia. He saw the power of support by sitting with others through pain, finding meaning for himself and hope for those he helped.

In his new role as the suicide prevention peer workforce education lead with Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) he will be utilising his lived/living experience related to suicide and mental health challenges and expertise in peer workforce education to inform the collaborative creation, delivery and evaluation of statewide education and training materials and programs.

He uses his story to educate and raise awareness about suicidality, suicide prevention, and mental health challenges. He believes that by sharing our stories, we can break the stigma surrounding mental illness and encourage others to seek help.

He is currently working a PhD with the University of New England and has received a scholarship from the Manna Institute to research the role of peer workers and how this emerging workforce might be expanded and made more sustainable in rural and regional communities to augment current and future mental health teams.

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We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

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Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie