COUNTRY psychologist Dr Naomi Malone has helped hundreds of clients over her 20-year career, and one of them anonymously nominated her for the 2021 Victorian Rural Health Awards.
Now she has been awarded the Rural Workforce Agency Victoria’s “Outstanding Contribution by a Rural Allied Health Professional” title.
“It was a real surprise and a real honour to even be nominated,” Dr Malone said.
The quiet and humble professional is not too keen on being the centre of attention, but says she is glad the award puts mental health in the region in the spotlight.
She has dedicated two decades to improving the mental health of people in the region, but it was not the route she expected to take in life.
“I didn’t end up where I started,” she said.
Raised by the beach in Rosebud, Dr Malone met her farmer husband at Melbourne University when she was studying a Bachelor of Science with a major in chemistry. She then switched over into psychology which she pursued in her honours and professional doctorate at Swinburne.
Dr Malone’s clinic – A Life Simply Lived Psychology – has a main clinic in Boort, where she lives with her husband and four children, plus a two-room practice in Kerang and a clinician in Swan Hill every day.
They also operate in Cohuna a few days a week and are actively looking for more opportunities to service the region.
While it’s important to talk about the the extreme end of mental ill health, Dr Malone encourages everyone to be aware of their mental health.
“It’s also important to talk about mental and emotional wellbeing and the maintenance of that,” Dr Malone said.
“People often ask me when should you reach out. And I ask, are you human? Because that’s really the only criteria – we all have our struggles.”
From Dr Malone’s perspective there is “definitely” more to be done in the area of regional mental health, and while the newer post-pandemic option of telehealth has strengths, it is not a catch-all.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and we use it, but it is often put out as a solution for rural people,” she said.
“I’m concerned. While it’s got its place and when it works it really works, when it doesn’t and it’s the only option it can be really tricky.”
Whether there are concerns with privacy technology or phone reception, telehealth does not provide for all the need in the region – and there is a lot of need.
“We’ve been watching as, over six to 12 months, demand has increased and the number of people contacting us has increased,” Dr Malone said.
“We’re still holding our breath. Covid has really unsettled a lot of people – it’s really a collective trauma,” she said.
While Dr Malone was individually recognised in the awards, she was eager to credit her 12 staff for their tireless and “very dedicated” work, without whom her own work would not be possible.
