Maria Rusbridge

Pukenga Atawhai (Māori Mental Health Worker)
Child, Adolescent and Family Service

“Physical ailments you see, but mental health is silent. We need our tamariki and rangatahi to know they’re not alone. A lot of them have shame, they don’t want to tell anyone what’s going on. Our job is to make them feel heard and to feel safe. To tell them we believe in them.”

Maria Rusbridge, much like many of the rangatahi, tāngata whaiora and whānau she works with, grew up in a difficult environment.

“Luckily, I was fostered by another whānau who taught me what a real whānau is all about,” Maria says.

She’s worked in the mental health space for a decade and joined the Child Adolescent and Family (CAF) team two years ago.

Her role as a Pukenga Atawhai (Māori Mental Health Worker) is to create and maintain connections between Māori patients, their whānau, and the CAF system.

“My mahi is to educate and inform Māori whānau that we are a service they can trust. We are not perfect but the wellbeing of rangatahi and tāngata whaiora as well as whānau whānui (extended family) is important. Mahi tahi tātou – together as one we work.”

Maria’s role is vital to support and encourage engagement with the CAF team.

“The mamae (physical ailments) you see, but mental health is silent. We need our tamariki and rangatahi to know they’re not alone. A lot of them are whakamā (have shame), they don’t want to tell anyone what’s going on.

“Sometimes our whānau struggle with taking Pākehā rongoā (medication) and question why due to not having a good understanding of why medication is needed – but we always empathise that rongoā is only a small part of ones hauora/wellbeing. They feel it takes away some of their mana or feel lost or disconnected within themselves.”

Maria says that her mahi is to tautoko, manaaki – to build a positive relationship between whānau and our clinicians.

“Our job is to make them feel heard and to feel comfortable. To tell them we hear their kōrero. Once that trust is there it allows the whānau to get to know us – our service, it changes everything for our rangatahi, tāngata whaiora and their whānau.”

Maria deals with emergency situations regularly including drug overdoses and deliberate self-harm. She also works with the CAF access team, which provides an emergency service to our tamariki and rangatahi when in crisis. Many are brought to the service with the assistance of emergency services.

“It’s so sad. We see some whānau that struggle through their own trauma and hardship and you can see why this has impacted on their tamariki and why they have ended up in this space. Those are the ones who break my heart, I really struggle seeing that.”

Kahurangi is a new outpatient space for child and youth mental health being built thanks to Māia Health Foundation’s support.

Maria says Kahurangi will make an enormous difference to whānau they see. That’s why she’s throwing her support behind Māia’s Better Space Appeal, which aims to raise $1 million towards the project. In total Māia has committed to raise $6 million to bring the new outpatient space to life.

“Kahurangi will be more modern, spacious, and inviting. In this new outpatient space our rangatahi will be heard and feel safe. It’ll give them the opportunity to have a life, be somebody, and give them the belief that they can have the best life possible.

“They’re our future, it’s so important we look after them.”

Maria is of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngā Rauru, Ngāti Rangi and Tūwharetoa descent. Her whānau also has strong links to Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Māmoe.

For further information or to give to Māia’s Better Space Appeal go to www.betterspace.org.nz