An Australia-wide charity for mental health
Openground began in 2004 and for close to 20 years we have offered our strength-based, non-pathologizing, empowering services in community, health and organisational settings.
Openground is now an Australia-wide charity for mental health. We generate transformation through engaging people and organisations in evidence-based participatory, behavioural medicine programs, drawing on mindfulness meditation. These programs are helpful for people with a range of physical and mental health challenges including stress, isolation, burnout, anxiety, depression, trauma, pain and illness, and existential concerns.
The foundation of our work is the gold-standard, secular, eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program offered in-person and live-online. We also offer adaptations in different formats for different populations as needed.
Openground takes a whole-person and recovery-oriented approach to wellbeing, utilising the latest scientific research in our programs. Our highly trained health professionals and facilitators offer training in resilience and healing practices in rural, regional and metropolitan areas throughout Australia.
We have strong professional links with the international community of senior mindfulness practitioners which uphold standards and ethics for the industry.
Timothea is the founding director of the original Openground (established in 2004) and is recognised as a pioneer in bringing evidence-based mindfulness programs to Australia over the past 20 years. She has worked in psychotherapy private practice for 35 years having trained in humanistic, psychodynamic, body-based and systemic ways of exploring challenges in life and relationships. She is a specialist in trauma-informed practice. She is also a founding director of the Mindfulness Training Institute – Australia and New Zealand – a not-for-profit which offers teacher training in Mindfulness Based Programs. She has been practicing yoga and meditation (in the Vipassana tradition) since her early twenties, having also spent some years practicing Zen and Aikido.
Elizabeth is a lawyer, an experienced trauma-informed psychotherapist and lead teacher for Openground and is one of the first people trained to teach MBSR in Australia. She has worked for Openground for the past 16 years as a teacher and the Director of Organisational Programs. In this capacity she has led many successful mindfulness and leadership programs to all levels of organisations such as Deaken University, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Anglicare. 
Alex is a business person and philanthropist whose life has been positively impacted by attending an Openground MBSR course 10 years ago. Alex brings his care for people and community, his exceptional business expertise of over 20 years and his passion for mindfulness to the Openground project. He will provide the necessary financial, legal and logistical stewardship for the success of Openground into the future.