Appointed to the ASeTTS Board: Supporting Trauma Survivors | Michael Elwan

I am deeply honoured and profoundly grateful to share my appointment to the ASeTTS Board - the Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors.

This role is more than a professional achievement; it reflects a personal mission.

Coming from the Middle East, where many communities continue to experience conflict, displacement, and generational trauma, supporting those who have fled their homes feels both a calling and a responsibility.

During my Master of Social Work, I completed a Capstone project under the mentorship of Dr. Tania Pearce, conducting a scoping review on the lived experiences of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia. That research revealed the profound emotional and psychological toll of displacement. For people uprooted by violence or instability, the journey is not only about relocation; it is about reclaiming safety, dignity, connection, and a sense of home.

This appointment aligns closely with my work at Lived Experience Solutions (LEXs), which I founded to centre lived experience leadership in mental health transformation. Through LEXs, I advocate for culturally inclusive and trauma-informed services that reflect the stories, strengths, and cultural identities of the people they serve.

In this role with ASeTTS, I remain committed to ensuring that refugees and trauma survivors are not only heard, but actively involved in shaping the services that support their healing. I look forward to contributing to spaces where hope, connection, and emotional safety are not exceptions, but expectations.

LEXs is Michael Elwan's Perth-based practice, working online across Australia. Services include training and workshops, lived experience consultancy, Social Work Supervision, Lived Experience Leadership Supervision, Frontline Supervision, therapy and keynote speaking. Training and workshops can be commissioned for organisational leaders, practitioners and frontline teams, and carers, families and communities. Explore LEXs services.