Supporting Mental Health in CaLD Men | AASW Webinar with Michael Elwan

On Tuesday, 17 March 2026, I will be presenting a national webinar for the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) titled:

From Silence to Strength - Supporting Mental Health in Men from CaLD Backgrounds

This live, online training sits at the intersection of culture, masculinity, trauma, and systems; the places where many men carry distress quietly until crisis makes silence impossible.

The title is not rhetorical. It comes directly from practice.

“If I can’t provide, I’m not a man”

Those words were spoken by a client at breaking point. They echo across many culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities in Australia, where expectations around provision, strength, sacrifice, and silence shape how distress is understood and expressed.

Why this conversation matters

Despite experiencing high levels of psychological distress, CaLD men are significantly less likely to access mental health support. When they do, it is often late, acute, or through involuntary pathways.

This is not about lack of insight or willingness. It is about the friction between systems designed around Western norms of disclosure and help-seeking, and lives shaped by migration, collectivism, gendered obligation, stigma, faith, and survival.

Social workers encounter CaLD men across hospitals, justice settings, community outreach, settlement services, and crisis responses. Many tell me they feel they are “missing something” in these encounters; that standard engagement tools fall flat, or that distress shows up sideways through anger, withdrawal, somatic symptoms, or risk-taking.

This session is designed for those moments.

This training moves beyond cultural awareness and into culturally intelligent, trauma-informed, and masculinity-sensitive practice. Together, we will explore:

• How cultural constructions of masculinity and role expectations shape help-seeking.

• Why stigma, honour, and collective identity often silence distress.

• The impact of structural pressures such as visa insecurity, underemployment, and lack of cultural representation within services.

• How Western diagnostic and assessment frameworks can misread or minimise culturally embedded expressions of distress.

The focus is practical and reflective. We work with real-world complexity, not simplified case studies.

Participants will develop concrete strategies they can apply immediately, including:

• Culturally responsive communication using metaphor, indirect language, and body-based prompts.

• Narrative-informed and culturally embedded assessment approaches that honour spirituality, collective identity, and non-Western expressions of distress.

• Practice adaptations that reduce misdiagnosis and disengagement.

• Structured reflection on one intentional shift each participant will take into future cross-cultural work.

  
  

FPS-aligned psycho-education, cognitive interventions, communication skills, and problem-solving approaches are integrated throughout the session.

Who this training is for

This webinar is suited to:

• Established social workers seeking deeper clinical and cultural nuance when working with CaLD men.

• Evolving practitioners building confidence in culturally safe engagement, suicide prevention, and cross-cultural communication.

• Allied professionals working across mental health, community services, settlement, justice, and hospital settings.

Participants should have a foundational understanding of mental health assessment and engagement models. This is not introductory content; it is reflective, applied, and designed for practitioners working with complexity.

Event details

• Date: Tuesday, 17 March 2026

• Format: Live online webinar

• Duration: 1.5 CPD hours

• Provider: Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW National)

• Category: Mental Health; Focused Psychological Strategies (FPS)

• Capability Levels: Evolving and Established

• Access: Recording and slides included; 2 weeks’ access if you cannot attend live

Register via AASW Here

This session is an invitation to listen more carefully, respond more wisely, and work in ways that hold dignity, culture, and masculinity together; without asking men to abandon who they are in order to be helped.

Based in Perth, WA, LEXs provides telehealth counselling across Australia for individuals, couples, and NDIS participants. Services extend to Social Work supervision, Peer Work supervision, training, and keynote speaking on men’s mental health, CaLD community wellbeing, and culturally responsive suicide prevention; helping people and organisations make mental-health care more compassionate, inclusive, and effective. LEXs provides services across Australia, supporting clients in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and beyond. To learn more about our work across Australia, visit LEXs' services page.