DAVID Younger is a clinical psychologist with over 16 years’ experience. In 2009, the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires came close to where he was living and working, and as a result he became deeply involved in treating and supporting survivors. Since then, he has been an advisor after numerous disaster events including bushfires, floods, droughts, and the 2017 Bourke Street tragedy.
David will be part of Beyond the Game, a free panel discussion about sport, inclusion and disaster recovery hosted by Resilience in Recovery.
“I’ve had a lot of experience working closely with different groups of people that had a disaster experience. I try to bring to the table information, knowledge, advice, suggestions that will either help people better respond to a disaster or better recover,” said David.
“We are heading into an era of cascading disasters of higher intensity and higher frequency, with what we know about social capital and social connection, it means that improving, strengthening and building stronger and more connected communities around the country is going to be crucial if we are going to adapt.
“What’s also a very well-known finding within the whole health and wellbeing space is that connection between humans is incredibly supportive of health and wellbeing in general in a number of different areas. People who are more connected tend to live longer, they tend to experience high levels of health and wellbeing, tend to experience serious illness much less, have high levels of happiness, the list goes on and on. So even outside of the disaster area, sporting clubs are good for health and wellbeing.”
You can hear more about David’s experience at Beyond the Game on Sunday, December 15, from 11am to 2pm, at the Main Pavilion Function Room of Sports City on Numurkah Road. To book scan the QR Code, email recovery@shepparton.vic.gov.au or call 0478 257 397.
