A teacher’s personal account of recovery from mental health issues

Emma Waters

By Emma Waters
Community contribution / October 19, 2015

With last week being Mental Health Week and World Mental Health day celebrated last weekend it got me reflecting on my own struggles with mental health and wellness and more recently my own healing.

By sharing our stories and struggles we acknowledge and connect to our common humanity and perhaps in my sharing, others ...

Teacher Librarian (0.600FTE) - Granville East Public School

Granville East Public School Granville

Teaching - Primary / Apr 22, 2026

School Counsellor - Red Hill Public School

NSW Department of Education Sydney NSW

Teaching - Primary / Apr 22, 2026

Teacher Agriculture - Rutherford Technology High School

Rutherford Technology High School Rutherford

Teaching - Secondary / Apr 22, 2026

By Emma Waters

Community

Emma is a primary school teacher of 14 years currently working in Byron Bay. She is a mother to daughter Mali, a yoga teacher (jalayoga.com.au), surfer and meditation student. Emma is passionate about healthy living and finding a work-life balance within the teaching profession (which is always a work in progress). She believes in the healing power of nature and the necessity of stillness every day for students and teachers alike. Emma started her blog centredteacher.com & facebook.com/centredteacher in 2014 to provide teachers with resources and tips for calm and clarity in and out of the classroom.

Similar news

School news / Mental health top issue for young people Feature / 'Build a collective approach': how schools can respond to student mental health issues School news / Help teachers spot mental issues: Gillard

Latest comments

As Rebecca notes, the expert reversal effect is often described as difficult to apply in classroom contexts; however,...

— George Lilley on I’Ve Changed My Mind About Explicit Teaching For Gifted Students

Top events

School news / Consumption gumption: schools’ new push to get kids eating more vegetables

Nutritional intake by children in Australia is well short of where it needs to be, with 96 per cent failing to eat enough vegetables and more than 40 per cent of their daily energy intake often coming from unhealthy “discretionary” foods, but a ma...

Community / WHAT MATTERS to young Australians in 2026? A national What Matters? Writing Competition helps young students to find their voice!

In classrooms across the country, the most powerful moments often begin quietly. A question. A pause. A student finding the words to say something that matters to them.

School news / Sweet Swahili: award-winner promoting community harmony and social cohesion

You might not know it, but you can speak a tiny bit of Swahili. Who doesn’t know the words ‘Hakuna Matata’, from Disney’s 1994 animated feature film The Lion King?

Community / Five classroom strategies to help build calm in a chaotic world

Hasn’t the world seen more than its fair share of upheaval in recent weeks?

School news / Priced out: ‘Key worker housing’ for NSW teachers could save the profession

A housing affordability crisis is derailing Australia’s efforts to tackle chronic teacher shortages and poses a significant threat to the future of the profession, with researchers warning that median house prices in Sydney are now more than 13 ti...

School news / Ex-teacher appointed as first Minister for Men and Boys, experts urge for schools focus

Tackling the harmful influence of the manosphere will the main goal of Victoria’s new Minister for Men and Boys – an Australian-first portfolio that has been broadly welcomed by experts who say a close focus on schools should be the priority.

School news / ‘A mystifying position’: AERO CEO calls out critics of explicit instruction

A cohort of ideologically-driven academics opposed to the idea that evidence should inform teachers’ practice pose a threat to the progress Australian schools have made over the last five years, AERO’s CEO has warned.

School news / Burning below the surface: Australia’s high schools far from sun smart

When it comes to sun safety and skin care Australia’s high schools are worryingly uninterested and hopelessly ill-equipped when it comes to actively teaching sun safety and skin care.

School news / Single school mental health checks may miss students in need: new research

Schools relying on one-off wellbeing surveys may be overlooking students who need mental health support, new research suggests.

Opinion / Teachers ought to be better protected from violent and abusive students

As a University Liaison, I was visiting a young student teacher on her first placement. She revealed that while she was on yard duty she had been kicked and spat upon by a boy in Prep. I was shocked on two counts!

Comments