In-car conversations

Just on a year ago the Audi Foundation formed a new partnership with batyr, a preventative youth mental health organisation that helps young people deal with mental ill-health and challenges through talking about and sharing their own experiences and stories.

That partnership has most recently spawned a new initiative, creating a mini-series on Youtube to further share that message and encourage others to also talk about their personal story as well offering insights from different perspectives on how to discuss often delicate subjects.

Unlike the Conversation Convoy of another Audi Foundation partner, RU OK? Where the bright yellow Audi Q7s are a means of transporting RU OK? team members around the country to share their message, the batyr approach takes a different line – that of utilising time in the car on a journey as the perfect place and time to talk.

Here, the Audi becomes something of a ‘safe space’ – the perfect environment in which to simply talk and listen, sharing questions, insights and experiences that will no doubt resonate with many  viewing the series who are going through similar challenges in their own lives. 

The four-part mini series uses interactions between different combinations of participants – parents, young people and batyr’s Chief Happiness Officer, Dr Tim Sharp who is both a parent and a clinical psychologist – to discuss the importance of talking about things and the ways of getting them out in the open. 

The first episode for example, centres around a conversation between Dr Sharp and Ben, a batyr Storyteller for the past four years who now shares his story with school groups and at seminars as part of batyr’s many programs of engagement.

Through their easy interaction, the two discuss how best a parent or caregiver can help a child or young person experiencing mental ill-heath, bringing their own unique perspectives to the conversation – one as a parent and the other as a young person, but both with lived experience of exactly this situation.

The result in this, as in each of the instalments, is a frank and honest interaction that will benefit those on both sides of the equation, offering insights into what it’s like for someone dealing with mental ill-health and how, in Ben’s case, his interaction with his parents helped his situation and led to both seeking professional support as well as strengthening ties with those in his close friends group.

The interactions provide invaluable insights and potential strategies that will help anyone facing tough times and those looking to support them in their journey to live mentally healthy lives. Ways of starting a conversation, expectations and potential reactions from both sides and the fact that it is not necessarily helpful to try and have all the answers. 

Equally, they also serve to illustrate the perspective of the young person wanting to share their story, perfectly illustrated in Part Two which sees Ben take the ‘driver’s seat’ as he talks with Katie, a fellow batyr Storyteller, who emphasises the importance of batyr’s storytelling approach.

In another instalment, Dr Sharp returns to discuss the parents’ perspective with mother of four, Krisztina, focusing on the challenges of raising children and providing the necessary support as and when it is needed.

Throughout the conversations, the fact that everyone’s situation and journey is specific to them is stressed, with something that may have worked for one person not necessarily being appropriate or even useful for another.

Nevertheless, the very open and honest interaction in each of the conversations offers up innumerable insights and suggestions that while specific to the participants own lives, situations and stories, will no doubt strike a chord with many watching the series.

Recognising that any conversation is a two-way street is certainly an insight that while obvious, is often overlooked.

“We often say how difficult it is for the young person to have the conversation,” Dr Sharp says, “and obviously it is difficult for that young person. But sometimes it’s difficult for the parents as well. This is someone they raised and care about – in most instances – and it can be distressing and not all of us deal with distress as well as we’d like.”

Just as batyr was founded and has developed and grown around the idea of removing the stigma surrounding mental ill-heath and encouraging people to talk about their experiences, so too the in-car conversations highlight the importance of talking and listening and take it to a whole new audience in a very accessible form.

Time spent in the car is the perfect opportunity to share what’s on your mind and add another dimension to a journey of any duration. At any age, this can be some of the most valuable and memorable time spent with those around you and the benefits of both talking and listening can be immeasurable.