KAIWHAKATERE PROGRAM: Wellbeing for Transgender and Nonbinary People

The Kaiwhakatere Programme is a mental health program supporting transgender and non-binary rangatahi of Aotearoa and helping us learn how to approach creative wellbeing for this community in a safe and affirming way. Intergenerational connection is a vital protective factor for trans and non-binary rangatahi, and it sits at the heart of this project. We believe that there is power seeing yourself reflected in others, and hope from knowing you’re not alone.

We’re excited to be collaborating with Rhi Munro (He/They - CAYAD Tāmaki Makaurau) to deliver a creative wellbeing and art-making pilot for transgender and non-binary youth. Creative expression is an important mechanism for uplifting our mental, emotional and spiritual hauora - particularly for minority groups that may be experiencing compounding stress. This programme creates a unique space for gender diverse people to explore their creativity, learn from their peers, and establish positive connections to the wider trans and non-binary community.

We call it the Kaiwhakatere Program because the participants, who identify as transgender and/or non-binary, are the navigators, steering their direction to a positive relationship with themselves and their identity through creativity and art making alongside creative professionals and mentors - members of the transgender and non-binary community that are able to share positive lived experiences with our participants and create alongside them from a strengths-based perspective.