Guest Blog: Nathalia Perez Alfonso, Director Practice Quality, Relationships Australia Northern Territory
I recently read the Relationships and Suicide Risk report released by Relationships Australia, which left me reflecting on the role that relationships play in our lives and what we can learn from different cultures about connection, belonging and wellbeing.
As a social worker, I have spent my career supporting individuals, families, children and communities. I strongly believe in the importance of relationships at all levels and I am fully convinced that people do not heal in isolation.
The RA report reinforces my belief, as it highlights the significant role that relationships play in both distress and recovery. The findings remind us that human wellbeing is deeply connected to our relationships with family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and communities.
This also aligns with the work of Dr Bruce Perry, whose work I have been following since 2008. Dr Perry argues that the quality of our relationships is one of the strongest predictors of wellbeing. He often speaks about “relational wealth” the strength, depth and diversity of our human connections.
In practice, this is not a new idea. In social work, for a long time we have understood that relationships can be protective. When we support people experiencing distress, risk or crisis, we often ask who they trust, who they can call, where they feel safe and what connections can help them through a difficult moment.
What I am becoming more interested in is how we take this understanding beyond individual practice and into the way we think about wellbeing, social impact and community outcomes.
We talk about economic wealth, educational achievement, professional success and physical health. In organisations, we track performance indicators, service outputs and productivity. These are important, but they do not always capture the relational conditions that help people stay safe, recover, participate and belong.
The concept of relational wealth has also prompted me to reflect on the different ways relationships, belonging and community are understood across cultures.
I was born in Nicaragua, grew up in Colombia, studied and lived in several countries, and have now called Australia home for almost two decades. Across those experiences, I have encountered different ways of understanding family, community, belonging and wellbeing.
One question that continues to stay with me is whether wellbeing is influenced not only by the number of connections we have, but also by the diversity of those connections.
Relationships expose us to different ideas, experiences and ways of understanding the world. They challenge assumptions, broaden perspectives and encourage empathy. They invite us to engage with people whose experiences, beliefs and ways of being may not mirror our own.
This is one of the reasons I find multicultural communities so valuable. They create opportunities for connection across difference.
In social work, we often talk about belonging and I wonder whether belonging is not simply about finding people who are like us. I think it is also about developing the capacity to remain open, curious and connected to people who are different from us.
This is where the concept of relational wealth becomes particularly interesting. If relationships are protective, then wellbeing may depend not only on strengthening existing connections but also on creating opportunities for new ones. Opportunities to participate, contribute, learn and connect beyond our immediate circles.
This is one of the reasons I find approaches such as social prescribing so compelling. They recognise that wellbeing is not created through services alone. It is also shaped by participation in community life and by the relationships that emerge through that participation.
When viewed through this lens, community connection is not simply a social benefit. It becomes part of the infrastructure that supports wellbeing.
Public conversations about multiculturalism often focus on economic contribution, migration policy or workforce participation. So, I wonder if we sometimes overlook the most important benefit.
Multicultural communities create opportunities for connection across difference.
When we build relationships with people from different cultures, languages and worldviews, we expand our understanding of what it means to be human. We learn new ways of caring, celebrating, grieving, parenting, ageing and belonging. We are invited to see the world through a wider lens, which enriches the community we live in.
Some of the most valuable learning in my own life and professional practice has come from engaging with people whose experiences, cultures and perspectives differed from my own. Those interactions have challenged assumptions, broadened perspectives and deepened my appreciation for the many ways people create meaning, connection and community.
If Dr Bruce Perry is right and relational wealth is one of the most important forms of wealth we possess, then communities that create opportunities for connection are doing something extremely important. They are helping to build the conditions in which people can thrive.
The Relationships and Suicide Risk report is a great reminder that connection matters. Connection to family, friends, and community, connection to culture, connection to purpose and connection to one another.
About our Guest Blogger
Nathalia Perez Alfonso is Director of Practice Quality at Relationships Australia NT, where she leads practice frameworks, risk management and service quality across a portfolio of more than 20 programs. A qualified social worker with experience spanning multiple countries and cultures, she brings a deeply relational and cross-cultural perspective to questions of wellbeing, belonging and community connection.