See What’s Beneath the Surface
Redefining Approaches to Homelessness, Domestic Abuse and Violence, Educational Disadvantage, and Mental Health.
I help everyone understand what lies beneath the surface of complex trauma, homelessness, domestic abuse and violence.
Representative Lived Experience. Academic Rigor. Real Change.
I bridge the gap between the reality of lived experience, high-level policy and academic research, providing deep insight and emotional connectedness that can’t learnt from anywhere else.
Informed by Lived Experience, Academically Researched, and Professionally Delivered.
My experiences and work prove that trauma can shape us, but it doesn’t define us.
Matt Vapor
Founder of Beneath the Surface
I am Matt Vapor, and I help everyone understand the reality behind statistics.
My expertise comes from two very different worlds: the academic rigour of my research and teaching, and the lived experience of childhood domestic abuse, violence and homelessness. I founded Beneath the Surface to bring these worlds together.
Through specialised workshops, lectures and consulting, I can help you interpret the complex issues of complex trauma, mental health and disadvantage. I strip away the dehumanising way these issues are discussed and replace it with human insight, giving you the tools to see these issues in a much deeper and complex way.
“Experiences that shape who we are are often unspoken, it’s what lies Beneath the Surface.
This silence has profound effects on those that have experienced trauma.
Silence creates shame, which disempowers lived experiences.
The more silence those of us with lived experience witness, the more shame we feel.
And as silence and shame combine, the wider community lose the unique insights that only lived experience can provide.
I’m here to change this.
— Matt Vapor
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Professional Development Workshops
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Events & Talks
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Consulting
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Psychosocial Recovery
“I’ve never been to a course before when so many staff were talking about it later. My perception was that the workshop had an impact on everyone and we all learnt something that should improve our customer interactions with not just homeless people but those with mental illness and even all customers. ”
Clive C.
City of Cockburn
“Matt’s candour about his lived experience ensures everyone who he shares this with understands how every interaction they have with a homeless person really matters. His suggestions for how our libraries can support people experiencing homelessness are now non-negotiable for any library I manage.”
D. Summers
Manager – Customer & Library Services
City of Swan
“I have listened to Matt twice now and both times I have left feeling very motivated and inspired. His story has brought tears to my eyes and has completely changed my views on how I look at people, you have no idea why people are the way they are or what they are going through. Matt has showed great courage and dedication through out his life – despite what has been thrown his way, this is a story everyone needs to hear at least once.”
Mel S.
St Bart’s
