Submitted by Carla Noel
It has become apparent during our time in Australia that there are more similarities than there are differences in the journey to raise awareness and deal with the stigma of mental health in our child and adolescent populations. In Australia, both health care and education providers are taking responsibility and are committed to change the plight of those suffering with mental health issues. I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet with 2 School Link Coordinators, the Program Manager for Mind Matters. with Guidance Officials, and staff from Headspace, as well as many health care providers.
I have been madly taking notes in the fear of forgetting all the wonderful things we are learning each day. I could fill pages on our blog, but will wait to get home to organize the many details.
We have spent time comparing our systems and services and have discovered we have the same goals. We have also discovered that although we have different job titles we are doing many of the same tasks. Interestingly enough, we also experience many of the same challenges in our daily work.
Having attended a Guidance Officials meeting last week, it was interesting to note that these individuals were former teachers who then took additional courses to become qualified in Psychology; making them registered psychologists. They were able to study full time and their salary continued to be paid. Upon completion of their studies they were committed to 3 years in the field. These guidance/psychologists have a number of schools to which they consult. They are expected to complete elearning modules for consistency purposes and to keep current in their practice.
Our team visited “Headspace” which is a National initiative addressing early intervention with young people with emerging mental health issues. General Practitioners work part time with Headspace staff and are able to refer young people to Psychologists as needed. Headspace is currently working in 5 schools in a pilot project capacity. There is also a website: Reachout which has been developed by and is maintained by young people in an attempt to reach out to their peers.
A large focus in working in the area of mental health in Australia is in resiliency training. This proactive approach is taking off because of the belief that many mental health issues can be avoided by creating healthier and stronger children and youth. I have shared our practices back home around the work we do with Character Education and Anti-Bullying Initiatives which has been received with very positive reactions.
We are in our last week of learning, laughing and sharing with mental health professionals and our host families. We continue to experience great Australian hospitality and have made connections which have the potential to last a lifetime!
Submitted by: Carla Noel
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