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What’s the Difference? Mental Health Professionals Explained

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Navigating mental health support can be overwhelming. Many start with their GP, who can create a mental health care plan and refer you to a Psychologist. However, finding the right support might require additional effort. At A Path To Follow, we guide you through understanding various mental health professions to help you make informed decisions. Here’s a brief overview of the key roles:   Psychologist 🧠 Psychologists assess and provide therapy for mental health issues. They are registered with the Psychology Board of Australia and must complete at least 6 years of training. They focus on talking therapy and don’t usually extend beyond session-based interactions. Psychiatrist 🩺 Psychiatrists are medical doctors with additional training in Psychiatry. They can manage medication and complex cases. They often work with Psychologists as part of a care team. Social Worker 🌍 Social Workers provide counselling and help with advocacy and service coordination. They are not regulated in Australia, but the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) sets standards. Verify if your Social Worker is AASW-eligible. Mental Health Social Worker 💬 Mental Health Social Workers have additional qualifications and can assess and diagnose mental health issues. They are accredited through AASW. Counsellor 💡 Counsellors enhance mental health through talking therapy. While registration is not mandatory, postgraduate qualifications and membership with organisations like PACFA are recommended. Youth Worker 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Youth Workers support young people with practical needs and service connections. They often hold diplomas and may be registered with the Youth Workers Association. Hypnotist 🌀 Hypnotherapy involves inducing a trance to address issues like smoking cessation. Check if your Hypnotherapist is registered with the Hypnotherapy Council of Australia. Mental Health Nurse 🩺 Mental Health Nurses are registered nurses with specialised training in mental health, working in various settings to manage comprehensive care. Mental Health Peer Worker or Mentor 💬 Peer Workers use their personal mental health experiences to support others. While not regulated, reputable organisations ensure proper training and supervision.   We hope this guide helps you understand different mental health professions and choose the right support. Click here to make a time with A Path To Follow to help assistant you with finding a reputable mental health specialist. By Kirstie Edwards Stay informed! Sign up for our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/iPwnew

Understanding Lived Experience Mental Health Peer Support

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Lived Experience Mental Health Peer Support   A Mental Health Peer Worker is employed based on their personal lived/living experience of mental health challenges and recovery. They are commonly being employed in hospital and community settings, often alongside the employment of Carer Peers, who tend to support the families of those experiencing challenges. A Path To Follow’s Model Of Peer Support APTF uses a model of Lived Experience Peer Support, where APTF Peers use their living/lived and professional experiences to support the peer journey. Inherent to this model are the foundational principles of Intentional Peer Support’s Framework: From Helping to Learning Together – we don’t see peers as needing to be fixed or us as the experts, Individual to Relationship – we see our work together as a partnership where both peers have a responsibility and From Fear to Hope and Possibility we don’t subscribe to a traditional risk based model, rather we use one that sees the meaning behind risks as a source of opportunity to learn and grow, in a safe and supportive manner. We acknowledge this system is quite different from the medicalised model we have all grown up with; you as a patient/client seeing an expert. We are all experts within our own lives and APTF was founded, and is directed by Kirstie, with substantial knowledge and experience of the system as a consumer, carer and professional. APTF Peers use a mix of perspectives and experiences to advocate and walk beside young people and their families, enabling participation in supports while remaining connected to their communities. This model of service is not a crisis service but does offer a flexibility outside what many mainstream services are able to offer. Support is customised according to needs; including various session locations and contact times, who is included in the service, referrals to other services, shared care with other services and so on… Sometimes we just want to be heard. That is a great place to start with us. Reach out for your FREE consultation to see how we can assist.

A Path To Follow’s Peer Support Framework

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APTF uses a model of Lived Experience Peer Support, where APTF Peers use their lived and professional experiences to support their peer’s journey. Inherent to this model are the foundational principles of Intentional Peer Support’s Framework: From Helping to Learning Together – we don’t see peers as needing to be fixed or us as the experts, Individual to Relationship – we see our work together as a partnership and From Fear to Hope and Possibility we don’t subscribe to a traditional risk based model, rather we use one that sees the meaning behind risks as a source of opportunity to learn and grow, in a safe and supportive manner. We acknowledge this system is quite different from the medicalised model we have all grown up with; you as a patient/client seeing an expert. APTF believes we are all experts within our own lives and APTF was founded and is directed by Kirstie, who has substantial knowledge and experience of the system as a consumer, carer and professional. We use all of those perspectives to advocate and walk beside you, enabling you to participate in the supports you require and remain connected to the community that is important to you.

Alternative education with a well-being focus- A chat with Stella

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Differences between mainstream and alternative education; a well-being focus. This is an edited transcript of an interview our Social Media Volunteer, Kyle, completed with his school Well-Being Leader, Stella. Kyle attends Hestor Hornbrook, an education setting that achieves a positive balance between a student’s educational and mental well-being needs. Stella and Kyle chat about the differences between mainstream and alternative education settings and Stella’s role as Mental Well-being Team Leader. Big thanks to both Stella and Kyle for sharing this with us. Who are you and what is your role at Hester Hornbook? Rebecca Stella is the Well-Being Team Leader at Hester Hornbrook Academy. The Hester Hornbrook classroom is that of 1 Educator and 1 Youth Worker to approximately 12 students. Stella’s role is to coordinate the Classroom Youth Workers and oversee that student well-being needs are being supported. Stella provides supervisory support to the Youth Workers about well-being issues and certain crisis intervention strategies. In addition, Stella ensures she forms personalised relationships with students and is available to talk and provide support directly. Why did you choose to move into the Mental Health field of work? Stella started her career at the City of Port Phillip however she quickly saw this line of work wasn’t for her. She has experience working with young people with disabilities through the Joint Councils Access for All Abilities (JCAAA) program. There Stella found her passion for working with young people. Stella grew up with 8 siblings so working with young people seemed to come naturally to her. Soon after her work with JCAAA Stella completed her Youth Work Degree and decided this was the field she wanted to continue in. With her degree under her belt she linked in with St.Kilda Youth Services; an organisation who offers education for high risk young people. Through her work at St.Kilda Youth Services Stella’s passion for working with young people further increased. She saw first hand how young peoples’ experiences of mental health problems was impacting their educational options. Supporting students to manage mental health challenges first, helped them with school engagement, continuing their education and achieving their education goals. Stella found, and continues to find, great satisfaction in working with kids. She enjoys helping them realise their potential and watching them develop in their journey. Stella especially loves seeing the students with mental health obstacles find themselves.   Rebecca Stella-Well-being Coordinator at Hestor Hornbrook Academy What is alternative education in comparison to ‘mainstream education’ and what are the benefits? The main difference between Hester Hornbrook and mainstream education is the unique balance and prioritisation of supporting both student well-being and education. When getting to know young people who want to be a part of Hestor Hornbrook it is not simply about academic achievements and goals, it is about all aspects of a young person’s life. Hester Hornbrook looks to push young people to strive for their greatest educational potential, whilst also acknowledging a lot of young people have massive barriers to actually accessing that education. These barriers often lie within mental health, disability and/or other external challenges in a young person’s life, such as drug and alcohol challenges and trauma. Stella also reports Hester Hornbrook works really hard to build relationships with students on a more personal level; understanding problems that occur outside of academia. In the future do you see alternative education becoming the normality? Yes, more and more so. Because of recent events with COVID-19 community are beginning to understand that education can’t be delivered simply as a one dimensional program. Delivering only the academic side of the curriculum, as remote learning has done, has proved to have some negative effects on young people’s mental health. It has truly shown that well-being is an integral part of education and the development of young people. Alternative education often allows young people to open up more about their obstacles because of the personal relationship students share with educators. By making alternative education more accessible and known, it will allow more young people who may be suffering with mental health challenges to speak out and open up to their educators. What do you say to those people who say that alternative education doesn’t provide as thorough a curriculum as mainstream schools? Hester Hornbrook truly does attempt to provide the best possible education, starting with the great and professional educators who often have worked in a mainstream setting before and who have a great deal of experience.  Combining that experience with the well-being focus of Hestor helps young people who had not been engaging in mainstream education to still gain a high quality education. Hestor Hornbrook is able to provide education specific to a student’s needs, based on the level they are at. This structure is accompanied by a flexible mode of study that allows them to move at a pace they are comfortable with; something mainstream education struggles to provide in keeping a steady pace for the general population. What resources do alternative education providers provide that mainstream education providers don’t give? Post care is probably the greatest asset Hester Hornbrook provides in terms of additional resources. Hester Hornbrook has a 12 month period after a young person graduates where an Alumni worker supports that young person in all their well-being needs.  During that time there is also a Careers worker who consistently supports the young people to find a path beyond Hester Hornbrook. Generally students who are preparing to leave are identified about 6 months ahead of time. In that period the school works extremely hard in supporting the young person to achieve the goals they have set. This can include other pathways in the Hestor program and opportunities for scholarships that can help in overcoming barriers. What is the most challenging part of your role at the school? The dynamics of classrooms can be quite challenging. Having a group of people, who outside the classroom would have potentially never met, all together in one place and ensuring everyone’s safety and comfort, takes good

Let’s just blame Social Media, shall we?

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This is a question that has puzzled so many over the past decade and lead to some very heated debates. A recent study has brought to light some statistics that can help us answer this question a little better. The study shows that in fact social media can have a negative effect on mental health, however if you dive a little beneath the numbers you will find that the way that social media is used and how often it is used is actually what we need to think about when looking at the correlation between social media and mental health. Things such as cyber bullying, lack of sleep and reduced physical activity are the harmful factors that come from the misuse and overuse of social media that can lead to mental health complications. However despite this I can say that social media is a great tool for connectivity and an amazing innovation if used safely. My hot tip is to not quit social media but rather simply not allow it to get in the way of important things in your life such as sleep, exercise and the things that make you happy. Social media should not be a dominating factor in your life. By all means use it to catch up with friends and share what you’re doing with your life; just don’t let showing everyone how cool what you’re doing ruin just how cool it actually is. To read more on this topic see here and here: Kyle (our newest volunteer)

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