Our team of psychologists and counsellors provide group, family and individual sessions. The counselling service at the Andrews Centre is funded by the Andrews Foundation, enabling us to ensure access to these services for families and individuals who may not otherwise be able to afford it.
Subsidised rates are available for those on low incomes. Those with Centrelink cards or in financial hardship are able to access psychology services through Medicare and under a Mental Health Plan they are bulk billed.
We provide counselling for adults, adolescents, and children encompassing:
- General counselling
- Personal and relational issues
- Strategies for dealing with stress, anxiety and depression
- Emotional, behavioural and developmental problems in children and related diagnostic assessments
Support and counselling groups also operate out of the Andrews Centre. Currently, the local chapter of Al-Anon meets in the front room of the Centre, 9:30am on Mondays mornings.
KEYS TO CONNECT
This year one of our psychologists, Emma Healey will be running a course entitled “Keys to Connect” for primary school children over a 10 week period. The course is designed to help children with social skills issues, equipping them with self awareness, social understanding and interpersonal skills. The program is aimed at providing an accepting and welcoming environment that does not assume understanding and teaches keys to connect with others.
The program begins with a focus on understanding their own and other peoples’ feelings and behaviours. Once this understanding is established, then interpersonal skills are taught, giving children the keys to develop meaningful friendships and connections with others. This, in turn, is likely to build their confidence in social settings, and increase their sense of well being and belonging as they experience success in their social world.
This program will benefit children with Autism spectrum disorders or any children who experience difficulty is their social understanding or behaviour.
PEERS PROGRAM
HELPING TEENAGERS WHO STRUGGLE TO FORM AND MAINTAIN FRIENDSHIPS
This program is run by two of our experienced psychologists who have extensive experience working with adolescents. The aim of the program is to develop social skills in teenagers and was developed initially for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Research has demonstrated that teens with ASD may show lasting benefits from PEERS. Because PEERS targets skills development rather than correction of social mistakes and because the steps to making and keeping friends seem to be the same, regardless of the diagnosis of the teen, PEERS may have widespread applicability. Any teen who does not know the steps to forming and maintaining friendships could benefit from PEERS.
The program is run over 14 weeks and there are separate concurrent parent and teen sessions for 90 minutes each week The group focuses on skills like:-
=> having conversations
=> entering and exiting conversations
=> electronic forms of communication, including making phone calls to friends
=> choosing appropriate friends
=> handling teasing, bullying and other forms of rejection
=> handling arguments and disagreements with friends
=> having appropriate get-togethers with friends, including being a good host and a good sport
Parents are taught how to help their teens make and keep friends by acting as social coaches outside of the group
