Family Mental Health Support Service
Family Mental Health Support Service
drummond street Services has a fascinating 120 year history, while over the past 40+ years we have focussed on couples and family counselling (primarily funded under the Federal Government’s Family Relationship Services Program), including for same-sex and CaLD families. In the past two years we have broadened our programs and services so that while we continue to offer specialist couple and family counselling, we now also provide a broad range of family relationship and parenting community seminars and groups, a Family Dispute Resolution Service, an African Family Program, and our new:
Family Mental Health Support Service (FMHSS)
Aims
This service is aimed at supporting family members impacted by another’s mental health difficulties/illness. The term ‘family’ is taken in its broadest sense. The mental health issues present may be symptoms or diagnosed illnesses, including both high and low prevalence disorders. For example Depression and Anxiety are common (around one in five Australians in their adult lifetime), whereas illnesses like Schizophrenia and Bi Polar are less common.
Support may be given to the person/s with the mental health difficulties, through ensuring they are able to access suitable services, or through involvement in individual, couple or family counselling regarding relationships, however the focus of the FMHSS is on the family member’s needs and recovery in their own right, and on supporting family relationships and social connection.
This service is an Australian government (FaHCSIA) initiative and one of seven Demonstration Projects across the country.
Ages
We provide services for people of all ages, including children, young people, adults and elderly impacted by another’s mental health difficulties.
Services
As part of this service we are providing:
- Individual, couple and family counselling for adults, young people and children
- Community seminars (psycho-educational) and groups (psycho-educational/therapeutic) to meet the needs of specific family members impacted by mental illness
- Assessment and Referral both within and external to drummond street Services
- Advocacy and Support in navigating the mental health and other service systems
Groups and Seminars
FMHSS is able to offer a range of free seminars and group work opportunities to the community. Topics include : My Partner Has Depression, Raising Mentally Healthy Kids, Stress Management for Women and Understanding Anxiety in Someone you Care About. Call Zoe on 9639 2576 for more details on upcoming groups.
Catchment
The program is available to those who live or work in the five local government areas of Melbourne, Yarra, Boroondara, Stonnington and Port Phillip.
Accessing mental health services
We do not provide mental health treatment as such, although at DSRC we are assessing and attending to mental health issues identified in clients at the point of intake and throughout our work with them, and will program-match within DSRC and/or facilitate referrals to external agencies, as needed. We have some case-management capacity to ensure clients accessing our services are supported to access other services which may better meet their needs. We are able to link with the full range of services, including those for high prevalence disorders of anxiety and depression.
The needs of couples
We have had a couple counselling speciality for many years, and have built our capacity to work with couples with mental health symptoms or illness present, where relationship issues may be leading to mental health deteriorating or where mental health issues may be impacting on relationships. Within FMHSS the couple will have identified this is happening at the outset. In addition to couples counselling, we now provide seminars and groups aimed at supporting these couples.
Other special needs groups
We have a particular commitment to assisting those who may otherwise not access mental health services, including young people, Indigenous and those from CaLD backgrounds.
Cost
All of these activities provided within the FMHSS are free. drummond street Services’ other programs and services have a sliding-scale fee based on income, unless you are a Health Care Card Holder, in which case services are also free.
Prevention and Early Intervention
drummond street Services aims to provide services across the spectrum of interventions to ensure the health and wellbeing of our community, by: promoting health and wellbeing and preventing health and family relationship difficulties; as well as providing services aimed at families where there are early signs of difficulties, where there are more serious or entrenched difficulties, or where there is a need for recovery support.
As part of our intake process we screen to pick up on the broad needs of all family members of those accessing our services, enabling early assistance for children, young people and adults. Our Family Intake Worker can offer assistance to families who need support to navigate and access the full range of services, including those within the mental health service system. We aim to identify people at risk of- or early in developing- mental illness and support them to access suitable services. We provide family counselling and groups where a parent has a mental illness or other factors present which place children and young people at risk in terms of their future wellbeing.
Evaluation
We are committed to providing quality services and meeting the needs of all our clients. We are required by our funding body to have surveys completed by all FMHSS counselling and seminar/group participants regarding outcomes.
Networking
We are seeking to compliment or fill service gaps rather than duplicate existing services while aiming to provide for the needs of all family members impacted by mental illness or at risk of developing mental illness. We therefore aim to develop collaborative relationships with community organisations working with these target populations and wish to engage community organisations to assist with our program development. If you would like to have input into this, or meet with any of our program staff, please contact one of us as per the details below.
Paula Westhead, Director of Services
Rita O”Toole, Clinical Manager
Nicole Davidson, Intake Worker
Helen Rimington, Director of Family Wellbeing (includes Education and Training, Groups and Seminars)
Ph: 9663 6733
