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New Practice in Carrum Downs
Positive Connections Counselling Service have recently acquired consulting rooms within the Carrum Downs Naturopathic and Wellness Centre. We are now servicing clients that require counselling within the areas of Carrum Downs, Skye, Dandenong, Seaford, Patterson Lakes, Chelsea, Bonbeach, Cranbourne and Frankston.
For rapid releif and ongoing, sustainable, support, call Positive Connections today.
If you are looking for counselling support. Give us a call on 9704 9500.
Brodie's law to get workplace bullies
After almost five years of torment, it took an hour yesterday of well-meaning speeches to force Rae Panlock from the Legislative Assembly in Victoria's Parliament House.The grieving mother of Brodie Panlock, the 19-year-old waitress who committed suicide after relentless workplace bullying, glanced at her husband Damian, who had seen that look on his wife's face too many painful times.The fifth speaker of many to what will always be known as ''Brodie's law'' - a change to the Crimes Act that introduces 10-year prison terms for bullying - first expressed sympathy to the Panlocks.
Then she recounted, as each speaker - Liberal, Labor and Green - had before them a summary of the physical and psychological bullying Brodie suffered. It was too much for Ms Panlock whose husband led her from the plush crimson benches of the overly warm upper chamber outside the doors to where government officials helped them.
''It's very hard to sit there and relive the whole thing again,'' Ms Panlock said. ''It just brings back …''
After more than two hours of talking, the politicians last night passed the Crimes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2011, with the Panlocks present, and one they hope will lead to similar federal changes. Brodie died in September 2006 after what a magistrate described as ''persistent and vicious behaviour'' towards her at the former Cafe Vamp in Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn. Staff members Marc Da Cruz, Nicholas Smallwood, Rhys MacAlpine, and Gabriel Toomey - and Da Cruz's company - pleaded guilty last year to workplace charges.
The five defendants were convicted and fined a total of $335,000.A coroner earlier said Smallwood and MacAlpine were ''relentless in their efforts to demean'' Brodie, terrible details her parents had listened to in disbelief. Come yesterday, the Panlocks had been determined to witness into law their tireless efforts over the past 18 months to see some enduring justice for their daughter. Mr Panlock said the bill was a ''huge victory'' and a credit to bipartisan politics of the previous and present state governments.
''No one ever thought this would happen,'' he said.
And his wife, always calm but fragile, warned with feeling: ''If you are [now] going to engage in this behaviour, you've got the consequences of ending up in jail.
''I just hope no family ever has to go through anything like this again,'' she said.
Maybe Labor member Jaala Pulford captured best an awful reality when she noted that ''it's a terrible thing that we live in a society that requires a law like this''
Queensland Flood Support
TRAUMATIC experiences are distressing and threatening, and may be so intense as to temporarily disrupt a person's ability to come to terms with them. Thinking you might die, seeing others killed or injured, intense fear, abuse or being forced to do things out of your control are all traumatic experiences.
While traumas occur all the time, they only affect to a few people.The reactions of those affected often cause those close to them to be confused and unsure about what to expect or how to help.
People who have been traumatised can respond in ways that may seem unusual, make things worse for them or they may be concerned about things that seem unreasonable.Queensland Health has produced a fact sheet which is designed to provide information about effects of trauma, and advice about how to help those suffering from it.
The effects of trauma
A traumatic experience can temporarily shatter basic assumptions about life or other people such as trust, safety, predictability.The feelings caused may be so intense that unlike normal distress, they do not fade with time, but either continue the same or get worse after a while.
People affected by trauma may feel fear even when it is quite safe. They may be constantly on edge and not respond to normal reassurance or opportunities to relax.
Their tiredness may continue on for much longer than seems reasonable. They may have periods of appearing numb or detached and not wanting contact.
This may be followed later by over-excited behaviour and a need to cling to family or familiar things. They may feel they failed or did the wrong thing at the time (even if this is not true).
Usually they remember a combination of very intense fragments of the event that do not go away, combined with important gaps that make them feel uncertain about what really happened.
Recovery from trauma
Most people recover from traumatic experiences, but it usually takes them longer than would be expected for non-traumatic crises. It is common for there to be an initial period of several days with strong emotions of fear or distress, and a constant preoccupation with the events.
Many people then feel a need to get back to normal and put it out of their minds. Although this can often be beneficial in the short term and help recovery from normal crises, it often only postpones problems for people who have been through traumas.
Sometimes they can maintain normal routines for some time (although those around them often see (that all is not well) and eventually something happens that brings it to the surface again.
This can happen months after the event.
The important thing about recovery from trauma is to go back over what happened so the feelings fade and the person can come to terms with the event, realise it is in the past and how they can be safe again. But this has to happen at a time and rate that is comfortable for the individual.
Other people are the most valuable support for recovery, but it is often difficult for them to be confident about what to do.
Uncertainty and the wish to avoid distress can make those close to the affected person keep away from the experience or from them. It is usually best to ask how you can help and to let them know they can talk if they want to.
Helping someone who has been through trauma
1. Spend time with the stressed person, without judging or demanding, their recovery will occur in its own time.
2. Offer support and a listening ear: talking is one of the best things they can do to work things out; but they may need to go over things many more times than you expect. Try to be interested in what they want to say; avoid giving advice or trying to solve the problems. The talking itself is important and helps to make it fade.
3. Help with practical tasks and chores as this enables more of their energy and time to be given to the recovery process.
4. Give them time, space and patience: don’t take it personally if at times they are irritable, bad tempered or want to be alone. These are a natural part of the stress response and will pass as they recover.
5. Don’t try to talk them out of their reactions, minimise the event or say things like “you’re lucky it wasn’t worse,” or “pull yourself together,” or try to get them to look on the bright side; stressed people need to concentrate on themselves at first; they will feel supported if you let them know you are
concerned, want to help and are trying to understand. They will see your viewpoint as they recover.
When to seek additional help
Sometimes it is important for people to know when their own recovery activity requires additional help. Personal recovery may need to be supported by specialist knowledge to ensure stress does not linger unnecessarily or lead to later health problems.
Stress problems respond rapidly with professional advice and information.
Indications for this are:
• if recovery has stalled or does not seem to be proceeding
• if physical or other symptoms are causing concern
• if there is no one to talk to or relationships are being affected by the stress
• if there is continuing emotional numbness, depression or anxiety
• if there is continued disturbed sleep and nightmares
• if they are unable to handle the intense feelings or physical sensations
• if they are becoming accident-prone or increasing use of drugs and alcohol.
Looking after yourself
Don’t forget that to have a loved one, friend or colleague go through a trauma can be very stressful for you as well and you may find that you have strong reactions of anger that it happened, sadness for them, fear for yourself, changes in how you see life and the world, nightmares or general moodiness.
Often the best thing may be to seek support from others for yourself so you can be more available to your loved one for the time it takes them to get over it.
Information and counselling
Counselling with someone trained in trauma is often helpful not only to talk about the trauma, but to give a better understanding about what is happening and how to get over it.
Sometimes the person who has had the trauma may not be willing to seek help for a time.
In this case it may be beneficial for those close to them to seek professional advice and this often helps them take the step themselves.
Coles security guard jailed over sex assault
A Coles security guard who pressured a 16-year-old shoplifter into having sex with him has been jailed for four-and-a half years.Onur Yildirim, 26, was working at the Knox Shopping Centre supermarket in July this year, when he apprehended the victim after he saw her stealing a can of deodorant.
The County Court heard that Yildirim detained the girl for 20 minutes in the manager's office, and asked her: “What have you got to offer me?” Advertisement: Story continues below The victim replied: “Nothing”.The court heard that the victim asked if Yildirim wanted money, to which he replied that he did not.
Judge Christine Thornton said Yildirim told the victim that in order to avoid trouble with the law, some girls offered him oral sex and intercourse.The victim was surprised and asked him if that was what he wanted.“If you want to get out of this situation, yes,” Yildirim replied.
The 26-year-old had threatened the girl, saying that if he had to fill out a report on the matter it would affect her chances of getting a loan and future career prospects. Yildirim led the girl to a disabled toilet in the shopping centre and told her that once they had had sex she could go, Judge Thornton said.
They stayed in the toilet for nine minutes while Yildirim penetrated her.The girl started to cry and ask if she could leave.Yildirim said that she could but if she told anyone she would be the one seen as in the wrong.Yildirim pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration of a 16-year-old under his care, supervision or authority.
The girl phoned a friend and told her about what had happened. The friend's mother overheard and urged the girl to report the crime to police and to be checked at the hospital.“The complainant was scared and only agreed to perform acts because of intimidation and fear of the consequences of you reporting her to the police for theft,” Judge Thornton said.In a victim impact-statement, the girl said she now had trouble sleeping and suffered continual flashbacks to the event.
Her parents described ongoing fears at their daughter potentially contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Subsequent testing found she did not.Judge Thornton said Yildirim, born in Turkey, had been deemed by a psychiatrist not to be a paedophile.She said he had genuine remorse and empathy for the victim.“The purpose of this law is to protect vulnerable young people from sexual exploitation for those people in positions of power or authority,” Judge Thornton said.
“The abuse of your position of authority in circumstances (with) a vulnerable 16-year-old complainant was a serious lapse of judgement.“Whilst your offending did not involve any grooming, the element of coercion is an aggravating factor.
“Your persistence in sexual penetration, despite the reluctance of the complainant, is a further aggravating circumstance.”The judge said Yildirim was a low risk of reoffending and had good prospects for rehabilitation.
He was jailed for four-and-a-half years, and must serve a minimum of two years and six months before being eligible for parole.
He will be a registered sex offender for 15 years.
Judge jails junior-footy paedophile
A football team manager who had sex with an underage player has been jailed for 10 months.Kimberley Gale, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16.
The County Court heard Gale was a team manager of a northern suburbs under-16s football team earlier this year. Advertisement: Story continues below After befriending the 14-year-old boy's mother, Gale offered to take him to school on her way to work.
Judge Sue Pullen said that on two occasions, between March and June this year, Gale, instead of taking the boy to school, took him back to her house where they kissed and had sex.Judge Pullen said that on other occasions Gale had placed her hand on the boy's thigh and told him he was “hot”.
The judge said “there is no doubt in my opinion your offending was serious”.The court was told that Gale's behaviour was discovered when the victim's mother confiscated his mobile phone and Gale sent him a text message.
In the message she said: “I really miss talking to you.” The victim's mother, pretending to be her son, replied: “Really?”.Gale replied: “Yeah, really, really badly. I knew I was in love with you but I didn't realise how much I missed you.”
Prosecutor Susan Borg told Judge Pullen that “a clear message needs to be sent to her that she cannot repeat this behaviour.“A clear message needs to be sent to the community that when it comes to sex, children are off limits.”
Gale will be a registered sex offender for life. Judge Pullen agreed with the prosecution that a partially suspended sentence was appropriate in Gale's case.Judge Pullen jailed Gale for two years and two months, to immediately serve 10 months.
The remaining 16 months will be suspended for two and a half years.Gale wept as she was led from the dock into custody.
Teens overestimate mental health stigma
Teenagers overestimate the stigma mental illness carries and the attitudes of others to depression, a university study has found.
A study of more than 1000 teens aged from 12 to 17 by the Australian National University's Centre for Mental Health Research found mental illness carries a stigma by adolescents who overestimate the extent of the stigma.
Lead researcher Alison Calear said the study differentiated between the personal beliefs of teens about depression and their perceived ideas of the stigma in others.
Advertisement: Story continues below Identifying the levels of personal and perceived depression was extremely important, Dr Calear said.
"Because we do find that having depression stigma or perceived stigmas reduces their ability to seek help," she told AAP.
While the level of stigma associated with mental illness had reduced it was still a problem, Dr Calear said.
"It's evident in our adolescents and I think there's a real need to educate them about mental health problems to reduce it even further," he said.
A lot of mental illness developed while people were adolescents or young adults, Dr Calear said.
By the age of 19 between 21 and 28 per cent of people had developed a mental illness and one in eight had depressive disorders.
"They often begin in adolescence, these problems," Dr Calear said.
Other key findings in the study were that boys were more likely to stigmatise the condition than girls and younger adolescents held more stigmatising views than older ones.
"One of the possibilities is that males just generally tend to have less knowledge of mental health problems, they have lower mental health literacy and they tend to have less contact with people with depression," she said.
The study also found young people were more likely to think others would have stigmatising beliefs if they had a parent with depression.
"We wonder there whether they experienced discrimination against their parents that they may have witnessed first hand or they feel very strongly about protecting their parents and negative attitudes towards them," Dr Calear said.
Phone counselling service launched
It's most often the person who says "I love you" that prevents victims of domestic violence from seeking help, counsellors say.
At some stage in their lives, almost one in three Australian women will experience physical violence, while one in five will experience sexual violence, ABS figures indicate.
Despite the high number, only one in 10 women seek help, according to the NSW Rape Crisis Centre.
Advertisement: Story continues below Reasons vary but it's most often the person closest to the victim who prevents them from breaking the cycle of violence.
"We know that in sexual assault, as well as in domestic and family violence, that it's most commonly a family member, a close family friend or someone the person goes to school or work with," Karen Willis, a counsellor from the NSW Rape Crisis Centre told reporters in Sydney.
She was speaking at the launch of the federal government's new phone counselling service for Australians who have experienced or are at risk of physical or sexual violence.
"Stranger danger in sexual assault is very rare and ... in domestic violence it's usually the person who says I love you," Ms Willis said.
"This makes it very difficult to make a complaint, especially when that person is saying to you, 'I'm really sorry, I didn't mean it, it's just that I was upset by something that happened at work, and I'm never going to do it again'."
People want to believe their partners when they make such excuses, Ms Willis said.
"Everybody wants the Brady bunch, we all want to live happy lives, and so people will do everything they can to try to achieve that, and that of course stops them making complaints."
Another hurdle is the justice system, Ms Willis says.
"To get up in court and describe the violence you have experienced is always going to be incredibly difficult," she said.
"and then to be cross-examined on that is always going to be hard."
Of those who do pursue cases in court, there is a less than one per cent conviction rate in sexual assault cases, Ms Willis said.
Responding to the traumatic consequences of sexual assault for victims, their supporters and the extended community, federal minister for the status of women, Kate Ellis, launched the new telephone counselling service on Tuesday, 1800RESPECT.
"There are too many Australians out there who are bottling up their feelings, who are blaming themselves, who are feeling shamed and guilty," she said.
"But what this service will offer is a new alternative going forward.
"It will be embracing technology, so that people have another option and can use online counselling in the months ahead, which we know is a way some people feel more comfortable, more anonymous in putting forward the way that they are feeling and seeking advice going forward.
"So this is about giving Australians more options and more opportunities to seek the counselling, the advice and the support that they need and deserve."
The new service is confidential and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It differs to other services that have been available because it directly connects people with professional counsellors, rather than refer them on to other agencies.
Last year, 8104 people contacted the NSW Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Willis said.
Disaster counselling often pointless, says psychologist Adam Carey
PSYCHOLOGICAL counselling in the immediate aftermath of huge disasters such as the Black Saturday bushfires is mostly pointless, an Australian psychologist says.
Professor Richard Bryant, of the University of New South Wales, says most people recover quickly from the trauma of living through a major disaster, making psychological counselling unnecessary.
''Whenever we have a disaster, we have this practice where counsellors rush in under the premise that, if we don't, people are high-risk in developing all sorts of psychological problems,'' Professor Bryant said.
Advertisement: Story continues below ''Studies round the world tell us now that even though most people are very distressed initially, the vast majority of us bounce back within a few months.''
In the short term, it is far more important to ensure that people are safe, have shelter and are in touch with loved ones and their community, he said. Psychological intervention is only useful once symptoms of a lasting disorder become evident, which may take many weeks.
''There has been too much of the wrong type of counselling and too soon,'' Professor Bryant said.
Only 10 to 20 per cent of people develop a mental health disorder that requires mental health assistance after a disaster. The rest are better served by practical problem-solving and by being taught skills to help them take control of their lives.
Studies had shown that the full psychological cost of events such as hurricane Katrina or Black Saturday could only be measured years later, when factors such as lingering unemployment and relationship stress were taken into account, he said.
Bullies to show concern, under a new Victorian school model
Bullies would escape punishment under a new Victorian plan to reduce schoolyard intimidation.
Teachers have backed the idea but parents have raised concerns, saying bullies should face the consequences of their actions.The Swedish-devised "method of shared concern" aims to "empower" bullies to change their behaviour.
It could soon be recommended to all Australian schools.
Rather than being accused, suspected bullies are merely spoken to and encouraged to think of ways to help a bullied student cope.The hope is that an aggressor will be turned into a sympathetic ally.
"The approach is solution-focused," a new government-commissioned report says."The emphasis is about bringing about desirable changes in participants rather than finding who's to blame and applying sanctions."
Victorian Education Union president Mary Bluett said the no-blame plan was in general a good "initial approach", but the burden would rest on school staff.It demonstrated why all schools needed trained counsellors, she said.But Parents Victoria's Sharron Healy said bullies shouldn't get off scot free.
"There should be some consequence, not necessarily punishment," she said. "They need to be held accountable."
Studies show about 30 per cent of Australian students have been bullied at school, many suffering serious long-term psychological effects.
The technique has been used successfully in Sweden, England, Spain and Finland. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the Government would consider including the strategy in national anti-bullying guidelines.
"The Government understands that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to bullying in our schools," she said.
"But we have been determined to provide teachers and school leaders with a range of tools to help them deal with bullying.
"This approach seeks to empower students who have contributed to bullying or become aware of bullying to act."
Depression among Tweens
A new study has found that five times as many high school and college students in the United States are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues than youth of the same age who were studied in the Great Depression era.
The findings, culled from responses to a popular psychological questionnaire used as far back as 1938, confirm what counsellors on campuses nationwide have long suspected as more students struggle with the stresses of school and life in general.
"It's another piece of the puzzle - that yes, this does seem to be a problem, that there are more young people who report anxiety and depression," says Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor and the study's lead author.
Though the study, released on Monday, does not provide a definitive correlation, Twenge and mental health professionals speculate that a popular culture increasingly focused on the external - from wealth to looks and status - has contributed to the uptick in mental health issues.
Led by Twenge, researchers at five universities analysed the responses of 77,576 high school or college students who, from 1938 through 2007, took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, or MMPI. The results will be published in a future issue of the Clinical Psychology Review.
Overall, an average of five times as many students in 2007 surpassed thresholds in one or more mental health categories, compared with those who did so in 1938.
A few individual categories increased at an even greater rate - with six times as many scoring high in two areas:
- "hypomania," a measure of anxiety and unrealistic optimism (from five per cent of students in 1938 to 31 per cent in 2007)
- and depression (from one per cent to six per cent).
Twenge said the most current numbers may even be low given all the students taking antidepressants and other psychotropic medications, which help alleviate symptoms the survey asks about.
The study also showed increases in "psychopathic deviation," which is loosely related to psychopathic behaviour in a much milder form and is defined as having trouble with authority and feeling as though the rules don't apply to you.
The percentage of young people who scored high in that category increased from five per cent in 1938 to 24 per cent in 2007.
Twenge previously documented the influence of pop culture pressures on young people's mental health in her 2006 book Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - and More Miserable Than Ever Before.
Several studies also have captured the growing interest in being rich, with 77 per cent of those questioned for UCLA's 2008 national survey of college freshmen saying it was "essential" or "very important" to be financially well off.
Experts say such high expectations are a recipe for disappointment.
Meanwhile, they also note some well-meaning but overprotective parents have left their children with few real-world coping skills.
Students themselves point to everything from pressure to succeed - self-imposed and otherwise - to a fast-paced world that's only sped up by the technology they love so much.
The study is not without its sceptics, among them Richard Shadick, a psychologist who directs the counselling centre at Pace University in New York.
He says, for instance, that the sample data weren't necessarily representative of all college students. (Many who answered the MMPI questionnaire were students in introductory psychology courses at four-year institutions.)
Shadick says his own experience leaves little doubt more students are seeking mental health services. But he and others think that may be due in part to heightened awareness of such services.
Depression program to focus on pre-schoolers
Children as young as 12 months will be the focus of a new depression prevention program funded by the Federal Government.
Helping launch the new KidsMatter early childhood program at Monmia Primary School in Melbourne's outer west today, depression awareness group beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett said he was "shocked" when first told young children were to be the focus.
"I can't express the shock I got when at a board meeting of beyondblue ... our officers said 'we're now going to start doing some science among children aged one to 7 years of age'," Mr Kennett said.
But he is now convinced the program, which builds on a trial run of KidsMatter in 100 Australian primary schools, will be "internationally groundbreaking work".
"We are now going to work with very young children to see how we can better help them, because so many of them are, sadly, reporting for primary school with stresses, with anxiety and in some cases, something worse."
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon announced $18.7 million to fund the program in all volunteering Australian primary schools and extending it to early childhood settings.
"It very much reflects as well, the Government's determination to look at the health system at the start rather than at the end," Ms Roxon said.
"What we can do earlier in the system so that instead of picking up the pieces when things get really bad, we're giving young children and others the tools to manage their lives into the future."
KidsMatter puts mental health in the weekly school curriculum, training teachers and informing parents how to help children learn to deal with setbacks, talk about them and develop resilience.
The program will not screen children for depression or determine the number of children presenting with depression-type problems, Ms Roxon said.
Mr Kennett said he did not know if more children were presenting with stress and anxiety at primary school, but KidsMatter was about helping children avoid developing depression throughout their lifetime.
Antidepressants do little for mild cases: study
A group of American researchers combined data from six studies involving 718 adult outpatients who ranged from mildly to very severely depressed according to the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.
Their study, which sought to compare the benefits of commonly prescribed antidepressants (ADM) compared with placebos, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The authors, led by Jay Fournier of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, found the effect of antidepressants varied considerably, depending on the severity of the symptoms.
"True drug effects (an advantage of ADM over placebo) were non-existent to negligible among depressed patients with mild, moderate and even severe baseline symptoms, whereas they were large for patients with very severe symptoms," they wrote.
Most studies on antidepressants - currently the standard treatment for major depressive disorders - focus on the impact of the drugs on patients considered to be severely depressed, but there remains scant evidence on their effect for patients with less severe depression.
Advertisements for these drugs to clinicians or the general public omit this feature, the researchers noted. The majority of patients receiving antidepressants in clinical practice have depression measures below the high level of symptom severity they found necessary for the drugs to have a meaningful impact, according to the study.
“Prescribers, policymakers and consumers may not be aware that the efficacy of medications largely has been established on the basis of studies that have included only those individuals with more severe forms of depression," the authors wrote.
"Efforts should be made to clarify to clinicians and prospective patients that whereas antidepressant medications can have a substantial effect with more severe depressions, there is little evidence to suggest that they produce specific pharmacological benefit for the majority of patients with less severe acute depression."
