Supporting students with the curveballs of life

As we enter the holiday period, we are often inundated with marketing imagery showing happy families celebrating together and children opening an extravagant number of gifts.

This made me reflect on a Christmas Day two years ago that introduced me to the shadow side of the holiday season. I have a great relationship with my children’s mother; although we have not been together for a long time, we co-parent effectively and have always had our children’s best interests at the forefront of our planning and decision making. On this occasion, it was my ex-partner’s turn to have our kids for Christmas Day, so after a frantic opening of presents on Christmas morning, I found myself in an empty house before lunchtime, my Christmas effectively over after month’s of build up.

This was perhaps the loneliest day that I have ever gone through. Now, this feeling only lasted a few hours, but it allowed me to reflect on what it must be like for many people who go through this every year. They may be feeling social pressure to buy gifts they can’t afford or isolated because they can’t spend the holiday season with their children or other family members.

It brought to mind the Christmas table card from Shadows, a resource that I’ve always had an affinity with. This card shows an empty table with a setting for one laid out ready for Christmas Day. One of the reasons that the Shadows card set is my all-time favourite resource is that many of the cards depict scenes that resonate with me—they are scenes from my own life. I often use Shadows as a reflective tool as the images closely align with my reality.

For some people, Christmas can be filled with stress and anxiety instead of joy and happiness. At this time of year, or during any holiday period, it is important to be mindful of people in the community who might be on their own or who don’t have the means to live up to the pressures society places on them. In some situations, giving someone your time, your attention and your good will may not only improve a person’s life, but may even save it.

Compassion speaks all languages, is found in all religions and is completely free of charge.

-Chris Cain, Production and Marketing Manager, St Luke’s Innovative Resources

—using Reflexions and The Bears during a student placement

Recently we spoke to Crystal Gordois, a third year social work student on placement with Anglicare Victoria, who shared some reflections on her decision to become a social worker.  While on placement in the Home Based Care team, she discovered some of St Luke’s Innovative Resources’ card sets and had a go at using them with her team and with a carer she was working alongside.

Crystal says she made the decision to move from a career in early childhood to social work as she had a desire to support young people who were having a tough time.

‘I had a challenging childhood with quite a few family issues, and after working in the early learning field for some time, I began to feel that I could use my early life experiences to really help other young people who were going through similar experiences. So I made the decision to undertake a degree in Human Services and a Masters of Social Work at La Trobe University in Bendigo.

‘I was placed with the Home Based Care team at Anglicare Victoria in Bendigo. The thing I was most looking forward to on placement was seeing how my studies and all the theory translated to working in the field.

‘I was placed in a team of five and shared my time amongst them to get the most varied experiences that I could. I felt that this would give me the best chance of making the most of the experiences that were made available to me.’

The Home Based Care team supports children to live in a safe, secure and nurturing place while their family is unable to care for them. They work alongside both the children and carers.

Early in her placement, Crystal was introduced to St Luke’s Innovative Resources’ card sets.

‘I wasn’t previously aware of the resources, but I was quickly introduced to them by my team leader. My first experience was with a set of the Strength Cards—the team used these cards in their short team catch-up in the mornings called ‘Bump’, where each member of the team took a turn telling the group about their plans for the day, their challenges and if they required assistance.’

Crystal then took the opportunity to use the Reflexions cards herself and facilitated a conversation in a team meeting.  She hoped that by using the cards, the conversation would be enhanced and people would feel encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences more readily.

‘During Home Based Care team meetings everyone identifies a strength and a challenge that they have faced since the last team meeting. I thought this would be the perfect time to add another element and utilise some strengths-based cards.

‘I placed the Reflexions cards face up on a long table and asked everyone to choose two cards that represented their strengths and challenges for that fortnight. We then went around the circle and everyone expressed why they had chosen the cards they had and how these cards represented their strength and challenge.

‘Everyone engaged in this process and it sparked discussions among smaller groups about where else in their practice they could use the cards.’

While on placement, Crystal worked alongside a number of carers and children in care. During one meeting with a carer, she decided to use The Bears cards with the hope that they would lead to a more meaningful conversation.

‘I utilised The Bears cards in my first carer supervision. This took place in the carer’s home. I’d met the carer on a few occasions previously and had noted that they had a really positive sense of self and were very open to communicating about all areas of their life. I chose The Bears cards with the hope that they would allow for deeper conversations to take place and the carer would feel supported and heard.

‘I explained the idea of strengths-based practice and showed the cards to the carer, assuring them that there really was no right or wrong way of using them. The carer was happy with this and engaged well, choosing cards that they felt represented their feelings about their current circumstances.’

Crystal observed that the cards were also useful in sparking conversation between the carer and the child in her care.

‘A child in the care of this particular carer was also present. This added another element to our conversation as the child and carer discussed the question that had been asked and the carer asked the child what they thought. Both the carer and child then chose cards that they thought best reflected their answer to that particular question.’

—an interview with Steve Phillis,  social work educator and senior practitioner

The importance of creating pathways for young people to reconnect with school life in a positive way is reflected in the title of a community-based early intervention and prevention service simply called the ‘Reconnect Program’.

This program is for young people aged 12 to 18 years (or 12 to 21 years in the case of newly arrived youth) who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and their families. Young people often come to the program needing support around a range of issues, including non-attendance at school, truancy, low self-esteem, and poor connections. Family issues may also be affecting a young person’s capacity to connect with school life.

Steve Phillis, formerly a senior Reconnect worker and family services manager, and now a social work educator at Bendigo TAFE said, ‘The Reconnect Program uses a solution-focussed approach that respects the young person’s uniqueness and complements the skills of that particular individual and their school, family and community.’

Steve recounts a story of how he carried a pack of Reflexions cards around with him so that he could experiment spontaneously with them as the opportunity arose.

Steve said, ‘I was working with a young person who had been falling behind in her work, had low self-esteem and few friends, and was now refusing to attend school. Our second visit occurred in her family home, together with her mum, dad and sister.

‘I scattered the cards on the floor of the lounge room and my first question was: Would you like to pick out three to five cards which may reflect how school is for you at the moment?’

OK Dad, pick a card!

‘The young person’s father showed a lot of interest in the cards, so I said; “OK Dad, pick out some cards that reflect how you feel at work!” This stimulated lots of discussion, broke down boundaries and really loosened us all up. Very soon the sister also picked out some cards. It was so great when this happened because it helped to normalise what the young person was going through.

‘The young person then selected four cards that represented how she felt about school. She selected Frustrated, Different, Lonely and Sad. We placed these to one side in a column and then I asked her to think about the exceptions to these. Was there anything good or even a bit OK about school?

‘She then chose four more cards that reflected more positive moments (or even seconds!) at school. These were Easy Going, Excited, OK and Brave. We placed these in a column and talked about each of these little positive glimpses. We then returned to the first set of cards she had selected and explored these “negatives” for a while.’

Moving towards solutions

‘I then asked her to select cards that represented how she would like school to be. These cards framed the goal for our work together; they represented where we are heading. The three cards she selected were Happy, Hopeful and Fun.

‘We placed these in a column also and then I asked her, “Can you see a card that will help you make a transition from here (indicating the first column) to here (the last column)?” She selected the Able to Change card. We then looked at concrete things that we could work on together to address the present frustrations, to foster more of the positive moments, and to build towards the final goals.

‘I really enjoyed the sense of connection with the whole family that arose through the process of working with the cards. And speaking of connection, there was an extra sense of fun when the young person in question recognised some of the faces shown on the Reflexions cards!’

• Accept a gift from a client?

• Drink alcohol or smoke with a client?

•Acknowledge a client if you see them in public?

• Encourage a client to lie in order to access a service or benefit?

• Connect with a client on social media?

• Ask a client to sign a petition?

You may be able to answer some of these questions with a resounding ‘No!’ Others may cause you to waver, and still others may not pose a problem at all.

While every human service profession is governed by the laws of the land and has its own policies and codes of conduct, there are many greys areas that pose ethical dilemmas.  When there are no absolute right or wrong answers, where do you draw the boundaries?

Walking the Boundaries is a unique tool for building reflective practice. Through a single sentence starter, ‘Would you ever …?’ this resource shines a light on the assumptions and latent values that shape our practice. Each of the 80 cards opens up discussion regarding appropriate ethical responses to an everyday dilemma. The diverse responses that emerge reflect the profession, the organisation, the role, the experiences and the personal values of each participant. 

‘The perfect tool for building critical reflection’– Dr Fiona Gardner, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia

Walking the Boundaries has been successfully used in team meetings, planning days and organisational culture building. The cards have also been used in one-on-one supervision, mentoring and coaching as a window into critical reflection and practice development. They are a great tool for students of social work and any human service teaching course. Also great for staff inductions.

Simply place the cards face down on a table and allow participants to choose one card at a time … and watch the conversation unfold. Is there consensus? Is there a firm belief? Is there a rule? Can you be unequivocal? Are there exceptions? How much depends on the role you are in?

80 full-colour, laminated cards, 105mm x 120mm
Polypropylene box with 44-page booklet

Over five hundred delegates gathered in Brisbane late last month for the Asia Pacific Rim Confederation of Counsellors Conference. Bringing together a dizzying array of speakers and workshop presenters, the conference aimed to build the capacity of practitioners in mental health services. Topics included complex trauma, eating disorders, couples counselling, prolonged grief, and Indigenous approaches to counselling and psychotherapy, to name but a few.

One of the keynote speakers, Catherine Tang from the National University of Singapore, presented data on behaviour addictions across Asian countries, including gaming and internet.

Fiona McCallum from the University of Queensland spoke about Complex Persistent Bereavement Disorder (CPBD). She began by pointing out that grief is a normal part of the human experience and not an illness. While most of us greatly appreciate support when we are grieving, we don’t need ‘treatment’. However, she said it is estimated that over 40,000 people in Australia are living with levels of bereavement distress that meet the criteria for CPBD.

Melati Sumari from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur discussed the results of a study on culturally-appropriate assessment for Malaysian families. The study aimed at producing a family functioning scale.

Tristan Lesley Snell from Monash University painted a picture of the impact of urban living, pointing out that for the first time in human history, the largest proportion of our population lives in urban environments. He said that studies repeatedly highlight the stressors associated with urban living including physical threats, pollution, noise and traffic. Tristan discussed the findings of a global study on the impacts of urban living on adult mental health and personality. Results indicated that exposure to specific environments in childhood can predict personality traits in adulthood. He also offered some ideas for how counsellors might support people to adapt to the stressors of contemporary urban environments using psychoeducation as well as targetting specific emotions and coping strategies.

Incorporating the latest information about how the brain responds to trauma was a common thread that wove its way through many of the workshops and presentations. And in terms of new frontiers for counselling, Lizzy Bilogrevic from Multicultural Aged Care Services in Geelong, Australia, posed the question: Is the aged care sector the next frontier for counselling? Lizzy said that personal carers make up 80% of the aged care workforce and that stressors on these workers are mounting relentlessly. She spoke of the disparity between staff training and the complex needs of people accessing aged care services. She also raised some of the shadow aspects of elder abuse scrutiny, and called for reflection on how this affects culturally and linguistically diverse consumers and workers. It’s a no-brainer that meeting the complex needs of our aging population requires investment in therapeutic support for staff as well as people accessing services.

Reading body signals is crucial for protective behaviours, trauma-informed practice or simply navigating  everyday life

A resource for hearing and validating before shifting the focus to recovery.

What does it feel like to live with an eating disorder? What does the ‘eating disorder voice’ say and how do we challenge those messages? What supports recovery and what gets in the way? How can we help reduce the isolation and shame surrounding eating disorders?

These are some of the questions that are guiding the current development of a set of cards called Eating Disorders & Other Shadowy Companions.  Due for release early next year, this resource is for people living with an eating disorder and those who walk alongside them—family, friends, counsellors, teachers and health professionals.

The lead author is Danni McDougall, an art therapist and senior mental health practitioner.

‘Many people say that having an eating disorder is like being stuck in a prison of your own mind that feels impossible to get out of. I believe that this experience needs to be heard and validated before the focus can shift to recovery,’ says Danni.

‘An eating disorder is an illness, like a broken leg. No-one feels shame about breaking a leg or how long it takes to heal. In creating these cards I wanted to open up conversations about what it’s like to have an eating disorder, and challenge some of the isolation and shame that people living with eating disorders often feel.’

The artist for these cards, Fiona Mansfield, has brought to life three characters to help express the breadth and depth of living with an eating disorder. You will meet Ed, the Eating Disorder Monster. Ed is not demonised for this character came into being to serve a purpose, but now causes havoc and takes up way too much space. You will also meet Reggie, the Recovery Rhino. Reggie is larger than life too. More than up to the task, Reggie is a steadfast source of nurturing and solace. And at the centre of it all is Bird. Bird is you, me, your brother or sister, mother or father, friend or colleague. Bird is the one living with an eating disorder.

These three quirky characters are accompanied by a question on every card to gently open up hopeful possibilities, if they are wanted.

Because these cards depict what happens in our mind and lives when we are under pressure, they can also be used to describe living with other ‘shadowy companions’ like addiction, depression and anxiety.

We will let you know when Eating Disorders & Other Shadowy Companions is nearing release.