Mental Health
This year we assisted 2166 clients through our mental health focused services, including people who attended
our specialist group programs.
Of this number, 902 clients utilised our Family Mental Health Support Service, which we call Connect.
Connect is a free service which provides assistance for families and children/young people where a child or
young person’s mental health and wellbeing are at risk. This year we operated Connect from Bourke, Cobar,
Coonamble, Kempsey, Nambucca, Coffs Harbour, Wyong and Lake Macquarie. A further 1191 clients attended
group programs via this service.
This year, our Personal Helpers and Mentors Service assisted 73 clients. This service is a mental health outreach
program for people aged 16 years and over whose lives are severely affected by mental illness. The service
supports people who are experiencing the effects of mental illness by assisting them in their recovery and in
reconnecting with their local community. This year we operated the service in Ballina, Richmond Valley and
Kyogle LGAs.
Group Programs
This year we delivered group programs to 6416 clients. Our groups cover a range of themes including selfesteem, communication, anger management, parenting, separation, stepfamilies, grief and loss, building
resilience and strengthening relationships. The programs are delivered over single or multiple sessions.
A list of the programs we offer is available on our website at http://www.interrelate.org.au/programs.
Post Separation Parenting
This year we assisted 1386 clients through our Post-Separation Co-operative Parenting and Parenting Orders
Program, also known as Building Stronger Families. This program is for parents and other carers of children in
separated families who are having significant problems agreeing on arrangements for the children. They may
be in conflict over the big questions such as who the child should live with, or how often a child should see one
of their parents. Parents can participate in the program separately, so they don’t have to meet.
Parents accessing this program can self-refer, be encouraged by a solicitor to attend or be ordered to attend
by the court.
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