Grampians Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect and headspace Horsham have teamed up to support young people (aged 12-18) who are caring for someone experiencing mental health and/or substance use challenges.
Space4Us is a peer support group that provides a unique opportunity for young people to meet others in a similar situation, learn self-care strategies, and participate in fun social activities. It also provides young people with educational mental health modules to encourage empathy and connection with the person they are supporting.
Part of La Trobe University’s Families where a parent has a mental illness (FaPMI) program, Spaces4Us is a free eight-week program consisting of 90-minute sessions each week delivered by a peer facilitator with a lived experience of being a carer.
“It can feel really isolating when you think you’re having to do something that isn’t normal and carrying the responsibility alone. Having similar peers in the same space gives participants a sense of normality - having others to rely on and talk to can make all the difference,” Caeleb Warren, a Family and Carer Peer Worker at the Grampians Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect, said.
“We want to break down walls, and it’s a domino effect when you do; participants start to have fun, engage and be themselves.”
Rael Cartledge is the Service Manager of the Grampians Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect, which is delivered in partnership between Mind, Ballarat Community Health and Grampians Community Health.
Rael, who has a lived experience of caring for someone, says carers often neglect their own wellbeing because they are so focused on their caring duties.
“Someone in a carer role can find it really difficult to advocate for their needs, because they’re stepping up and having a role dynamic changed at home, as opposed to their peers in school. And they tend not to refer to themselves as carers as they are typically struggling silently, taking on a bigger emotional load,” Rael said.
“That’s why programs like Spaces4Us are so valuable, because they present an opportunity for carers to get together with similar peers, be part of the Connect centre and learn about mental health and wellbeing.”
Referrals into Spaces4Us are via headspace Horsham, and Grampians Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect’s partners such as Little Dreamers, Satellite Foundation and Kookaburra Kids.
For more information contact headspace Horsham by calling (03) 5381 1543, or emailing [email protected]