Headspace Yass officially opened its doors for business last week and is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 5pm.
The national not-for-profit began in 2006 to help those aged 12-25 by providing mental health support at crucial times, helping young people get back on track and improving their ability to manage their mental health.
Headspace Goulburn services manager Gail Davies said there are no wrongs at Headspace’s door.
“A person can come to us with any issues,” she said. From relationship issues, domestic violence, to drug and alcohol abuse.
“We’ll try to work with them,” Gail said. “If we can provide the service, we will but if we can’t then we’ll try to find the most appropriate place to refer them too.”
Headspace can also refer young people to vocational or educational support.
After contacting Headspace Yass, the team will book you an intake appointment. Those under the age of 14 require parental consent and both the young person and parent will be present at the initial face-to-face appointment.
Headspace’s mental health workers would view the information that came to light during the intake. Such as personal history, what supports have helped, what hasn’t helped, if they have any goals, if they want to work on a particular issue like anxiety, depression or bullying.
This would then be taken to a multidisciplinary care planning team where they tailor support to the individual. Headspace also receives referrals from GPs and if they have been provided with a mental health treatment plan then there are different streams of support that Headspace can provide.
Headspace Yass is also planning to run more activities in the new year and plans to look at what’s needed in the community for young people.
“We know that one of the areas that we do want to look at how we can better support is LGBTIQ,” Gail said. “That is definitely one of our priority groups that we want to look at.”
The local Headspace is still looking for more young people aged 16-25 to join their Youth Reference Group (YRG) to determine more areas that need support in the community. They also aided in setting up the Yass office and what furniture to purchase.
If you’re interested in joining the Youth Reference Group, then you can call the Yass Headspace office on 02 4824 4950.
The satellite Headspace office is located near Aldi at 10 Crago Street in Yass.
Gail said they liked the location because it was accessible but not a main street, which provides people some privacy and confidentiality.
Headspace closes over the Christmas break from December 24 till January 5.
By Brianna O’Rourke