Christmas present ideas for a youth worker.
Christmas present ideas for an Ultimate Youth Worker Twas the week before Christmas and if your like me, your wondering what to get for some of your youth work family. It needs to be something to help them grow. Something witty. Something that won’t break the bank. We believe that one of the best Christmas […]
Celebrate successes: The youth work mountaintop.
Celebrate successes Tonight I met a bunch of youth workers for dinner to celebrate the amazing work they had done throughout the year. We ate, we drank and reminisced about the work that had been done. Camps, friday night programs, mentoring, leadership development and much much more. Over some amazing Thai food we spoke about […]
End of year and can’t be stuffed: no motivation.
I have been speaking to a lot of youth workers in the slow grind to the end of the year and it seems we are all losing motivation. It is always a tough grind to the end of the year however this year seems to have upped the ante. Many youth workers we speak to […]
Youth work in the silly season
Surviving is key to the silly season. December One. The beginning of the silly season. The first day of the run to the end of the year. ‘Every year I dread this time. Yeah there is the awesome Christmas parties and friends and the end of the year. The flip side however is that it is […]
Youth Work Book Review: The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
Throughout my career as a youth worker and particularly over the past few years of educating youth workers I have been asked thousands of times what books I recommend youth workers should read. One of the top books I always recommend is The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of […]
Youth work career development: Qualifications, depth and breadth
One of the most often cited reasons for staff turnover in the youth sector is the lack of promotion opportunities. Whether it is leading teams or projects many youth workers want to move up the ladder. However we also have a relatively low entry point to becoming a youth worker with over 50% of the […]
Knowing mental health: Eating disorders
The final week of our mental health month brings us to eating disorders. As youth workers we have seen a marked increase in eating disorders over the past ten years with body image being consistently rated by young people in their top few issues. Approximately 15% of Australian women experience an eating disorder during their […]
Knowing mental health: Depressive disorders
Depressive Disorders While each one of us from time to time all feel sad, moody or low, some people experience these feelings intensely, for long periods of time (weeks, months or even years) and sometimes without any apparent reason. Depression is more than just a low mood, it is a disorder which has an impact […]
Knowing mental health: Depression
Depression We continue mental health month at Ultimate youth Worker with the most spoken about of brain disorders, Depression. Depression goes by many different names and it stalks people with the skill of a bloodhound. It chases you down in everyday situations and squashes your ability to reach your goals. The most disturbing quality of all is it slowly stops them of life. When […]
Knowing mental health: Anxiety disorders
Anxiety is a problem faced by around one in ten young Australians aged 18-25. For young people aged 13-17, the figure is approximately one in twenty-five. Anxiety is a normal emotion experienced by everyone at some stage. It is an emotional anticipation of future threats. It is often associated with muscle tension and vigilance in preparation for […]