Podcast 026: Getting your first youth work job

Posted on May 13, 2020May 19, 2020 by Aaron Garth

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Getting your first youth work job’ Aaron speaks with the Ex-student panel about how we can get that first youth work job. Every week we get questions at Ultimate Youth Worker about how people can transition from student to youth work employee. So we figured we would ask a bunch of former students who now have a few years in the field to give us their view. What ensues is a mad free-for-all on the ways we all entered the sector. BTW we all did it differently!

Getting your first youth work job

The days where you could get a youth work job because you had a heartbeat and loved to throw a frisbee are all but over. So now the move is to get a qualification. In Australia the Diploma in youth work is now seen across the sector as the minimum qualification, with more and more organisations wanting a degree. So you spend one to three years of your life getting qualified and now you want to move into the wonderful world of paid employment as a youth worker… but if you are like most students your course has ill prepared you for this transition.

So you ask your parents or friends or great uncle Bob and you get every bit of knowledge they have about getting a job… which is great if you want to work at your local Starbucks, Macdonalds or as an electrician. But when it comes to landing a youth work gig you are finding that they want five years experience and a string of accomplishments to even get an interview… (interview is a new word for great uncle Bob).

So how do you make the transition to paid youth worker? Well in todays podcast you will hear that you need to make the most of placements and volunteer work, Network like your life depends on it and to get a foot in the door (your dream youth work gig will come). You will also hear five different stories of how to get into the field.

Today’s resources

Here are links to some articles and training that have bearing on todays podcast.

Thanks for Listening!

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Online tools you need in 2020

Posted on May 11, 2020June 29, 2020 by Aaron Garth

The online tool you need (Update)

We live in a time of myth and legend and an online tool or two. Apparently, youth workers are mystical creatures who need little money or time to effect massive changes… At least that seems to be the neoliberal view of us. Another myth is that we are all hip and cool with mad computer skills. I admit to having spent my fair share of time on an Xbox or play station over the years but that is the level I play at. A few years ago I was affectionately know in my team as the IT guy because I knew how to use Microsoft Outlook and use our reporting system. Most youth workers are tech novices. So we thought it would be good to have a list of online tools every youth worker should have access to. Most of these can be accessed by a smart phone, tablet or the dreaded PC. So if your service still chains you to your desk you can still use them… But I would say you need to speak to management about moving to portable devices

Sked Social

If you have more than one social media account to look after then you know the pain of trying to keep it all in order. We have used a number of services to look after our socials over the past five years and we can honestly say that nothing compares to skedsocial.com. You can organise your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even a linkedIn profile all from one amazingly easy to use platform.

Check out skedsocial.com.

Evernote

Evernote is a great online tool for organising all of your thoughts. It is like having a notebook in your pocket that you can put ideas into quickly and easily without needing a pen and paper. You can arrange your notes into ‘Notebooks’ to easily combine relevant ideas together. It takes pictures, adds web links, allows you to set reminders and even draw pictures. If you’re like me and have ideas about many topics and you have scrap paper or multiple notepads everywhere this program is for you.

https://evernote.com

You can have it on two devices for free.

Dropbox

I was presenting off site last week when the USB I had my presentation on died. Completely fried. I almost went into a melt down. What was I going to do. Enter Dropbox. I called a colleague and had them drop the presentation into our Dropbox and with the help of the internet gods it was there when I logged in. Dropbox is a cloud based storage space where you can upload and download all manner of digital documents at the touch of a button. The free version gives you 2GB to use which is more than enough for most of us. Never be caught out again with this great online tool!

https://www.dropbox.com/

Cloud based so all you need is an internet connection

Canva

If you are like me you are graphically challenged. I cant draw and I struggle to use tools to get beautiful flyers out of my head and onto paper. A former student put me on to Canva.com, online tools for those of us who are graphically challenged that is literally already set up for us. Need a flyer for a program… Done. A Picture for Facebook about your event…Done. Literally any visual marketing you need all available at the click of a mouse.

www.canva.com

Won’t replace your marketing team, but its part way there.

Adobe Colour Wheel

Our good friends at www.nourishingmedia.com put us on to this one. Being graphically challenged it also bodes that we are colour challenged. Yellow goes with everything right??? If you need some help in this department whether for flyers, presentations or anything else you can think of Adobe Colour Wheel provides a template to help you choose colour combinations.

https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel/

Since using this more of our flyers are able to be read.

Psychdrugs

More and more young people seem to experience mental health issues that need medication. When doing intake forms I would regularly hear the names of medications that I had no idea about. I’m not a pharmacist. What they do, what dosage is high or low, the common names and much more is at your fingertips with Psychdrugs. Easy to use and with most mental health medications listed this is a top tool.

I have used this since 2008 and have not been disappointed.

The Google Platform

I have only recently been introduced to the amazing array of programs that google has in its arsenal. We all know the search engine is great and may even have a Gmail email account, but there is so much more to their online tools. spreadsheets, word processing, calendars, groups, hangouts, translate… The list goes on. If you are looking for free and amazing usability then the Google platform has it all.

www.google.com

There is a reason people benchmark themselves against Google.

Prezi

If I have to sit through another presentation by someone who has just found Microsoft Powerpoint or ApplesKeynote I may just explode. Boring presentations on basic themes with too many swishes, lets be honest we’ve all been there. Prezi takes the hard work out of designing a slide deck that looks good and has animation with its online tools. Some really cool templates with fill in fields turn a lacklustre presentation into a wow instilling performance.

https://prezi.com/

Asana

Youth workers often have many projects on the go with many different teams. This is a recipe for disaster if you do not have a system in place. The best system we have come across is Asana. You can seperate your tasks into boards or lists and you can assign the right person to the job.

https://asana.com/

Survey Monkey

Most services struggle to get feedback from their young people and when you stick a paper survey in their hand it usually ends in the bin. Survey Monkey is a free tool that allows you to create great surveys in minutes and send them via email, facebook, whatever system you want. The best bit is it aggregates all the data. You just need to read it.

https://www.surveymonkey.com

The free tool limits the size and type of surveys, but unless you do a lot its fine.

Kindle

If you read a lot then you probably use Kindle. Bring all your books, journal articles, ebooks together in one space and get reading on the go. If you travel a bit it means you don’t have to pack heavy books in your bag. I struggle with reading on screens sometimes however you can deal with that for the ease of use and access to a huge library of content merely a click away. The kindle app for iPad is also a great investment.

Best for reading on the go.

Bitly

If you send emails or use facebook you have probably sent a link before. Most people just cut and paste and then you end up with lines of nonsense which are the link. Bitly.com can shorten the link into something much more manageable. It also has the added functionality of allowing you to see who clicks on the links and from where. Some features are paid but you don’t really need them if you are just shortening links.

https://bitly.com

If you don’t have analytics for your website users you need them.

Trello

I am new to Trello but it has already significantly changed how I work. Trello lets you create separate boards for projects and then populate the boards with lists. Each list then gets cards. If you were doing a project you set up a board, add topics to be done and then add lists of steps under each topic. We use it for everything at Ultimate Youth Worker tracking workflow, developing podcasts, our intranet, you name it.

https://trello.com

I wish I had this when I was studying, particularly group assignments

Zoom

In this day and age of epidemics and the tyranny of distance it is important for youth workers to have a way of meeting with each other, our stakeholders and of course our young people. Zoom is an online tool for doing just this. For free you can run an online one-on-one meeting up to 40 minutes, for around $20 you can do group sessions of up to 100 people for 24 hours!!!!

‘Bonus mention’

Milanote

After using a bunch of tools to try to bring my idea, pictures, notes etc into one space I was introduced to Milanote. It brings the best elements of Trello and Evernote together with the ability to write notes, upload images and files, save links from the web and add notes and pics from your phone. the best part about this app is for those of us who are visual people Milanote makes it easy for us to organise our task and projects visually.

If you begin to use these online tools you will find that your productivity increases and your time stuffing around decreases. You will also begin to do marketing of your programs better and by default have better engagement with your young people. Some of this will feel a little backwards when you start. Learning a new skill takes time. Pick one and start using it today.

Would you add any others?

Podcast 025: Stress is good

Posted on May 8, 2020May 19, 2020 by Aaron Garth

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Stress is good’ Aaron speaks with us about how we as youth workers can reframe the idea of stress in our lives to gain some level of mastery over the experiences that often lead youth workers to burnout. Every year hundreds of youth workers leave the sector citing burnout and stress as some of the most likely reasons fr their departure. If we can’t master stress then it will destroy us.

Stress is good

In todays episode Aaron speak about the growing research into stress and how we have been taught to think about it all wrong. We have been told for many decades that stress is bad for us. That we need to run away from stressful situations because stress causes significant physical health concerns.

Well in a nutshell the latest research would argue that if we think stress is bad for us then it probably will be. However, if we believe that our stress reactions are there to point us in the direction of getting support then stress is actually a good thing for us.

Stress helps us to begin a process of emotion regulation. It helps us by bringing to the forefront of our minds the situation we are in and it asks us to reappraise the resources we have to deal with it. We have internal and external resources at our disposal and we need to use our rational brain to think about how we can use them to deal with the negative issues in our stressful situation.

Arousal reappraisal teaches individuals to think of stress arousal as a tool that helps increase performance. By reframing the meaning of the physiological signals that accompany stress, arousal reappraisal breaks the link between our negative experiences and feelings and poorer physical responses.

Today’s resources

Here are links to some articles and training that have bearing on todays podcast.

Improving Acute Stress Responses:

TED talk (Kelly McGonigal)
The Power of Reappraisal (Journal article)
Get some supervision

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

Share this cast with a friend or colleague.
Leave a note in the comment section below.
Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help the podcast and I read each one.
Subscribe on iTunes.

Podcast 024: Positive T-Shirts

Posted on September 19, 2019May 19, 2020 by Aaron Garth

Neil Milton is the founder of Positive T-Shirts which is a social enterprise-giving all profits towards preventing youth suicide. Neil is a public speaker, motivator and novice social media junky. Neil also is the General Manager for another not-for-profit working to prevent harm and abuse of children. He has worked in some of the roughest schools in Adelaide as a youth worker and has also had a stint working for life line.

His motto in life is “one day at a time”

Neil enjoys hanging out with his wife and children, also exercising, when he gets out of bed!

Positive T-Shirts

The Positive T-Shirt brand birthed in 2016 out of a passion to create t-shirts and other apparel that literally change lives as you wear it and as others see it. That’s why profits of products sold go towards preventing youth suicide.

All profits raised are donated to in2life which helps fund the training of volunteers who support young people, through their facebook group ‘coming together to prevent youth suicide‘. Donations also support school programs enabling young people with the skills needed to help their friends, who may be struggling.

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast Aaron speaks with Neil about his journey to founding Positive T-Shirts. We discuss why Neil decided to support the cause of suicide prevention and how you can get a great bit of merchandise to aid the cause.

Today’s resources

Here are links that have bearing on todays podcast.

Contact Neil and the Positive T-Shirt team

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

Share this cast with a friend or colleague.
Leave a note in the comment section below.
Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help the podcast and I read each one.
Subscribe on iTunes.

Podcast 023: Supporting Someone who is Suicidal

Posted on September 10, 2019May 28, 2020 by Aaron Garth

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Supporting Someone who is Suicidal’ Aaron speaks with us about how we as youth workers can support young people who are suicidal. In Australia, Suicide is the leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. 7.5% 0f 12-17 year olds have had serious suicidal thoughts. As youth workers we are prime candidates to provide a first response to these issues.

Supporting Someone who is Suicidal

In todays episode Aaron speak about the current rates of suicide of young people in Australia and then walks us through the suicide action plan.

Asking direct questions
Assessing the urgency
Keeping young people safe, creating safety plans and
Getting professional help.

Suicide is one of the many topics that we do not usually speak about as a society. There are many myths and legends which have been perpetuated about suicide. We hope you never have to use the knowledge in todays cast, but we also want you to have the best plan of action if you ever find yourself in the situation of supporting someone who is suicidal.

If you or anyone you are working with is having suicidal thoughts please seek professional help. Call Lifeline attend, a GP appointment or get in touch with a psychologist. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Stomp on these thoughts early.

Today’s resources

Here are links to some articles and training that have bearing on todays podcast.

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

Share this cast with a friend or colleague.
Leave a note in the comment section below.
Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help the podcast and I read each one.
Subscribe on iTunes.

Alternative career and Ultimate Youth Workers

Posted on June 26, 2019June 26, 2019 by Aaron Garth

Alternative Career Choices

Today marks seven years of Ultimate Youth Worker. Our birthday if you like. During this time I always like to gain some perspective on life, business and youth work in general. It is always an interesting time of introspection for an extrovert like me. I have to dig in to my heart and soul, carve away all the minutia and examine my life as fully as I can. My reflection has led me to think about my alternative career.

Last week I took to the bush. It is a place of peace for me and it helps me to get into a space of reflection. I only took the very basics with me. This isn’t a time of luxury but more of a monastic experience. Alone in the wilderness I thought of all that has been achieved by Ultimate Youth Worker over the past year. The training we have run, the people we have supervised and coached, the opportunities and the failures. In my reflection I wondered if the work we are doing had met needs of the sector. I wondered if the youth sector in Australia needs an organisation like ours.

I was also wondering if I am in the right place as the leader of this organisation. I asked myself a question that I am often asked, ‘if you weren’t a youth worker, what would you be?’. In my solitude I thought of the early days of my youth work career on camps and day trips. As a young man I thought my career was going to be in the military. I trained in land navigation, hiking and a bunch of other skills for that career. These skills all came in handy during those early years. Perhaps I could be a wilderness guide??? I love the outdoors and the solitude it provides. There is something primal about being alone in the bush that brings you to a place of reflection. I learnt many skills in those early days which I still use today. Leadership. Self-reliance. Team work.

Today, I find myself working on my car. I had to change my battery as it was dead. I looked at the engine bay and had a moment where I thought I should just call roadside assistance to have them do it. Then I reflected on my first career choice. You see, before I became a youth worker I was a mechanic apprentice. I loved cars, particularly Ford V8’s, and it seemed like I could bring my passion for cars together with a means of making money. I didn’t last very long. I loved working on cars, I hated working to such short timeframes as people wanting their cars back in an hour.

As a youth worker I have used my former career choices many times over. I have run more camps and day trips than I care to remember. I have hiked thousands of kilometres and used all my skills in bushcraft and survival. I have fixed cars on the side of the road between sessions. I have even helped people get their keys out of cars they had locked them in. I have used my knowledge to engage young people and build conversations.

I currently find myself out of direct practice and in the space of education. Spending my time between educating new student youth workers and training youth workers in the field. Being an educator is an alternative career than where I saw myself going. But, it is where I know I am meant to be. My other career options have all led me to where I am today. The skills and knowledge I have gained over the years have led to the way I educate newbie youth workers and support seasoned veterans.

Seven years ago I embarked on an alternative career by building Ultimate Youth Worker. Becoming a small business owner in the human service industry is not what I had been educated to do, but it was what I felt led to do. Over that time we have had ups and downs. We almost closed in 2014 as the sector was hit with massive budget cuts. Hired our first staff member in 2017. Overall, we have tried to do things differently. Much of this drive has come from learnings from alternative careers.

So on this our birthday I want to recommit to you all. While this project was an alternative career seven years ago, it is now my main focus. I want to see a sector that is well supported. I want youth workers who feel that they can get the support they need to be the best. I want to help you all to become Ultimate Youth Workers.

As we move in to our eighth year of serving youth workers we are going to be focusing on four areas. Mental health, Self Care, Training and Professional Youth Work. You will see our podcasts focus on these areas. We will begin to create more videos to help you in these four areas. Our products and services will fall into those four categories as well. These four areas have become our most read posts and our most listened to podcasts so it is our

Podcast 022: Is your workplace ChildSafe?

Posted on May 15, 2019May 19, 2020 by Aaron Garth

Is your workplace ChildSafe?

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Is your workplace ChildSafe?’ Aaron speaks with Neil Milton about how we as youth workers can support young people by being ChildSafe. Neil Milton is the General Manager of ChildSafe. Neil has worked as a youth worker in schools, churches and Not for Profits across Australia. He has also worked for World Vision and has his own street clothing business helping prevent youth suicide. Neil is passionate about making sure children are protected from abuse and harm and that organisations know their responsibilities in regards to child safety. Neil is a public speaker, motivator and he enjoys exercising and hanging out with his wife and kids.

In todays episode Aaron and Neil speak about the work of ChildSafe Australia and their mission to serve organisations and individuals working with children and vulnerable people, with the goal of improving their well-being and safety. We take our commitment to child safety very seriously at Ultimate Youth Worker and have used many of the resources from ChildSafe to help us in making our commitment tangible.

ChildSafe is “a harm prevention charity for the promotion of the prevention and control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to children and young people when in the care of an organisation”. Children and young people deserve the best endeavours of an organisation towards their safety. This involves more than good intentions, or the assumption that harmful incidents will not happen. Organisations working with children are under increased community scrutiny in relation to screening workers, risk management and the quality of care they offer.

You can find more information about Neil on LinkedIn.

Today’s resources

Here are links to some articles and training that have bearing on todays podcast.

Thanks for Listening!

     
To support the podcast, you can donate here.

To share your thoughts:

Share this cast with a friend or colleague.
Leave a note in the comment section below.
Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help the podcast and I read each one.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Do the online ChildSafe Training

Preventing child abuse, how can we do it?

Posted on April 9, 2019April 8, 2019 by Jessy Hall

There are 42 articles in the Convention of the Rights of the Child that are predominately centred around the idea that parents and governments are responsible for the physical and emotional safety of children. The convention states that children have a right to feel safe from any type of harm. As parents, mentors, teachers, youth workers or anyone else who is in a position of authority, it is our responsibility to uphold this right. Unfortunately, children are still being harmed.

It’s hard to believe that in a country like Australia, there is still a frightening amount of children experiencing child abuse each year. In Australia between 2016–17, 168,352 children received child protection services, a rate of 30.8 per 1,000 children aged 0–17. Of children receiving child protection services in 2016–17:

• 119,173 were the subject of an investigation (21.8 per 1,000)

• 64,145 were on a care and protection order (11.7 per 1,000)

• 57,221 were in out-of-home care (10.5 per 1,000).

Specifically in Victoria, 11,077 children were the subject of substantiated investigations, and 11,111 were the subject of investigations that were not substantiated.

The chart below indicates that rates of child abuse have either remained the same or increased over a five year period between 2011 and 2016. Of particular note are the rates of child emotional abuse, which are gradually increasing each year.

Why the increase in rates of emotional abuse?

The increase of rates of emotional abuse could be attributed to the fact that emotional abuse of children became more well recognised after the Royal Commission into Family Violence, and therefore more heavily reported on. Whereas historically, emotional abuse was not always as obvious and was often difficult to identify (compared to physical and sexual abuse).

The Royal Commission into Family Violence was conducted from 2015-2016 and its’ aim was to prevent family violence, improve early intervention, support victims, make perpetrators accountable, better coordinate community and government responses as well as evaluate and measure strategies, frameworks, policies, programs and services. It was established following a series of family violence related deaths in Victoria, most notably – 11 year old Luke Batty – who was killed by his father in February 2014 following a long history of violence perpetrated against his mother, Rosie Batty.

According to the Royal Commission into Family Violence;

The Royal Commission highlighted this issue within the family violence service system and developed recommendations for change. This could explain the increased rates of reported emotional abuse from 2014-2016.

So how do we prevent child abuse? This is a very loaded question and I can’t expect any one person to have the answer. For this reason I’ve asked some professionals within the Ultimate Youth Worker community to share their thoughts on this important topic. They’ve shared their experiences and wisdom from several different perspectives.

The child protection perspective:

What do you see as the main factors in the prevention of child abuse? How can we help parents and families to avoid inter-generational abuse?

“When thinking about preventative approaches to child abuse I think it’s constructive to recognise the use of primary, secondary and tertiary services as the platform for better ensuring the safety and well-being of children and reducing the risk of inter-generational abuse and neglect.

All interventions need to be grounded in an understanding of the complex and compounding issues associated with abuse and neglect including (but not limited to); AOD, family violence and mental health factors. The focus should be on the delivery of psycho-education to increase community and public awareness around risk and protective factors for children, their development and healthy family dynamics.

It should also involve the development of intensive programs, strategies and interventions that target already vulnerable families giving them maximum opportunity to break the cycle of violence. Furthermore, these programs must be culturally specific, relatable and engage therapeutic supports and rehabilitation programs to reduce the risk of future harm to families already challenged by the experience of violence.

In some instances, this needs to be balanced with the use of mental health interventions, legal prosecutions and criminal proceedings where necessary and appropriate. This is in order to reduce risk of recidivism and ensure greater responsibility and accountability for those perpetrating harm.”

(Lani, social worker)

The young person’s perspective:

What are some of the most common behavioural traits that you see in young people that have experienced abuse or family violence?

“Not trusting adults and going through an extended phase of “testing” when they meet a new adult. A young person might put on different masks at different stages of the testing phase. Initially, they might be very nice, then become very quiet and reserved. Once they feel that you are safe to be around they can often escalate, testing you with all different kinds of challenging behaviours.

One of the most challenging things young people who have experienced violence and abuse face is low self worth and self esteem. They often don’t believe they can be good at anything, so you need to find little things that demonstrate their strengths and reinforce these things.

It’s important to support these young people by consistently being there with positive reinforcement and a protective environment.”

(Nadav, youth worker)

The family/parent perspective:

What’s your experience of working with families where abuse has occurred?

“Most of my contact is with the mother, some of whom are not Australian citizens. These women hold tremendous strength and resilience where their visa status is unknown, access to government income is little or non existent, access to affordable housing is not an option and their rights to their child/ren are questioned by child protection and challenged by the family courts. In some cases, where returning to their country of origin will place the family in danger from relatives, they are overlooked by our family violence refuge and housing systems.

In the face of so much adversity, it is these women that continue to prioritise their child/ren’s safety and continue to parent their children as best they can with little to no resources.

Many women we work with, both CALD and Australian born often don’t understand that they have been experiencing family violence. A large part of our work is assessing immediate safety and risk. We work from a client centred, trauma informed and strengths based framework.

However there is an enormous amount of work (educative model) to explain and unpack their experiences of family violence. We start to introduce these concepts to the women. As we are a crisis service, we hand this over along with the case plans to the refuge for the ongoing family violence case management of the women and children. From there they are linked into group work and victim-survivor advocacy.

It is quite shocking sometimes when speaking to women where there is no understanding that the violence is abuse and a criminal act. It’s about providing information and options and allowing them the space to reflect on their experiences and shift their understanding.”

(Cindy, social worker)

The child’s perspective:

How can we help children in the prevention of child abuse?

– Create a safe space within schools and support services that children can feel comfortable within if they need to disclose abuse.

– Encouraging children to speak out if something has happened to them.

– Educating school staff and other professionals (early child care workers, social workers, GPs, nurses, psychologists) to look out for signs of harm/abuse and train them how to navigate a disclosure of abuse.

– Making books available in your service or classroom that promote body safety. Such as books by Jayneen Sanders.

– Having story books available in your service or classroom that discuss family violence.

– Therapeutic work with children and families.

(Sammy, social worker)

It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a multi-faceted approach to keep children safe from harm. This was beautifully highlighted in the responses above. Thank you to all of our members who shared their thoughts and experiences with us today. This isn’t an easy topic to write about and we appreciate the wealth of knowledge our members have to share.

This article isn’t intended to be a definitive answer on how we protect our children from harm. It is intended to start a conversation based on the knowledge of people who deal with this issue on a daily basis. We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

At Ultimate Youth Worker, we are committed to being a child safe organisation that recognises, respects and promotes children’s rights. Read more about our commitment in our blog. Thank you for taking the time to visit us today, make sure you visit our social media pages and join in the conversation.

Further Reading:

https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/66c7c364-592a-458c-9ab0-f90022e25368/aihw-cws-63.pdf.aspx?inline=true

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-sexual-violence-in-australia-2018/data

Podcast 021: Non-Suicidal Self Injury (Part Two)

Posted on March 11, 2019May 19, 2020 by Aaron Garth

Non-Suicidal Self Injury (Part 2)

Podcast 021 Dr. Claire Kelly — Dr Claire Kelly

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Non-Suicidal Self Injury Part Two’ Aaron continues to speaks with Dr. Claire Kelly about how we as youth workers can support young people experiencing Non-Suicidal Self Injury.

Dr Claire Kelly is the Director of Curriculum at MHFA Australia and an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University. Claire has been involved with MHFA since 2003, when she first became an instructor while completing her Doctorate at the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University in Canberra, where the program was first developed.

Prior to her current position, Claire was the Youth MHFA Programs Manager for 10 years and also worked on the MHFA Guidelines used to develop Edition 2 of MHFA and YMHFA. Claire’s PhD thesis was written on the mental health literacy of Australian adolescents. Her main passion is the mental health of young people and minimising the impacts that mental health problems can have on development, educational outcomes and long-term functioning. Claire has suffered episodes of depression and anxiety since adolescence, which has been a driver for this work.

In todays episode (Part Two of Two) Aaron and Claire speak about the MHFA guidelines for non-Suicidal Self Injury developed by Mental health First Aid Australia after their ‘Delphi study’ into this area.

Professional youth workers understand that there are many young people who are hurting so bad that they self injure to deal with the turmoil. Unfortunately, not all professional youth workers know how to provide the support these young people need. Todays podcast begins to give us the tools to help the hurt and keep our young people safe.

You can find more information about Claire on LinkedIn.

Today’s resources

Here are links to some articles that have bearing on todays podcast.

Thanks for Listening!

To share your thoughts:

Share this cast with a friend or colleague.
Leave a note in the comment section below.
Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

To help out the show:

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Join a Youth Mental Health First Aid Course

What is NSSI?

Posted on March 7, 2019March 11, 2019 by Jessy Hall

I have a story for you to set the scene.

I was working in a residential home on a night shift, there was myself and one other staff in the home with four young people aged between 5 and 16. One of the young people, a female aged 12, had just returned home after being missing for about a week. This particular young person has a history of methamphetamine misuse, depression, sexual exploitation and intentionally harming themselves. Immediately we were on high alert to her state of mind and presentation, offering comfort and making sure she was in a good headspace. Unfortunately, the young person looked physically depleted and was showing signs of instability.

After a brief conversation with the staff she went to the shower and asked to be left alone, something which in normal circumstances would have been a reasonable request. However, I was uncomfortable with how our initial conversations had unfolded and was on high alert. I consulted with the other staff member (who was female) and expressed my concerns. The other staff member did not share the same sense of urgency with regards to my concerns. I took it upon myself to go to the bathroom door and ask how the young person was doing. She did not respond so I told her I was concerned about her and that she should come out and talk some more, by this point the other staff member had arrived to help. A minute or two later, after being told to “fuck off” several times, the door swung open and the young person pushed past us revealing both herself and the bathroom covered in blood. This was my first brush with NSSI.

What is NSSI?

I can almost guarantee you that at some point in your career you have heard someone talk about “self harm”. If you are like myself or a lot of other youth workers, you would have even had to manage a situation where a young person has intentionally harmed themselves. This is otherwise known as “non-suicidal self injury”.

Non-suicidal self injury (NSSI) refers to the direct, deliberate destruction of ones own body tissue in the absence of intent to die.

Whilst the person may not have the intention of killing themselves, the issue should still be approached seriously and an appropriate care plan should be put in place to support them and minimise further harm. But before we tackle the topic of how to support someone who is self injuring, let’s begin with some of the methods used to self injure.

One of the most common methods for NSSI is the use of objects to cut the skin, such as; razor blades, glass, knives and almost any sharp object that can be found to cause harm. Other common methods people use are scratching, deliberately hitting body parts on hard surfaces and punching, hitting or slapping themselves. Less common methods include biting and burning.

Here are a few facts about NSSI from Mental Health First-Aid Australia.

So why do people engage in NSSI?

There are a myriad of reasons but from my own personal experience working with young people the most common reason they tell me is that it’s the only thing they feel they have control over. As I mostly work with young people in out-of-home care, this makes a lot of sense. Other reasons include;

Attempting to manage painful feelings
They feel the need to punish themselves
To communicate with others

How do I help someone engaging in NSSI?

Firstly you have to assess if someone may be harming themselves. This might include noticing blood on their clothing, they might be wearing long clothing in warm weather or they may be using medical supplies faster than usual. If you suspect there is an issue then ask them directly, also ask about suicidal thoughts but be sure to not express any disgust or threaten punishment as this can cause further damage.

Next you want to assist them in whatever way you can can. If you have immediate concerns for their safety then you might need to offer first aid or even call an ambulance. If the concerns don’t require medical attention, we can continue to offer support in other ways.

In the Youth Mental Health First Aid course you will learn the following acronym that will help you support someone who is engaging in NSSI. The acronym is ALGEE.

Using these steps as a guide, it is important to choose the right time and place to approach a young person about your concerns. When listening, be conscious of your body language and tone and try to be non-judgmental. Arm yourself with knowledge about appropriate support networks that they can tap in to to help minimise future risk. This could include family or even the kids helpline. When encouraging professional support, consider how you can help to facilitate this and what else you could do if they refused. If they do refuse professional help you could encourage self-help methods such as meditation.

Where can I learn more?

If you wish to further your understanding of NSSI we would highly recommend attending a Youth Mental Health First Aid course with Ultimate Youth Worker. In this course we cover the content above a lot deeper plus a range of other mental health issues experienced by young people. I took this course myself last year and it has given me invaluable knowledge and resources to take with me on my youth work journey.

Thank you for taking the time to read about NSSI, please post any questions or comments you may have below or on our social media platforms.

Further Resources

Non-Suicidal Self Injury with Dr. Claire Kelly (Part 1)

Non-Suicidal Self Injury with Dr. Claire Kelly (Part 2)