First step of faith for Ultimate Youth Worker’s
Welcome to another Monday Ultimate Youth Workers. I was recently read about the amazing work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the turbulent times of the 1960’s. There is something about a man who is thrown in to the deep end of such a massive issue that not only swims but tows a nation behind […]
Mental state exam for youth workers: Mood and Affect.

So far in this series we have been developing an understanding of the core components of a mental state exam. So far we have discussed how a young persons appearance, behaviour, speech and language can provide indicators as to their mental state. Today we discuss how a young persons mood and affect can provide insight into their current […]
Youth work in the education system
In the early days of my career I had the privileged of being a youth worker that went into our local high school. I was employed by my local church as a schools worker and spent much of my time running lunchtime programs. I spent much of my time building relationships with teachers, support staff and principals. […]
Why youth ministers need to embrace youth work practices: Youth ministry in the 21st century.

A while back I was reading a blog post by Mark Oestreicher, A youth pastor from the USA. In it he states that youth pastors need a title change. They should be known as youth workers. This comment made me both uncomfortable and elated at the same time. Uncomfortable as it brings youth ministry into a realm that […]
Motivation Monday: Ideas for the Ultimate Youth Worker
American composer John Milton Cage is quoted as saying “I can’t understand why people are frightened by new ideas. I’m frightened by old ones”. What old ideas about youth work or the youth sector frighten you? What holds us back? What would you change about our current situation? What new ideas make you thrive? What […]
What can youth worker’s learn from ANZAC day?

Today Australians throughout the world stop to pay tribute and remember those who lost their lives in World War One and subsequent conflicts. We remember that these young men and women fought for the cause of freedom and lost their lives to help us live the lives we live today. Their sacrifices will never be […]
Mental State Exam for youth workers: Speech and language.
Over the past few weeks we have been developing an understanding of the components of a mental state exam. So far we have discussed how a young persons appearance and behaviour can provide indicators as to their mental state. Today we look at how a young persons speech can provide insight into their current mental […]
Guest post on drownthenoise.wordpress.com/
Our guest post is being published on Neels Redelinghuys’ Blog today – it’s an open look at the situations that shape a youth worker through their career. Feel free to post in the comments about how witty, insightful and amazing it is!!! If you’ve come to Ultimate Youth Worker after already reading the post on http://drownthenoise.wordpress.com/ […]
The need to network: Collaboration for effective youthwork.

Its National Youth Week here in Australia and we are ramping things up at Ultimate Youth Worker. This week Our Director of Operations had the privilege of hosting a forum for The Youth Affairs Council of Victoria. The forum focused on how youth workers can best provide opportunities for engagement and participation for young people. […]
Mental State Exam for youth workers: Behaviour.

“Oh Behave!” Austin Powers knew all to well that we toe a fine line as humans when it comes to ‘normal’ human behaviour. When we are doing a mental state exam we are observing the fine line between what our clinical brothers and sisters would call ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’. Behaviour is an interesting phenomenon for youth […]