The headspace Marion centre opened its doors in February 2021. The service provides tailored, youth friendly mental health, alcohol and drug, and work and study services to support young people aged 12-25 in the inner southern region of Adelaide.

 

The service celebrated an official opening event in March 2021, which included a smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country, and a speech from their youth reference group.

 

The centre has received some great feedback from clients already. Take a read at some of the good news stories below.

 

Ben

Ben attended five sessions at headspace Marion, and initially he shared that he wasn’t too keen on attending because it was “Mum’s idea”.

 

During the first session, Ben identified that he wanted to explore how he was feeling in relation to anger and communication with others. After some time exploring in the next session, Ben stated that he believed he was feeling angry due to wanting others to change their actions. The question was posed to Ben, can you control the actions of others, and Ben answered “yes” straight away. He believed the actions and communication of others was his responsibility and shared that he would blame himself when conversation may not have been pleasant.

 

Through working with headspace Marion, Ben identified that he was unable to control the actions of others. From here he explored his own behaviour in certain social settings.

Ben shared that after practicing strategies learned at headspace Marion, he’d take a deep breath, and was able to respond without yelling, and I was even able to make a joke sometimes.

 

At his last appointment, Ben reported that he had many strategies that he had learned in session, that he believed would assist him to support his mental health in the future. Ben reported that his relationship with his Autistic brother had improved, and that he and his Mum were planning on spending more time with each other playing board games. Ben thanked me in his final session, however, I turned it on himself and he was able to identify that he deserved credit for his action, and he repeated a metaphor that had been used in session 1 “you can’t get better at the piano if you don’t practice in between sessions”.

 

Sarah

Sarah presented with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Initial Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) was 33, which indicates moderate to high severity of symptoms.

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For a long time, Sarah held the belief that “if I were to tell people (about my trauma), they will see me as weak or worthless”

 

Since engaging in CPT at headspace Marion, Sarah has been able to challenge her above belief by safely sharing her experiences of trauma to close friends. Her weekly PCL score has since decreased to 11 representing clinically significant and positive change. She continues to address her PTSD symptoms on a weekly basis. Sarah reports she has seen a general improvement to her overall mental health since attending headspace Marion.

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Since opening, headspace Marion has supported over 400 young people.

 

Collectively, our 5 headspace centres have supported 4,804 young people, providing over 18,000 occasions of service.

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*These stories have been deidentified.

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Below: headspace Marion team members on the opening day