What happens when a young person needs help but doesn’t know where to turn? They can be surrounded by people but still feel completely alone. For the youth of Canberra, trauma and other mental health challenges can span almost every part of their life, from education and employment to connection, family and housing. Navigating trauma and mental health services for youth and children can be a challenge.
Being able to find the most appropriate services and care can be another barrier to a young person seeking help when they need it. It’s easy to fall through the cracks; being too old or too young, or, in crisis or not in crisis enough to be eligible for a certain service. Having multiple mental or other health issues can often mean that several services need to be engaged at one time. Having to plan, contact and schedule each separate organisation can easily become overwhelming, and even for carers having their young person not suited to services can make finding the right help feel almost impossible.
Trauma Intervention, Development and Emotional Support (TIDES) is an ‘Australia-first trauma support service for young people in the ACT’. It is designed as wrap-around care for youth aged 13 to 17 (or 18 years old if the young person is still in school) who have been impacted by trauma, or those who are at risk as a result of traumatic experiences. The team at TIDES are multidisciplinary, meaning they have a psychiatrist, psychologists, social workers and family therapists. This new service will provide trauma-informed care, therapy and clinical care, crisis management and life skills. Youth mental health is often complex or multi-faceted, with more than one thing going on at one time, this wrap-around service will also provide assistance with family engagement, counselling, education goals and support with alcohol and other drug use. TIDES will be working with other services and organisations within the ACT to work collaboratively and ensure the young person gets the assistance they need as they need it.
Assisting with the recovery from trauma for young people is the ability for the young person to make their own decisions within the care plans they create. TIDES will offer the young person choice and autonomy. This can create a feeling of strength, empowerment and independence, helping them to have a say in their care and developing plans for the future.
The service delivery with TIDES is individualised based on needs and can provide outreach services, removing barriers that can often be experienced within similar services. Youth are able to self-refer, and referrals from other community services and organisations are also welcome.
TIDES is a free service located in Turner. You can email all enquiries to:
Email: TIDESCanberra@uniting.org
Or visit their website HERE
If a young person is seeking help around mental health or general health concerns but doesn’t have the complexities or require the depth of services that TIDES can offer, another great and accessible youth health service in Canberra is the T25 Clinic.
T25 Clinic is designed especially for young people aged 12 to 25 in mind. It is a completely free service with several locations around the ACT, including mobile and pop-up locations. These clinics are walk-in, so no referral or appointment is required.
The T25 Clinic is a nurse-led clinic that’s run by Directions Health Services. The nurses are happy to address concerns around mental health, sexual health, STI screening and contraception (including pregnancy care), family and relationship problems, alcohol and other drugs, general health concerns, and information and referrals as required.
If you would like to visit the T25 Clinic, please contact their friendly team to find your most convenient location.
Phone: 02 6132 4800
Email: t25@directionshealth.com
Website: www.T25.com.au
The youth trauma service is being delivered by Uniting NSW ACT, in partnership with the ACT and Australian governments as part of the ACT Government’s Youth at Risk Project.
