Kerry has sought support for her mental health at various times throughout her life.
“Other service experiences have been really impersonal,” Kerry says.
“Afterwards going to the outpatient groups was the same sort of thing. There was always a reasonably large number of people in the group. I didn’t feel like I was really part of it, or that I was important. I knew that if I wasn’t there that it would not make a difference. Because of that, it was difficult for me to get there, it was not really fulfilling. I just didn’t fit, so I would stop going.”
That all changed when she visited Neami’s Living and Learning Centre in Strathpine, north of Brisbane.
“My experience of service has been incredibly positive,” Kerry says.
“From the very start, the first contact there was a feeling of warmth and acceptance – that I was already cared for.”
The Living and Learning Centre offers coaching and wellbeing support for people living in the North Brisbane and Pine Rivers area experiencing mental health challenges.
The centre combines mental health and wellbeing coaching with access to psychosocial and clinical support through one-to-one and group sessions.
“My key worker has been like a rock for me. She’s always there and she gets me through the rough times,” Kerry says.
“The whole of Neami is like coming home. All the staff are friendly. Whenever I come in people ask, ‘hi Kerry, how are you?’.”
Kerry says staff never try to be the expert and value input from people participating in the groups. Kerry has also been asked to provide her expertise on improving the service and providing services in outreach.
“I’ve been on a recruitment panel a couple of times and that also feels that I am a valued person and that my input is important,” Kerry says.
Kerry knows that bad days are a part of her life experience, but now she feels like she has the tools and support she needs.
“I used to get into a bad place and feel like I was never going to come out of it again,” Kerry says.
“I’ll go to those dark places again, that’s part of my illness, but now I don’t have the feeling that it’s never going to stop. I know there is an answer, a place where it will stop. I’ve learned that here. My key worker has helped me get through those dark places, and they never last as long as they used to.
“My life has changed since I’ve been involved with Neami. My life, my emotions, and my thinking have changed. I always say to the younger people in the groups, learn it now, please. Understand it now because it’s going to make such a difference.”