If it wasn’t for the Step Up step down program I’d probably be still battling along in my same canoe and getting nowhere going around in circles people had depression.
To understand that that sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed have a shower do your clothes eat food and when you get to that point and you need to do something to try and get routine back into your life and this is a great place to do it
I’m a luxury woman from the upper Murchison region of the Midwest and I call Muller War home I had a
breakdown and one of the services that I was encouraged to get help from was this place I needed somewhere safe like Step Up Step Down to help me overcome some of the obstacles that I was facing at the time after I lost my job because the company folded and I my security license expired
I am just didn’t have anything to do and just slowly it got worse my name is Deb I’m a peer family and friends support worker at Geraldton’s name I step up step down I support people struggling with mental
health issues I use my own lived experience to help them in their journey of recovery, it gives me an opportunity to support people using my own story and it gives them validation to what they’re experiencing is real and gives them confidence and hope within themselves.
My name is Justin Pilkington I’m a senior practice leader and former Community Rehabilitation support worker from the very beginning we try to work with someone and help them to identify their goals and by doing that we’re recognizing that each person is an individual and each person’s goals will be different, so we try our best to work with them on what it is that they identify.
We provide supports and Services helping people develop life skills social skills education around mental illness there’s a lot of good conversation.
There’s a lot of good support and that helps you through the day all the activities they have to offer here at Step Up step down like the meditation.
They’ve got the little art therapy room down the back and I guess yoga was one of the best things that I actually picked up from here and I actually took that all home with me.
We provide a safe space in which a person can discover for themselves and in some cases discovering for the first time in other cases they’re rediscovering old ambitions or or drive and we’re helping to support them through that it is a very good place to try and build good habits.
They have a health matters class and a sleep matters class and a few other things going on and it is very a positive applies to be everyone here is very nice it’s very good I like it it’s different from home
because when you’re at home you’re pretty much locked up and not many people understand what you’re going through.
In my family group where I come from and their thing is oh you need to go and just go knock yourself up go and have another go and have another billy or something you know and it’s to be able to be here and talk talk it out talk the emotions out as being a great positive because it’s something I’ve never been able to do and feel safe with what I’m saying.
I feel like I’ve reset back to where I was before the depression set in it helps to build a structure that hopefully you can take when you leave here and continue.
I was taught to I guess put it in a draw and close it and that’s it and at the end of the day that’s not going to fix it and as long as I wake up better than I was yesterday.
I’m fine I’m on the right track I’m still going it’s me as the person who has to make the changes just like a smoker you never stop trying to quit even if you fail you try again and you never stop trying it’s the same with mental health if you want to improve you have to keep trying you fail you fail you fail you fail but now you build skills slowly get better every time never stop trying.
