A message from our CEO

Our 2014-15 Annual Report: Keeping Victorians connected

• strengthening our services
• children and young people
• mental health support services
• family violence prevention, support and recovery services
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• diverse communities
• community engagements
• training and workplace services.

Launching early matters

RAV’s early matters program was introduced in 2015 and is now firmly established in its service areas within the cities of Ballarat and Brimbank. Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, the program aims to promote and strengthen healthy family relationships to help families manage at critical times in their lives.

early matters recognises that family relationships can encounter difficulties, particularly during times of transition in life, such as having a baby, having a child starting kindergarten, primary school or high school, or experiencing separation, divorce, or the death of a family member. At these times early matters aims to support families and help them use their strengths to build solutions to the challenges they may face.

The program involves group work in kindergartens, schools and community settings, focusing on promoting healthy relationships and good mental health.

• Confident Kinder Kids – a group for four-year-olds which focuses on ensuring children are school-ready, both emotionally and behaviourally;
• I like, like you UP – a program for children in year six which aims to build skills around respectful relationships;
• Attune – a group which focuses on being a new parent, as well as what a new baby means to a couple’s relationship; 
• Tuning in to Kids – a group that helps parents to look at their own emotional self-regulation and problem-solving skills, and the skills of their children. 

These groups are enhanced by our home visiting service, where specific issues and behaviours that can cause parents stress can be addressed on an individual or family basis, with the goal of strengthening family relationships.

After over six months in operation, early matters was officially launched at the Sebastopol South Kindergarten in October, for the areas of Wendouree/Miners Rest and Ballarat South, and at the Delahey Community Centre in early December, for the areas of Kings Park and Delahey.

The launches were attended by local service providers including teachers, maternal and child health nurses, other agency staff and representatives from the Department of Social Services. RAV CEO, Dr Andrew Bickerdike, officially launched the program in each region, noting RAV’s long history in the areas, and the collaborative relationships we have established and maintained with local organisations and the community in general.

Dr Bickerdike also highlighted RAV’s understanding that healthy, safe and respectful relationships are fundamental to health and wellbeing, and the particular need for early intervention and prevention services in the area of family violence.

“For this reason, early matters is important, as it focuses on younger children and families at key transition points, a time of significant risk as people manage major life changes,” Andrew said. 

“By intervening at this time, we aim to prevent children, parents and families from defaulting to, or developing negative ways of behaving, and consequently, divert them from experiences of long-term dysfunction, poor mental health and poor life outcomes.”

early matters has already become an integral part of relevant local family support and family violence networks, with significant cross-referrals occurring. In 2016, we will increase our focus on the home visiting service through a program worker based at identified kindergartens and schools to further embed the program and ensure a whole of school approach. 

RAV will also begin development and use of an extensive evaluation process of early matters in 2016.

Visit our website for more information.  

Humankind: website to support people living with chronic illness and their families

Relationships Australia recently launched a new website to support people living with chronic illness and their loved ones to achieve positive and respectful relationships. Humankind provides relationship information, support and resources appropriate for people living with a chronic illness and for the families, friends and practitioners that support them. 

“All couples experience hard times, though living with a chronic illness or with a partner who is chronically ill can have a dramatic impact on your relationship,” Alison Brook, National Executive Officer Relationships Australia said.

“When dealing with chronic illness relationship issues are often overlooked, however the research tells us that good relationship health is fundamental to overall wellbeing. Working to improve your most important relationships can lead to better health outcomes. This is what the Humankind website aims to help people do,” Alison said.

The name Humankind comes from the notion that it is human to experience chronic illness and it is natural for humans to want to help each other when times are tough. Being kind is the cornerstone to healthy and long lasting relationships. The message from Humankind is to be kind to yourself and others.

Humankind was developed by Relationships Australia with the assistance of a Health Access Grant from Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology. 

Visit the Humankind website at www.humankind-relationships.com.au/ 

Update on I like, like you: A healthy intimate relationships program for schools

RAV has developed a preventative initiative, I like, like you: A healthy intimate relationships program for schools, facilitated in primary and high schools. I like, like you utilises a whole school approach to promote the connection between healthy intimate relationships and emotional health. Underlying our approach is a desire to address issues, in a prevention context, that may lead to destructive behaviours in relationships, most notably, family violence.

Increasingly, evidence indicates that being in a healthy intimate relationship is a positive predictor of better health and wellbeing, (Kiecolt-Glaser and Newtown, 2001; Prouix, Helms and Buehler, 2007). A VicHealth (2004) study found that family violence needs to be framed as a preventable public health issue, and highlighted the need for education programs designed with a preventive focus. For these reasons, it is imperative that communities, schools and families partner early to assist children and young people to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that promote healthy intimate relationships. 

With this in mind, RAV’s I like, like you program has been designed to make the link between respectful relationships, and mental health and wellbeing. 

Aims

One of the differentiating aspects of the I like, like you program from other relationship education programs is the inclusion of program aims, in addition to curriculum aims. These program aims help to provide a more integrated support service to connect schools, families and communities and thereby help to identify and prevent unhealthy relationships, family violence and mental health issues. We recognise the importance of a collaborative continuum of care approach across our preventative, early intervention and secondary services, and our program has the capacity to identify and support students at risk of unhealthy or abusive relationships. Read the full program aims on our website.

I like, like you in 2015

The 2015 year has been a very productive and creative one for the I like, like you program. RAV has worked with over 2000 students across 30 schools in Victoria, and has also developed an upper primary school model of I like, like you. This program, known as I like, like you UP, was developed as a direct result of feedback from schools for the need to reach a younger student cohort. I like, like you UP is also one of four primary prevention programs being used in our early matters programs in Ballarat and Sunshine.

I like, like you UP

Similar to the high school program, I like, like you UP focuses on the connection between good emotional health and healthy relationships. The four-week program explores knowledge, practical skills and attitudes that encourage healthy relationships and includes the following sessions.

• Me: How to take care of yourself and identify what is a healthy relationship. 
• You: Practicing and learning about the skills and knowledge you need to communicate with people who are close to you. 
• We: Being able to look after the me’ and the you together to create a healthy relationship.
• Integration: How can we protect ourselves, each other and our community.

Our sessions are designed to engage upper primary school children through fun, play-based activities. For example, we use a juggling activity to get children to symbolically practice progressively juggling three balls; the healthy me, you and we aspects of relationships, with students learning what to do when one of the balls gets dropped. Conflict, for example, is an inevitable part of being in a relationship, and students learn practical skills to both resolve and repair conflict in relationships. 

Supporting parents and families
I like, like you strengthens the relationship between staff, students and parents by integrating and applying attitudes that promote respectful and positive relationships. Making the link with parents is a particular strength and focus of I like, like you UP.

For example, students are given simple homework tasks following each session that are designed to be discussed with family members. These tasks are founded on evidence-based principles that promote the importance of family-inclusive practice through primary prevention and early intervention activities. Students are encouraged to discuss topics with their family members such as conflict resolution, emotions, emotional regulation, forming healthy relationships and principles that enhance a healthy mind. 

Adapting I like, like you for diverse communities

One of the strengths of the I like, like you program is its flexibility, with its core idea of the connection between emotional health and healthy relationships able to be adapted to different age groups and communities. Already, RAV has adapted the program for students with a mild intellectual disability, young people from an Indigenous background, students living in out of home care, and unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in community detention.

Looking forward to 2016

In 2016, we will continue to deliver I like, like you through our centres across the state and will consolidate our I like, like you UP program. We seek to collate and present an analysis of evaluation data for both our primary school and secondary school programs. As a result of requests from other community organisations, we will also develop a training package for both primary and secondary schools.

More information

For more information on our I like, like you and I like, like you UP programs, including information booklets, visit our website.

We welcome requests to deliver I like, like you to schools and community organisations. Please contact Emily McDonald, Manager Practice Development on (03) 8573 2222 or via email to find out more about the program, or to discuss how it can be tailored to the needs of your students, school or organisation.

References
1.    Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., & Newton, T. (2001). Marriage and health: His and hers. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 472–503.
2.    Proulx, C. M., Helms, H. M. & Buehler, C. (2007). Marital Quality and Personal Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(3), 476-503.
3.    VicHealth (2004). The Health Costs of Violence: Measuring the Burden of Disease Caused by Intimate Partner Violence. VicHealth, Melbourne.

A review of training in 2015

The 2015 year has been a successful one for RAV’s Training team. We continued to deliver our hallmark the Specialist Course in Couple Therapy (SCCT) and the Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution (FDR). We also provided a variety of professional development workshops, delivered at both RAV sites and directly at organisations that requested training to be tailored to the needs of their workplace and staff.

Students of the SCCT/Master of Social Science (Couple Counselling), offered through Swinburne University, have completed their qualification with a number now moving on to post-course options with RAV, including the Live Couple Therapy Consultation and clinical internships. Enrolments for the Semester 1 2016 intake of the SCCT have almost reached capacity.

This year we offered two intakes into the Graduate Diploma in FDR. The first intake of students graduated in November while students in the second intake are now beginning internships at RAV centres. The demand for places in our 2016 Graduate Diploma intakes is high, with intake one fully subscribed, and applications now open for the second intake which will commence in July 2016.

We were pleased to introduce an online Learning Management System (LMS) to support our students this year, and this initiative has proven successful. This tool provides students with access to resources at all times, as well as the opportunity to participate in discussions with fellow students and submit assessment tasks online. 

Throughout the year, we conducted a range of professional development workshops designed for a variety of audiences. Many of the workshops were conducted by RAV practitioners and focused on the organisation’s core services of counselling, FDR, mediation and family violence prevention, support and recovery. The training team also conducted workshops tailored to the organisational and staff needs of specific organisations in the not-for-profit sector. These workshops covered topics such as managing conflict, debriefing and supporting separated families. 

This year saw the introduction of RAV's Training e-Newsletter, providing regular updates on the latest professional development, training opportunities and news from our training team in addition to spotlight items on topics such as managing conflict, family violence and supporting separated families. Eight editions were published in 2015, and all past editions of this e-Newsletter are available online.

Our 2016 Professional Development Workshop calendar is now available. It provides our core workshops including Managing challenging behaviours and Supporting separated families, as well as new offerings such as a Mediation Short Course and Tree of Life: an approach to working with vulnerable children, young people and adults. Registrations for these 2016 training opportunities are now open, with more information and registrations available via our website. Our training team can also provide tailored training for businesses at our offices or on-site around topics including mediation, responding to family violence in the workplace, and managing workplace bullying.

The RAV Training team have enjoyed working with a wide range of individuals and organisations this year, and look forward to continuing to provide our wide range of training and professional development opportunities in 2016.