Search

Many Australians are requiring mental health care, including families, leading to long wait times in order to access support. Walk‐in therapy reduces barriers to mental health support services by providing support at the time that families seek help. This paper presents a proof‐of‐concept study investigating the acceptability and short‐term effectiveness of an online walk‐in family therapy service, Walk‐in Together (WIT). Part 1 of the paper describes the experiences of 44 family members from 22 families who presented to a public family therapy clinic for a virtual walk‐in family therapy session. The session was conducted by a team of three experienced family therapists. Family members' experiences were sought pre‐session, post‐session, and at 6 weeks follow‐up via survey and interview. Part 2 of the paper explores therapist perceptions (n = 7) of the WIT approach, through thematic analysis of semi‐structured interview data. Post‐session feedback showed 85% of family members found WIT to be helpful and 50% were optimistic about their future as a family after their WIT session. Six weeks post‐session it was revealed that WIT supported planning for families in equipping them to move forward with 88% of family members reporting that they knew what to do after the session. All therapists uniformly experienced the model as offering a timely and beneficial service, suitable for diverse presentations and constellations of families. These preliminary results suggest the significant utility of this WIT intervention as a well‐received and helpful service for families, who valued the easy access and rapid therapeutic response afforded by the online, walk‐in delivery model. This proof‐of‐concept paper suggests the potential for further development and growth of WIT, as well as other mental health support services using a walk‐in, telehealth model to meet the rising demand for therapeutic support for families in distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alison Elliott and James Dokona were interviewed by Henry von Doussa, and this article is the written version of that interview. In it, Alison and James separately refer to issues such as early skepticism about the applicability of a single session therapy approach with Indigenous families (Alison), a growing experience of its 'fit,' philosophically and culturally, and the hope that can be engendered in one conversation. They underline the importance of the oral tradition, and other cultural concepts such as Dadirri (deep listening) as well as the trauma‐informed principles of choice, collaboration, and empowerment, through using their language, asking permission, working together on solutions, and not coming across as an expert. The article is infused with the practical ideas and the values inherent in the authors' work, including permission‐seeking, reflection, containment, and their use of a whiteboard as a resource to capture multiple perspectives, a genogram (including pets), and to facilitate yarning. The flow of this conversation in itself reflects James' imagery of the therapeutic conversation being like a river running – you don't know which way it's going to go. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family-focused mental health intervention, 'Let's Talk About Children,' has positively influenced the lives of families affected by parental mental illness. This paper outlines the use of this brief, strengths-based intervention for parents with gambling and other co-occurring issues from the gamblers' support services sector. Over a six-month period, a training manual and accompanying resources were adapted for the gamblers' support services sector and a targeted training session developed. Nine problem gambling counsellors from three Victorian gambling support services trialled the Let's Talk About Children intervention over a four-month period. Qualitative data were gathered through focus groups, interviews, and practice enquiry groups to determine the impact of the Let's Talk About Children model for gambling support services. The results are presented as 'practice wisdoms and recommendations' reporting on the impact of the trial and to provide some guidance to support others in the implementation of a specific family-focused intervention. This paper reports on the first exploratory trial of Let's Talk About Children for the gambler's support services sector in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]