newsletter Spring 2014 Contents: Would you like to contribute to this newsletter?

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1 F apmi newsletter Hi Everyone, Welcome to the Spring Edition of the FaPMI (Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness) newsletter. We hope you are enjoying the longer days and promise of warmer days to come. We have included an article on kids feelings in this newsletter. The new Community Mental Health Services Triage service at EACH is our feature service in this newsletter. Thanks to Amanda and Hannah for their real life story. Family Fun Day: We have been busy planning the Family Fun Day. It certainly has been a great day in recent years and this year it is shaping up well. See the article about this. Group Programs: CHAMPS After School Program and Martial Arts as Therapy groups will not be run during term 4. They will be recommencing as usual in term We are hoping to run a group in the Waverley region as well as groups in Croydon and Blackburn. Please ring Bronwyn on if you would like to place a child on the waiting list. Central East Kids Club will be continuing as usual for those who have completed an after school program. Please speak to Rachel at MIF ( ) about this. Outer East Kids Klub will also continue. If you have questions about Outer East Kids Club, please contact Rebekah at Anglicare ( ). FaPMI Staff: We have welcomed Kirsty Jungwirth to the FaPMI team on 19th August. Kirsty comes with experience working with children and their families in the mental health field and family support sector and also works part-time as a school counsellor. I would like to thank Becca and Bronwyn at FaPMI and Eastern Health for having me in the locum position for the past 3 months. I have enjoyed the work a lot. I will still be around in the Murnong Continuing Care Team. See you all at the Family Fun Day! Cheers, Eleanor. The FaPMI Team: Becca Alchin FaPMI Coordinator. (Half time) Kirsty Jungwirth FaPMI Coordinator. (Half Time) Bronwyn Sanders FaPMI Program Support Worker (6 hours per week) Spring 2014 Contents: 1. Update from FaPMI Team 2. Family Fun Day 3. Hannah s Story & Spotlight on a Service 4. Tuning in to Teens 5. Spring Article 6. Spring Activity Notices Would you like to contribute to this newsletter? Contact: FaPMI Newsletter Editor Bronwyn Sanders p e. Bronwyn.Sanders@ easternhealth.org.au m. POBox 135 Ringwood East 3135 Eastern Health Adult Mental Health Program Murnong Clinic, corner of Bona and Patterson Sts, Ringwood East Ph: Fax

2 FAMILY FUN DAY FAMILY FUN DAY: The Family Fun Day is happening again this year! We welcome families to attend again. We hope anyone who has not come along with their children/ teens in the past will give it a try this year. I know paper work can be a pain but please ring us or talk to your worker about filling in the application form. This is essential for catering as the day includes a meal. Thanks everyone for your suggestions about times for the Family Fun Day. Saturday afternoon to early evening came out as the favourite. We hope this suits you and your family. So the date is: DATE: Saturday 6th December TIME: From 3 till 7 pm. AT: Lifeworks- Greenwood Ave., Ringwood. Do put it in your diaries, on your calendars and on your phones! We are addressing providing transport for families this year (Probably busses). Please contact us if you may like assistance with transport to attend on the day. This year we have three consumer or carer reps helping us. We have benefitted from their direct experience of attending the Family Fun Day in the past and their ideas for this year s Family Fun Day. It is great to see all the services working together to get this event for families where a parent has a mental illness. The day is being coordinated by us at FaPMI. Current partners include: Eastern Health, EACH, Satellite Foundation, Mental Illness Fellowship, Medicare Locals, Anglicare, Yarra Ranges Youth Services, Uniting Church Connections and Commonwealth Carers Network, Monash School Focussed Youth Service, PIR, Headspace and City of Maroondah. We have already had small sponsorship, including financial help and prizes. If anyone has access to a source of funding or goods for show bags or the door prize, please let us know. Private companies who have sponsored us so far include the Bank of Melbourne, Mainland Cheese, Oz Ten Pin Bowling, Rayner s Stone fruit Orchard (Woori Yallock), Adventure Golf, McDonalds, City of Monash, Scouts and more to come. Great to see them all on board! Hope it will be a great day!!

3 HANNAH S STORY HANNAH WROTE ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AT CHAMPS AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM: My name is Hannah and I am 10. My mum has bipolar and anxiety disorder. I didn t really know what all that meant until my mum took me to CHAMPS group. I went every Wednesday after school for a term. I was unsure what this group was all about at first but every week we had lots of fun. We had a yummy afternoon tea and played loads of games but the other kids and I also learnt about a different type of mental illness every week. I learnt that my mum isn t the only person who has a mental illness. I know now when my mum isn t feeling well that it s not my fault. I feel happy knowing that I have people who can help me and my mum. Now that I ve finished CHAMPS group I go to the youth group every month and get to catch up with my new friends. SPOTLIGHT ON A SERVICE: Questions to answer What is your name? Judy Urquijo Who do you work for? I work for EACH as the Team Coordinator for MHCSS Intake and Assessment What does your organisation do? The new Mental Health Community Support Services (MHCSS) Intake and Assessment Service provide information and referrals for people seeking mental health support. The role of the Mental Health Community Intake and Assessment Services is as follows: Screen and determine eligibility to receive support Prioritise referrals Refer eligible people to support services for a comprehensive assessment Provide screening information to support services to avoid need for repeating information Follow up referrals to make sure people are getting access to the services they need Provide self-management information and follow-up contact with people on the needs register Provide general mental health information and facilitate referrals to other services as needed. Who is eligible for your services? Anyone who is seeking information can contact the service. We are interested in hearing from consumers and carers How do I find out more? For North, Inner East, East and South East call EACH social and community health (9am-5pm Monday to Friday) For South West, North East, Inner North, Bayside and Frankston-Mornington Peninsula call Neami National (9am-5pm Monday to Friday) Or go to the website What is the best part of your job? I have worked at EACH for the past 24 years in various roles. I have enjoyed the challenge of establishing and creating a new service in the latter part of my career. It is great to work for team which is providing a client focussed service for large numbers of people. There are now 9 people working in the service and last month we managed 2,500 calls!!

4 Would you like to learn how to: Tuning in to Teens Emotionally Intelligent Parenting A six-session parenting program for parents of adolescents aged 10-2 be better at talking with your teen? be better at understanding your teen? help your teen learn to manage their emotions? help to prevent behaviour problems in your teen? teach your teen to deal with conflict? WATERCARE How can we assist you? Tuning in to Teens shows you how to help your teen develop emotional intelligence. Adolescents with higher emotional intelligence: are more aware, assertive and strong in situations of peer pressure have greater success with making friends and are more able to manage conflict with peers are more able to cope when upset or angry have fewer mental health and substance abuse difficulties have more stable and satisfying relationships as adults have greater career success Emotional intelligence may be a better predictor of academic and career success than IQ! Where: EV s Youth Centre 212 Mt Dandenong Rd, Croydon When: Wednesday 10am pm for 6 weeks. 22 October - 26 November Contact: Lea Young or Anna Ph BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL Yarra Valley Water has many services to assist you in managing your bills. We re here to provide guidance with Setting up a payment arrangement Registering for concessions Answering billing enquiries You can always contact us on

5 KIDS FEELINGS: Children often have strong and varied feelings. They can be quickly taken over by feelings of excitement, frustration, fear or joy. It is helpful for them to know that all feelings are OK. It s good to talk about feelings. Adults can help children to recognise and manage feelings. Naming them; happy, sad, embarrassed, surprised, can help children to recognise they can have feelings without being controlled by them. They don t have to act the feelings out. Adults can explain that there are ways of handling various feelings. If a child can say or think, I am feeling angry, they don t have to act angry before anyone takes notice. They can then choose how to respond. Learning about feelings helps children to manage their behaviour, relate better to other people and to feel better about themselves. This takes practice. Talking about everyday feelings in normal conversations can help when the difficult feelings come up, such as being angry or upset. You can say That was exciting when you scored a goal or It s disappointing that you can t play with your friend today. You can invite children to talk about their own feelings eg I m feeling a bit nervous about going to the dentist. How about you? This can help children manage their feelings and emotions so they can be safe, optimistic and enthusiastic about life and learning. Sometimes as adults, we also have difficulty expressing our feelings or emotions constructively. However, we can be a good role model for our children by talking about our feelings. Website: See BOOKS ON KIDS FEELINGS: Ask at your local library for books for kids on feelings. This book called When I m Feeling Lonely by Trace Moroney is a nice one for children to value who they are. PAGE OF FEELINGS - on the following page is an activity to share with your child. Find this on Page 5 of Piecing the Puzzle Together. Raising young children when mental illness is a part of your life. Available from FaPMI or online at COPMI (Children of Parents with a Mental Illness)/ Free Materials

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7 CITY LIFE CHURCH in WANTIRNA SOUTH are offering: FREE HAIRCUTS Do you or your child need a haircut? Are you on a Centrelink benefit? We are offering haircuts for adults & school aged children Monday September 29th Between 10am and 3pm Call Appointments are essential

8 READY SET To enroll call Lea Young Connections OR Tricia Kunek Birralee Maternity services BABY Thursday 16 th October 20 th November Where: Connections, 48 Blackburn Road, Blackburn When: pm (Lunch Provided) How are you feeling about becoming a mum? Would you like to know more about support networks available for new mums? Who: Anyone from 20 weeks pregnant Would you like to meet with other first time mums? Birralee Centre IF YES THEN READY SET BABY IS FOR YOU!!!