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Australia was an experience that I will never forget. I have always wanted to go to Australia, so when I heard about this program I was excited to apply. I was nervous to be on a flight for 15 hours, but when we landed in Melbourne it was well worth the wait. I have learned so much about Australian culture, their child welfare system, and their mental health services.

This program has further pushed me into wanting to become a school social worker. A school social worker has always been my goal since I entered the social work program in 2014. This program has made me want to continue that goal. All of the programs that Australia has and all of the research that they are doing in the child welfare system and mental health has motivated me to learn and dig deeper into what programs the U.S. offers. A lot of the programs that Australia has are amazing, they are immensely ahead of us in mental health programs. Beyond Blue had many great programs being offered in the school systems that a lot of ours need. This program has made me want to be more interactive with youth and dig deeper into social work. This is going right along with my career goals because I want to go for my masters in Social Work, and getting a job in a school setting I will be able to work with youth daily. 

I was eager to learn about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, after watching the Rabbit Proof Fence. VACCA, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency had an amazing training that they prepared for us. The training was filled with great information about the aboriginal people the training was taught by Rob and aboriginal man, who was emotionally attached to teaching us as much as possible. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest known population that is still living. Rob talked about the invasion of the British and how the aboriginal people could not fend them off due to lack of weapons and tools that they had available. As the British continued to take over the land the Aboriginal people were forced to leave their land a migrate. The Aboriginal lost many people while fighting for their land, they lost a lot of their language and culture by having to move to other areas and having multiple different tribes living amongst each other. Eventually they lost their children as the British tried to eliminate the Aboriginal people. They took the Aboriginal children, trying to give them a better life by teaching them english and putting them through schooling, especially the lighter skinned aboriginal children. They wanted to eliminate the population as a whole. Now the Aboriginal people have lost hundreds of languages, and some do not know where they are from due to the taking of the children, and the land. VACCA does a lot for reconnecting the children and teaching them about their culture. Learning about this culture has made me want to learn more about our Native Americans. It made me realize how little I know about Native Americans. Being in Australia and seeing all of the importance that they put on the Aboriginal people is great compared to the United States and our Native Americans. In Australia the Aboriginal people are highly recognized, with every agency working to better connect the aboriginal people to their culture by using VACCA and other agencies. Most agencies have a welcome to country sign, there is graffiti around the city with aboriginal people, and in the museum the first people section, these all show pride in the aboriginal people and give them recognition, in the U.S. we do not have a lot of that for our Native Americans. In the U.S. we do not offer a lot of education on Native Americans. 

Australia has pushed me to try many new things, including foods, workouts, and learning new things. This has made a new goal for me to push myself further and engage in things that I usually would turn my head to. Going to all of the different agencies and seeing all of the great work that they do has made me want to go to different agencies around the U.S. I know a lot of the resources available in my county but now I want to look further into different states to see what is available and see what we are doing for child welfare and mental health to further compare it to Australia and all of the amazing programs that they have.

I will be  going back to Australia again at some point in my life. I loved all of the animals. Being able to feed the kangaroos and see the penguins come home at night was one of the best experiences in my life. Going to Australia was an amazing experience and I hope to be able to go again soon to further explore the country.

Wow what an incredible last week in the land down under! Does it really have to be over so soon? We’re for sure going to miss the kangaroos, the friendly Aussies, the accessibility of the trams, the incredible views, and many more aspects of this fabulous country. We will also be returning to the U.S. with full stomachs after all of the gourmet donuts, macaroons, gelato flavors, and parmas. Not to mention, all of the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we ate (Australian PB&J sandwiches definitely taste healthier). Here’s a little insight into how we spent our last week in this beautiful land.

We visited an extremely inspiring agency, beyondblue. beyondblue plays an active role in suicide and anxiety prevention, information, and treatment. At the visit they explained that suicide is the number one cause of death for young people in Australia. This is an unsettling fact. Not only does beyondblue focus on young people, but they also target a large range of people of all ages, including mothers, fathers, LGBTI community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. beyondblue estimates that about 3 million people in Australia are living with depression, anxiety, or both. The organization aims to provide adequate resources for those struggling with mental health issues, as well as resources for those wanting to address the health of a family member of friend.

An admirable initiative by beyondblue is the “Brains can have a mind of their own” youth campaign. The campaign focuses on a “brain” character with a pesky personality. Through ads, social media presence, and short videos, beyondblue is aiming to portray this brain character as similar to the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that people may experience due to depression and anxiety. The campaign is mostly aimed at young people ages 13-18 who have not yet sought professional help for a mental health concern. The character can be quite annoying, and it is typically shown as keeping a young person from doing daily activities, such as sleeping, concentrating on homework, and going to hang out with friends. beyondblue has done an excellent job giving the brain its own unique personality. With every brain ad, post or video, beyondblue provides a link to their website in order for young people to seek mental health assistance.

One aspect of the brain character that we heard about at the agency visit was that it has its own social media accounts. The brain never breaks out of its character though, so if the beyondblue moderators feel as though a post should be addressed, the beyondblue account will step in so that the brain does not have to break out of character to address a concern. This provides a stable character for young people to relate to, and it also gives the character a more realistic existence. This also allows young people to share posts from the brain character on their own social media accounts without being directly connected to beyondblue.

The “Brains can have a mind of their own” campaign works to show young people that it is okay to speak up about mental health. Research has shown that 50% of mental health issues emerge by age 14; therefore, young people are a vulnerable group. Many young people may choose to not seek help for a mental health issue due to feeling ashamed or personally responsible. The campaign is trying to help make it clear that the brain is the cause of the mental health issue. People are not strange for having a mental illness, and beyondblue is trying to visually put the blame on the brain itself, rather than the person experiencing the issue(s). By using a bit of humor in the creation of the brain character, this appeals to many young people and they may find it easier to relate to the character. The campaign also helps young people seek help online, which may be a safe space for this age range.

We also visited Lighthouse, reachout.com, and VICSEG. All of these agencies have amazing projects going on as well, and have good research behind what they are doing.

Lighthouse is a program that supports homeless youth ages 18-25. The organization has 10 houses that the young people can live in, with 4 youth to a house and 2 caregivers. The program provides a safe place for these young people who often do not have one. A young person can stay there until they are 25. The houses have a group meeting once weekly, where everyone in the home can talk about how the week has been going. Lighthouse has a policy that whoever comes into the home has to have a psychosocial screening, including clients, staff, and friends. The goal is to keep the family home a safe place for everyone who is there. By doing a psychosocial evaluation they are limiting the amount of potential harm done by misunderstanding how to act towards a person with a mental health illness. The psychosocial screening also makes sure that the caregiver can handle all of the work that they are going to be doing. We both love Lighthouse and think that America would really benefit from a similar program. One thing that stood out to us the most was the fact that they try to keep it as clean and nice as possible in order to make it feel like a normal, safe home for the young people. (Courtney) Having worked in foster care, we had to have our parents post the fire exit plan on the wall at all times and we check monthly that it is there. At our agency visit, we learned that fire exit plans are not posted since in typical homes, there are not exit signs or fire safety procedure flyers on the wall. We love this! Lighthouse is trying to do everything that they can to make the space a typical home, and our foster agencies would really benefit from that.

Young and Well’s facility is so warm and welcoming so we were glad to be going back there to do our Skype chat with reachout.com. We had a lot of trouble with our Skype calls, but we gained a lot of knowledge about the agency’s mission. Reachout.com is a program that is all online and focuses on mental health and wellbeing. They do a lot of research for their work online. They have pages upon pages of information for young people about mental health, but also about growing up and becoming an adult. They have information on the website that we wish we had seen while we were teenagers. Reachout.com includes young people in all of their research to make sure that the services they are providing are truly wanted by young people. The organization provides a safe place for young people to be able to learn about themselves and some of the changes that they are going through to become an adult. This online information is great because this generation is mostly online. Most of the young people in modern day do not want to interact in a face-to-face setting, but rather online. Online resources can help more young people to feel comfortable. Through their research they have found that almost every young person in Australia gets online daily. It is a great resource and as we get better technology in the future, more programs like this will be needed, because less people will want to interact in person.

Our next destination was VICSEG, which is a program that works with the migrant and refugee population. We had limited education on this population before going so we were excited to learn what they do for the population and learn more about this population. They told us a lot of the resources that they provide and a lot of what they do as a program, but it was not until we walked around the school that we actually had an understanding of how amazing the organization is. VICSEG creates a way for a lot of the migrant and refugees to get an education, with hands on classes and field placements so that these people can make money and do well while living in Australia. VICSEG will do pretty much anything to help out. They work on getting citizenship for a person who does not yet have it, and they work to educate about abuse and violence in the families, because a lot of the families are not used to Australian lifestyle. VICSEG helps link up people with free language classes. They are very much a women organization, and try to help these women have a better life that they previously did. When we got to walk in the classrooms it was amazing how friendly everyone was. The teacher was able to give a lesson while we watched, and it was awesome to see how caring she was about teaching. She made the learning very interactive and upbeat. We would love to have a teacher like this. VICSEG is a great program that helps many people, and empowers many young women.

It seems sort of cliché, but this trip really did change our lives for the better! We were able to explore so many different aspects of child welfare and mental health, while also exploring how we can better treat ourselves through meditation and positive thinking. We would like to thank everyone who made this trip possible for us, including the 13 new friends we have made. We’re sad that our trip is over, but so thankful for all that we experienced!

Cheers!

xoxo Sam&Courtney

Where did the time go?! Our last week in Melbourne seemed to fly by. Our Child Welfare and Children’s Mental Health program finished with a visit to beyondblue, an agency that provides support services for people experiencing depression and anxiety. Since 1 in 7 people in Australia has a mental health disorder, beyondblue makes it their goal to go to the heart of these disorders to make a real difference. The Perinatal Mental Health initiative particularly stood out to me because it deals with new and expecting families, a group of people I hope to work with in my future career as a medical professional. The perinatal period, conception to one year postnatal, is a very popular time for mothers and fathers to experience some sort of depression or anxiety. The beyond babyblues program focuses its efforts on prevention and early intervention of these mental health conditions. The agency works with the community, government, and service providers to make sure their resources reach the right groups of people at the right time. Since there is little awareness that dads experience prenatal and postpartum depression and anxiety, beyondblue has created resources for fathers to use to get the information they need. These resources address how a baby will influence not only a dad’s day to day life, but also his mental health and well-being. The Perinatal Mental Health initiative also aims at reducing the stigma surrounding pre- and postnatal depression and anxiety. For example, their website provides real stories from people who have had an experience with these perinatal mental health conditions. These resources offer comfort and motivation to people with similar mental health experiences. People are also able to upload their own stories to the beyondblue website. This initiative encourages parents to stand up against perinatal mental health conditions to help reduce the stigma and spread awareness.

Although this week was all about agency visits, we continued to explore all that Melbourne has to offer! On Monday, we traveled to the 88^th floor of the Eureka Tower to view the city from all different angles. The wind tower nearly blew me away, but the view of Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Olympic Parks and Cricket Grounds from way above was well worth it! Later in the week, we had a group dinner at Cider House to mark the end of our study abroad program and say a final farewell. After dinner, we all experienced Nitrogen (N₂) Extreme Gelato for the firs time and it did not disappoint! I enjoyed the most scrumptious “Filthy Smore” cone that included chocolate gelato with chocolate chips, marshmallow, graham cracker, and a syringe full of chocolate syrup! This journey has taught me that everyday brings new opportunities. It is amazing the bonds you can form among a group of people in such a short period of time. Traveling has a unique way of connecting people. This has been a life-changing opportunity and I have this program, breathtaking country, and an outstanding group of people to thank for that! The memories that I have formed throughout this experience are everlasting. We are off to Sydney tomorrow! We are so excited to embark on even more adventures and make the most of what little time we have left in the Land Down Under!

By Angela Borgerding and Lisa Mallett (aka “The Mapsys”)

Our last week in Melbourne has been fast and full of interesting agency visits.  We started the week at Lighthouse Foundation and had a truly amazing presentation on trauma in children, including the physical effects of stress, abuse, neglect and prolonged trauma on brain development.  We also had a great Skype conference with the folks over at ReachOut in Sydney.  Their work providing education, resources and peer and professional forum space for young people, regarding mental health and wellness, is truly unique.  VICSEG provided us with a full day of introduction, education and discussion on their work with immigrants, refugees and those seeking asylum in Australia.  They offer assistance with job training, English as a second language, housing, and cultural awareness in communities and schools for recent arrivals to the country.

(VICSEG: Rosa Parks’ message has spread around the world!)  

Beyondblue is an organization whose vision is that all people in Australia achieve their best possible mental health. They “create change to protect everyone’s mental health and improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities affected by depression, anxiety and suicide.”  Their goals include prevention and early intervention, reducing stigma and discrimination, and active intervention and recovery. One of their programs, “Kids Matter”, targets primary schools and helps to promote good mental health in schools. It is not a program, so much as a framework, which allows schools to exercise flexibility by incorporating already existing programs, or to use as a starting point to begin the development of a mental health focus in the school.  This early introduction and promotion of mental health well-being allows for it to develop and normalize within the culture. Evaluation of this program has demonstrated that it increases children’s performance in school.

The final week also saw our final goodbyes to Melbourne and last minute visits to important city locales, sights and eats.  Some of us made sure to get to that museum we missed, or that store we saw on the way to somewhere else, or to experience that special meal that would leave us unique and personal tales to tell our friends and family about when we return to the U.S.  It was also a time to say goodbye to each other, with the knowledge that we will surely see each other again soon  in O-H-I-O!

Music as a Mental Health Practice

One of the best, easiest, (and most COST EFFECTIVE) interventions we learned about this week was through the KidsMatter program at Beyondblue. The day before Beyondblue, we were at the agency VICSEG. VICSEG specifically deals with new refugee/immigrant/asylum-seeking families. The agency visit really opened our eyes to the challenges these families face, especially in community integration. With our minds still so focused on these populations’ struggles we were in awe of the simple yet insanely impactful practice from Beyondblue.

Music in culture is sacred. We learned how much a person connects to these culture values, and misses them when they are not there. Although families flee to Australia from danger of their home, the truth is they still miss aspects of their home. They often face a hard time from not being welcomed in Australia.

Beyondblue incorporated a seemingly small school intervention, which was met with tears of happiness from grateful families. The intervention? They incorporated music from various cultures of their students and families. Each day, in place of the standard school bell, a different song was played during the class breaks. This was an amazing solution to acknowledging the feelings that new refugee/immigrant/asylum-seeking families had of being left out. These families who were feeling not welcomed to their new school, had a feeling of being welcomed just by a few chords of a song,

The key to the intervention was Beyondblue listening to the community and assessing the needs. The key was, to not just have standard bells, or play Australian music, or play a generalized sweep of “African” or “Asian” music. The school and Beyondblue worked together to find music from the specific cultures and dialects of each of the children who attended their schools. With this simple switch, families with little to no English were still given the clear message that they were known and welcomed. It was a small and simple acknowledgement not just of the school’s diversity and multiculturalism, but also of each individual student and their family.

Video of the reactions of the families to hearing their own cultures songs was heartwarming. One woman commented, “walking my daughter to school and hearing my villages music was the first time I felt I really belonged.”

Let’s do it – Musical Implementation in Ohio!

This intervention is cost effective, practical, and easy to implement. This practice is something that we could easily adopt in the US and specifically in Columbus. Multiculturalism in our schools is increasing, to the dismay of some, and the awkward feeling of exclusion for many. Columbus has one of the highest rates of Somali individuals in the United States. Columbus only continues to grow more diverse.

In my experience of working with Somali families I’ve noticed the way the parents interact with (or, in reality, don’t interact with) the school systems. I understand where they’re coming from – they are displaced and not acknowledged, but no matter the situation I want to work towards what is best for their child. If the schools these children attended took the chance to spend a few moments creating a playlist of songs that are meaningful to their students cultures, slowly a bond between the system and the families could start to emerge.

The Musical Authors:

Alex & Kayla

Music – all cultures – all the time

One thing that has been present across all cultures, in all variations – is music. It is so defining to us. Ask any person – “what is your favorite band / song / genre of music” and you’ll notice it’s a question that will always engage a thoughtful response.

Music is an art form that can evolve to serve multiple purposes. We use it as a creative tool to express our culture, for example Aboriginals and the didgeridoo, and we use it as a way to define ourselves, like the great Beatles or Rolling Stones debate. For those wondering: Kayla = The Beatles; Alex = The Rolling Stones.

As mentioned, one way that agencies have reached out to try and work with immigrants and refugees is by playing their music. We saw this with Beyondblue playing different cultures’ music at schools to give them a sense of “home” where they might not have expected it. We also learned about practices VICSEG uses to embrace the refugees and asylum seekers using art, and music from their home countries during meditation to help alleviate stress and trauma. Even an amazing app created by Young and Well called Music eScape, which engages kids by using their iTunes library to create specific mood- altering playlists. All these mental health agencies understand: music is powerful. One-way music represents us is it makes us feel at home. Sometimes literally! Personally, I have never been to a sporting event where the national anthem wasn’t played. Another way music is powerful is it so deeply ties into our memories.

While here in Australia, we have developed a bit of an Australian playlist that will most likely be in our memories forever.

• G’Day G’Day – Slim Dusty
  • https://youtu.be/PT331BRkkP0?list=RDPT331BRkkP0
  • This song was introduced to us while on the Great Ocean Road trip. It’s catchy isn’t it? Well – all trip, it has been normal practice for one of us to randomly start the song, followed by the cohort chorus. Why are we so obsessed with this song? This song feels like Australia. While we have only been here a few weeks, this song captures the feeling of our “home” during our stay here. Also, the line “isn’t great- to be an Aussie…” is just so true! It really is great to be an Aussie.
• Archie Roach – Took the Children Away
  • https://youtu.be/aywDT6yHMmo
  • Here, much of our studies have focused on learning more about the Aboriginals. As many of us are focused on child welfare, the part that most resonated with us is the Stolen Generation. The Stolen Generation references a time where many Aboriginal children were removed from their homes, stolen from their families, and relocated. Archie Roach himself was a child who was removed from his home and placed in foster care. He wrote the song after his sister wrote a letter detailing his history. The song is so powerful, after a month of learning about Aboriginal culture the song still awes us with the haunting harmony.
• Men at Work – Land Down Under
  • https://youtu.be/XfR9iY5y94s
  • This song was the first time many of us heard of vegemite sandwiches. This is another song that we sang frequently during the Great Ocean Road trip. I’m not sure if any one of us ever learned any lyrics other than “land of down underrrr!” But we can really belt out those few lines!
• Come Let Go -Xavier Rudd
  • https://youtu.be/AHEkA5JzIbc
  • This song is most meaningful to me (Alex!). I have for years been a Xavier Rudd fan. I have loved the peaceful, and all inclusive message of Xavier Rudd’s songs for a long time. What is funny, is one day on the trip I started to feel homesick so I put on some relaxing music for something to feel familiar. Ironically – my playlist had songs by my favorite artists Xavier Rudd and John Butler Trio… Who are both Australian! The moment made me laugh, but still had the comforting feeling I was seeking. Being in Australia, I felt so tied to the song from the style, and the understanding of the musical influence of the didgeridoo from the Aboriginals. This song just really explains the trip motto of “just come let go.”
• Redemption Song – Bob Marley 
  • https://youtu.be/QrY9eHkXTa4
  • (Kayla’s song) One would think that since my dad used to tour with Bob Marley that I would have a special connection with his music. This is surprisingly the opposite, as I grew up as the type who rebelled against what he liked. One could imagine the shock and surprise, then, upon coming to Australia and hearing his famous “Redemption Song” over and over. It started in Cairns, where I met a French backpacker who played it for me on her guitar. Within my stay there, I had heard it at least four more times, either in the bars and restaurants I went to, or by street performers outside of them. In Sydney, I found it to be the same. By the time I got to Melbourne, it was almost a pleasant reminder song, telling me that I was still here in beautiful Australia. It was the first song I heard by a street performer when I exited the train at Southern Cross Station early in the morning on the way to meet the group for the first time. When we got to Wanderlust the next week, it was the first song covered by the band playing there. It was played another time while we were there, too. Today, on our last day here, I heard it played again from the tram car by another street performer. While it isn’t an Australian song, and one that I would not have chosen to listen to on my own, but it is now one that I will hold for myself as a memory token of my time in Australia.
• I Am Australian
  • https://youtu.be/jD3SkTyXzcE
  • This song explains itself. Are we Australian? No… But for the last month we have been in our own perception! So this song just came naturally. Also who can resist belting out “I ammmm, you areeeee, WE AREEE AUSTRALIAN!”

Music as The Great Equalizer

Before this trip almost none of us knew each other. The personalities so attracted to this trip were the ones who were kind of like, “sure, I’ll go to the other end of the world not knowing anyone because I like the adventure!”

We have now been together here for weeks. Often times spending literal days together in vans, traveling, camping, and eating. The time difference from home (being ahead a total of 14 hours) limits our communication to our people in the states, because half of our day they are sleeping – and visa versa. So here we are, a group of random folks thrown together by the lust of adventure and preference in academics. So we came together, not unlike the early group of Australians – metaphorically of course (minus the being convicts part).

Last night we realized we really created a little makeshift OSU goes to Land of OZ family. The best way to celebrate? MUSIC. As a group, we rallied together and spent our last night singing karaoke. Although karaoke might seem trivial, the truth is it was an opportunity to express ourselves as individuals, and as a whole group. We all choose songs together, or supported one another on stage.

During karaoke, there was a similar egregious group of Australians singing as well. Our two groups slowly merged into one big group – and the last song (Journey – Don’t Stop Believing) both of our groups belted out the words together. The last night summed up the feelings of the trip. We bonded both as an OSU makeshift family during our stay, and were warmly greeted and embraced by the Australians.

And so we say: G’Day G’Day!

G’DAY & Peace Out!

We chose to discuss beyondblue’s Perinatal program because it promotes positive well being and therefore impacts a wide sector of their target population, which as a public preventative health service is all Australians.

This program targets both mothers and fathers and therefore supports a large audience in this way. Furthermore, perinatal depression has been shown to have a larger effect on child development than abuse or witnessing domestic violence, meaning that programs designed to address this issue also have a strong impact on all the children indirectly affected and supported. Beyond this program, we liked in general how wide ranging beyondblue’s targets were, such as advocating for us lefties

In addition to a large target audience, this program also has a wide reach because of the many different kinds of information distribution and reseach methodologies it utilizes. From print and electronic fact sheets, to apps and online videos, the perinatal program allows the population to access the information in whatever method works best for them. They also ensure that parents get the information by putting copies in the bounty bags given to new moms at the hospital. This is important in promoting positive well being in that it connects with moms from day 1, many of whom as new moms might not know how to access this information otherwise. One particular method, the Mind the Bump app, struck as as especially helpful because it supported moms with newborns all the way through to 2 years old.

Beyondblue’s perinatal program also has an important impact on positive well being in its holistic approach; not only does it target parents, but also a large range of caregiving professionals through their online certification process. Also, in their “Just Speak Up” campaign beyondblue discussed how friends and family can best support new parents if they are experiencing perinatal depressive symptoms, therefore addressing the parent’s natural support network in a very holistic way.

Outside of agency visits, one experience that really touched us this week was our visit to the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne’s memorial to those who have served and died in Australia’s military engagements.

The first thing that struck us was how little we in the United States talk about Australia in general (as mentioned in Bill Bryson’s book) but especially the country’s role in the World Wars and other military conflicts.  Conflicts such as Vietnam and the Middle East were particularly striking since it could have been argued that it did not have anything to do with them. Another element of inclusivity that stuck out to us was that in the Book of Remembrance within the memorial, those who served are listed without mention of rank or title.

Alternatively, while we do not talk about Australia’s role in various military engagements, we discovered that they provide plenty of information about America’s role. This reminded us of how ethnocentric the U.S. can be compared to other nations, and how it is part of our role as social workers to combat this, such as by doing study abroad programs.

Although we had many positive reflections of Australia in terms of their awareness of other countries and willingnness to support them abroad, we’ve learned from our time here that Australia can be similar to the U.S. in how they respond to people within the country such as refugees and asylum seekers and even immigrants in general. During our visit to Vicseg we discussed the No Advantage policy and the negative attitudes many politicians and Anglo-Australians have towards asylum seekers and other minority groups. Furthermore, during our visit to the Immigration Museum we learned more about Australia’s historic “White Australia” policy and struggles today to address its lingering effects.

Although no country is perfect in its attitudes and policies, Australia has made some exciting progress that we hope continues and also influences the U.S. along the way.

Becky and Kassandra

Our third and final week was a bittersweet time for me (Mary). As much as I have enjoyed my time in Australia, I am excited for all that waits for me back home. This week flew by, however, and it is crazy that my month abroad is already coming to a close. This week we had a whopping four agency visits. We visited Lighthouse, Reachout.com, VICSEG, and Beyond Blue; all of which were impressive in their strides and missions. Each agency had an array of initiatives targeted at helping youth.

First, I’ll talk a little bit about my opinions on the agencies that we visited. Lighthouse is an organization that creates a safe living community for youth struggling with various issues. Their holistic view of treatment and community was solid and I thought they had the best treatment plan that we have seen while in Australia.

Reachout.com provides information and resources to youth facing everyday problems as well as mental health concerns. They provide a safe and open online community where youth can go to get information about things such as “how to have sex for the first time” or talk to others facing similar issues. I liked that they are reaching youth in the best way, as much of our young people around the world access the internet.

VICSEG was our third visit and they focused on refugees and asylum seekers in Australia. This organization provides education classes to young people/adults that will prepare them for work and living in the Australian culture. We were lucky enough to sit in on a few of these classes and it was great. You can tell that the teachers are passionate and caring about their students. One of the most important things you can give someone to succeed is education, and that’s what VICSEG is doing. The entire visit really changed my views and (limited) knowledge on the refugee situation in the world.

 Beyond Blue had a particularly awesome initiative: The Brain. Beyond Blue’s character, The Brain, is a zany character that is used to help normalize the everyday problems that youth face concerning mental health. Their tagline is “the brain can have a mind of it’s own,” which is at the end of all their funny commercials. The Brain has it’s own social media handles and has reached around 80% of Australian youth. I think the initiative is genius! My favorite commercial was this one. The brain initiative was a great way to reach youth in a way that they are familiar with and enjoy: social media. The Brain is also full of humor and is an unbiased character. You cannot go wrong with using a brain as a character because everybody has one. It seemed to be a very successful campaign and youth are still able to use the resource. Included in the campaign is a 10 question quizzes that loosely evaluates your mental wellbeing. Using this quiz, Beyond Blue can guide youth in the right direction to find appropriate resources.

Other than agency visits this week, I (Mary) have been chillin’. I took part in a good amount of retail therapy after finding some outlets by our apartments and visiting the Queen Victoria Market twice this week. It is safe to say that I am leaving Australia with a full mind, heart, and luggage. This was the first week that I felt adjusted and familiar with the city.  But, as usual, once I get comfortable somewhere it is time to go! So back to America I come

I would also agree with Mary that yes its week three and as soon as I am adjusted to navigate the city and know where things are; it is now time to get ready to head back to The United States of America. Yikes, I have never seen a month go by this fast! This last week has been awesome. Visiting the last few agencies and seeing yet again the awesomeness of what Australia is doing for our youth has been such a breath of fresh air and a push within my passion to continue in this line of work. (Taja).

Lighthouse was such a great organization that was aiming to helping late adolescents and emerging adults ages 17-25 years old. They have created houses all around Victoria for these youth to live to build a sense of order and self in their lives. The most amazing part of this organization to be is that they are self-funded and was started 25 years in the founder’s home… Wow to me that shows dedication, commitment, and determination to help the lives of what I would call our future which is young people. I love how one of the theories behind the Lighthouse model was “Psychological Wellness Theory,” which proves that wellness can only be achieved through the combined presence of personal, relational, and collective wellbeing. One way that Lighthouse accomplishes this is by creating a sense of community around each home within Victoria.

Reachout.com was so interesting to me as well because I love when organizations do well at embracing the new technology era that we are in. Reachout.com was the 1^st online mental health service started back in 1998. Their targeted goal is youth ages 14-25 years old in which they involve them in every aspect of their projects and research topics. This accomplishes the goal which is to speck with youth and not at them. One totally awesome fact about this organization which I believe needs to be shared with is the CEO of this company was the FIRST youth ambassador within reachout.com! Wow! That speaks volumes and I am pretty sure a sign to youth that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

VICSEG was also a great organization and really helped me understand a lot more about the lives of refuges and the struggles they may face especially when they come to a new part of the world. This organization does an awesome job of being sure everyone’s culture is embraced and everyone also has a chance to expand their learning to create a better life for themselves and family. The moment that connection met my heart was when I was touring their education and learning facility and I am across the homework room with Rosa Parks on the door with a quote. That was totally beautiful to see how my history is being taught in another country across the world. #SimplyAmazing

Last but not least, Beyond Blue was totally remarkable! Beyond Blue is an online resource that helps and supports young people with depression and anxiety. Two goal that Beyond Blue has to offer in which I think is very key are prevention & early intervention as well as reducing stigma & discrimination. Because I am so dedicated to the education system especially secondary level, the program that really inspired me was the Mind Matters program. Mind Matters was a resource that helped the school system leaders (teachers, principals, etc.) understand and help to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the student body. If the wellbeing of the students is properly addressed, then all other aspects that come along with secondary students can be worked out. One thing that the guest speaker of this organization stated that I found to be very profound is “Beyond Blue aims to help others understand that if you want to receive change within a system, we must look at the whole moving part.” As of now their action plans and resources are completely free to access which is so great for other places around the world to use to allow this movement to keep going.

Overall, this week has been awesome as well as mixed with so many feelings because I am excited to go back and share with others about the wonderful things Australia is doing within helping youth. I must admit that I am a bit curious if my conversations will push others in higher positions to have a deeper look and build off some strategies they are using. I know that my level of excitement and appreciation for all the organizations I have visited has definitely been very high and I am happy to get such a POSTIVE recharge to my passion. I have been able to add some things to my toolbox and for that I am grateful. So, USA here I come ready to create new energies and inspire others to do so as well. Ready, Set, Go!!

Mary & Taja (World Changers and Leaders) 

Taja’s Perspective

Week two has been totally amazing… To sum it up, I would call week two a week of awareness and rebuilding and refocus for yourself. This week was 6 days to feeling complete both professionally and personally.  This week has definitely pushed me pass my limits and gave me even more passion to follow my career of being more of a heart lead worker within the helping skills field. (Taja)

Day one at Berry Street was extremely exciting. The best part was because you were able to be hands on which was a great experience. Berry Street offered a play group for parents and their children to come to interact with others as well as provide a space for the parents and kids to have some social bonding through play. Being a mother of two little kids; I was quite impressed to see such an awesome service available especially being free. Play groups are important and such an empowering movement for children. (Taja)

Day two at Young and Well showed me so many different and unique strategies to get youth involved with research and being apart of such a positive movement. I was totally amazed. One thing that stood out to me the most was how much they involve young people in the research and process of developing apps for young people. One tool that I really thought was awesome was the movement of uplifting Aboriginal fathers through their website. That was a great thing to create for the mainstream to view because there are always fewer positive things viewed about fathers in today’s society; especially fathers that are men of color. (Taja) Another aspect to this day that really fit closely to my desired future career path was the visit to Reach. Reach was a safe space for youth to come and have a voice and be heard without judgment. Reach was an organization that our inner cities are in desperate need of. To know that these awesome group of people are dedicated to creating a place where youth from all walks of life to feel accepted and valued was definitely a moment that made my heart smile. That was the moment when my inner self decided to create a “Reach” for my at-risk inner city youth that I work with. Their energy definitely recharged mine to the fullest. (Taja).

Day three at Mind was a life changing moment for me. I really never fully understood what Mental Health all entailed and didn’t think I would ever. I have a childhood history of seeing my mother be a single parent struggling to make ends meet. With those struggles came some suicidal attempts. Sitting in the art room at Mind and just looking at the art and reading the quotes of the clients took me to another place. Once I read one piece that stated “When I say I’m good. I really want someone to look me deep in the eyes and say Tell me the TRUTH…” At that moment I was reminded to a time when my mother was checked into a mental health treatment facility due to a suicidal attempt. We were moving to Columbus, Ohio and I had to leave first because the school year was starting. I thought my mother was coming a few weeks later however the stress, worries, and concerns got the best of her. My god mother found her on the Ocean City, MD bridge about to take the jump to end her life. My mother knew it was that moment that she wanted her kids to see a better her and she reached out for help. I still to this day am not sure what kind of facility she was at however I remembered not too long ago coming across the art that did and used for a coping mechanism. So, to organizations such a Mind; I thank you SO MUCH because its strategies such as the art that is used that saved my mother’s life. Now I am able to see my mother in a much better state of mind, very successful, and enjoying her grand children. Mind allowed me to see things in my mother’s perceptive which makes my level of appreciation for organizations like Mind Even Higher!!! Dr. Cash really gave me tons of support during that process and I was so grateful for her words of encouragement to “Look at my hands and remind myself to stay in the present moment.” That was so profound. (Taja).

Day four through six was a moment for me! This was the first time that I have ever been given the opportunity to surround myself in Nature and becoming one with it and I can say that my whole self definitely was healed and created! I am not one that would normally walk a lot or even think about hiking a mountain, coming close to a wild Kangaroo, go through a rainforest, or embrace being out in nature.

However, with the motivation and push from my cohorts; I was able to break limits that I never thought I would break and that was the best feeling in the world. To experience what I felt inside after every step I took was absolutely liberating. I am so grateful for my new friends. They truly bring out the best me! Also, to Katie, our tour guide ~ she introduced a tool that will always be a necessity for my well being, which was mediation. It was so healing and created new visions, new aspirations, and a new me! So from now on because of the help from my cohorts I can now share with the world the beauty in nature and the movement to just inhale, exhale, and breathe…. One step at a time. (Taja).

Mary’s perspective:

This week we had a full schedule of agency visits and I feel that I was able to personally connect with one agency in particular: Young and Well. Young and Well is a research hub dedicated to making mental health services more accessible to youth through apps, partnerships, and outreach. This was the first agency that really related to my interest in mental health and psychology. My favorite thing about Young and Well was the way they made mental health resources available 24/7 to youth.

            When someone is struggling with mental health issues, they may only be able to get in-person help once a week, if that. However, Young and Well provides a plethora of services available at any given time through their partnership with headspace. This works through a series of self-report questions that pinpoint what services would work best for the issues faced by the client. Sometimes there is some bias or agenda in what services are recommended, but that did not seem to be the case with this tool.

Overall, Young and Well seemed like they were really at the forefront of mental health technology and research in Australia. They work hard to connect with youth, as seen in their annual youth summit. Every year, they bring together 20 diverse youth to find out what they need and what they find helpful. I would love to work with the tools that Young and Well implements in my future as a (hopeful) clinical psychologist.

Other agency visits this week included Berry Street, Reach, and Mind. I enjoyed all of them, as they all had a unique perspective on the current state of mental health and welfare services in Australia.

The other half of the week was spent doing my favorite thing: exploring the outdoors! We got the awesome opportunity to tour with our tour guide Katie for three days on the Great Ocean Road. So many great things happened over those three days so I’ll try to keep it concise and only talk about my favorite thing from each day.

Day 1: the rainforest. Personally, I have never been to a rainforest and was not sure what to expect but I was excited. When we finally stepped out of the bus, it was a completely new world. I do not think I have ever breathed such fresh air or smelled such vibrant plants. We climbed up what seemed to be a billion stairs to see a waterfall and also the biggest tree there, which, to our surprise, had fallen down about 7 years ago. I loved the feeling of being out of breath (which is weird, I know) in nature. While you sit there just breathing in and out, you notice the difference in the air: cleaner, crisper, and better. It is also a humbling experience to realize how much you rely on what nature gives us.

Day 2: The helicopter tour. Like what?!…..I can’t believe I got to do this. Not only did I get to sit next to the pilot, but I also got to take the tour over the beautiful 12 Apostles. What huge and beautiful formations they are. I was left speechless from the way everything looked. Then I got to see the same thing from the ground. It is amazing what perspective can do. The Apostles are completely different when viewed from above and the ground.

Day 3: McKenzie Falls, the Grampians. I am a sucker for a good waterfall and man was this a good one. You climb down a ton of stairs to come upon a huge and seemingly perfect waterfall. Being the person that I am, I had to keep following the trail to see what was beyond. I found more, smaller waterfalls. When I came back up, my whole group was meditating so I took some time to sit on a rock and meditate alone. I love being alone in the wild. You can look around and just peacefully sit around, quietly pondering everything and anything. I watched the water for a good 20 minutes. Water to me is so incredible, how it just keeps flowing – and if it stopped flowing, so would everything else. I thought about how nature works together so perfectly and without interference from us. Sitting on this rock, I had never felt so small.

Overall, this goes down as one of the best weekends of my l
ife so far. I am so #blessed to experience the natural world as much as I have. Being able to notice the simple things, the feel, smell, and sensations of nature is always a spiritual experience for me (I am one of those people).  I was honestly not looking forward to coming back to the city but I can assure everyone that I will make the most of it!

-Mary

(Jaine)
This past week we went to three more agencies. One of the organizations that we had the pleasure of visiting was the “Young &Well Cooperative Research Center.” This Youth Center is currently taking incredible strides towards bringing together resources for youth and tackling challenges for mental health, well being, and Australia’s leading cause of death, suicide. The center mostly provides programs for more targeted, marginalized groups through clinical services. Nevertheless, their programs are available to all youth and they offer universal support through a series of apps. The apps are geared to keep young people engaged in the importance of a positive well-being and to encourage youth to begin conversations with family members regarding their mental health. It is amazing how efficiently Young & Well CRC campaigns their services to the public! Young people all around Australia know how to connect with either their website, hotline, or apps, if they were to ever be vulnerable to the stigmas of mental health. I strongly believe that the US lacks in the “campaigning” aspect of Mental Health. It appears to me that Australians have an increased overall awareness of the topic, and services available are a lot more known to the public. I suppose that if I were to look at it from a population perspective, the total amount of people occupying Australia is equivalent to that of just California. Although it may be more difficult to increase mindfulness throughout our country, I still believe that a lot more can be done to make sure that our young people are informed about possible outlets that can aid in their Mental Health and Well-being.

I love the ways that this organization utilizes technology to campaign their services. I find it pretty cool that this program has the capability of gaging how much their technology is improving youth’s well-being over time. While talking to the directors of the agency, I could tell that their usage of apps has really turned out to be successful! They have come up with various apps regarding positive reinforcement after relationship breakups, drinking responsibly, nice messages to send to friends and family, and my favorite, an app to navigate a person’s playlist to enhance their mood. “Music eScape” can be found on iTunes and it basically categorizes an individual’s music library into songs that are happy, sad, angry, and various other moods. Then, if a person is feeling down they can simply open the app and play a song in the “happy” category to uplift their spirits…Genius! I personally love the idea of this app because I am constantly listening to music throughout the day and I have realized the effects that genres of songs can have on my mood. Once I download this app, I will for sure keep my playlist on “Super Happy Nae” so that I can blissfully dance all of my worries away!

(Erin)
Looking back on this past weekend, I cannot believe how many activities we fit into a short three day trip to the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians. I have to give a big thank you to our tour guide Katie for planning a perfect weekend full of natural beauty and meditation. After this weekend, I am a changed person, much more in touch with my emotions and appreciative for the world around me.

On day 1 riding along the Great Ocean Road, we made frequent stops at the finest Victorian attractions. The weather was quite cold and rainy, but thankfully it was very hard to focus on the rain when we were experiencing such incredible sights. One truly beautiful moment was walking through the rainforest with the rain trickling (or pouring) down on us as we got about half way through the walk. While most times in life I have detested the rain, in this moment, I felt at peace with nature. The rain had a way of glistening so brightly on the indigenous ferns. It made me stop to think about how lucky I was to be experiencing something so unique to where I was in the world. I had many of these moments along the Great Ocean Road where I was able to embrace the opportunity that I have been given to travel to Australia with such an amazing group of people. Another special moment from this day was a walk through an alley where wild Australian birds flew down and gracefully landed on all of our hands and heads. We could have spent hours walking up and down that alley. At one point I had four birds on me at once…thankfully none of the birds had any accidents, if you know what I mean!

Early in the morning on day 2, I was happy to have gotten out of bed early for sunrise meditation with our tour guide Katie. We walked to a spot near the 12 Apostles where the sunrise could be seen in the distance, coupled with a few wild kangaroos hopping along as they woke up and stretched their legs. Meditation is a very new thing for me, but I was able to feel its power right away. It set me up for a day full of mindfulness and “creating my own energy,” as Katie says. We stopped at many different places on the Great Ocean Road, and even had a barbeque and my very first “shrimp on the barbie”. At night we stayed in cabins at a Grampians caravan park, which was a very different experience for a lot of us. My favorite part was when we circled around the campfire at night and shared what we had most enjoyed about our Australian adventure thus far. I have always had a love for campfires, but this experience added a special twist to a typical night at the campfire. We shared things that made us feel closer as a group and appreciate all of the amazing things we have seen and done in the last few weeks.

Unfortunately, the Great Ocean Road trip came to an end on the third day, but not until we had made a few more unbelievable stops. We walked down what seemed like a million steps to a breathtaking waterfall and again had a mediation session led by Katie. What was even more amazing was the hard work that each person put into walking up and down the steps. Everyone comes from different backgrounds of physical fitness, so to see everyone able to accomplish this was incredible. It highlighted Katie’s guidance to use other people’s energy to create your own energy, allowing you to push yourself to limits you never thought were possible.

Overall, this second week was nothing less than spectacular. Although our trip to the Great Ocean Road has come to an end, these are moments I will hold onto for a lifetime. I look forward to what next week brings. I am excited to finish out the last few agency visits and see what new insight they have to offer!
Erin and Jaine

The app @ppreciate a Mate, was created with practice foundations of psychologist Alikki Russell and experiences of Emma Kuhlman during her time as a youth worker. Most importantly, this app was reviewed by the population it intends to target. Two of the young people affiliated with ReachOut.com, Chelsea and Doris, provided feedback on the pros and cons of the app.

The app focuses on a fun platform to promote positive communication between young people. The interface lets you personalize and design a compliment, then deliver it by any means of social media. By engaging the user in the decision making process, the app feels more genuine.

Of course, for “research” we decided to play on the app! A lightbulb went off, and we decided to create a compliment for each other, and then show each other what we came up with at the same time. Not surprisingly, we became very focused on picking the right message, and the right style and color. Somewhat surprisingly, each of our compliments had the same message of “embrace being you.” The compliments range from “I like your face” type messages to “Stay strong” and positive reinforcements.

Alex’s compliment to Kayla:

Alex – I choose this for Kayla, because I always tell Kayla my favorite thing about her is her weirdness. I love weirdness; it’s the best. Kayla is weird and she is also the best! I saw this and thought to myself, THIS IS THE ONE FOR KAYLA.

Kayla’s compliment to Alex:

Kayla: As soon as I saw this one, I thought “yup- this is Alex, because really she is a fantastic human being!” Really though, I tell her all the time that she is a fantastic human because she has such a wide range of knowledge and experience and I really appreciate how she manifests that into being the fantastic person that she is.

What we loved about the app (aside from the fun colors!) was that when we were sharing why we picked the compliment for each other, there was a real genuine moment when we realized how much we appreciate each other. We didn’t know each other before this trip, and the compliment kind of opened the door for us to have an honest conversation where we both just said “THANK YOU” – it’s nice traveling around in the land of OZ with a buddy who embraces your weirdness.

What is most important in sharing these messages is sustaining the positivity that it creates. Young and Well focuses on this by creating more apps and continuing multiple research projects on the mental health of youth. Australia is pretty keen on sustainability, which is something that we both very much appreciate. Aside from sustaining the mental health of their citizens young and old, they focus on the environmental sustainability of their glorious country.

Options in Sustainability

One thing that has been on our minds has been this quote from the Aboriginals Gunditjmara people:

The part that resonates with us is the “you never take more than you need.” This concept is one that is uncommon in the states. We are very used to “take as much as you can!”

Considering we both air on the “tree hugging hippie” side of environmental factors, sustainability is something that has really stuck out to us.

We have continued to notice more and more ways Australia is focusing on sustaining the environment. For example, there are always recycling bins next to garbage cans and there are clear directions on what should and should not go in each. The pictures designating appropriate materials are understandable in all languages and cultures, which enables more recycling to take place. Every toilet has two flushing options, one of which saves water when a full flush is not necessary. Water is quickly becoming our most valued resource and little things like this could have a long-term impact of cutting down on clean water pollution. The art culture is rich here, and it is common to see temporary art exhibits use cardboard informational displays so that they may be recycled afterwards, whereas in the U.S. we are more accustomed to seeing non-recyclable materials used. Almost all souvenir shops have a reusable bag as an add- on purchase for only a dollar or two. Grocery stores encourage the use of these reusable bags, and remind you at multiple points that you should be using them. The ease and access of these bags on top of the cool designs make reusable bags almost “trendy” here.

You don’t have to look far around here to see a sign or campaign promoting some sort of environmental sustainability. Some ads we’ve noted include advertisements in wildlife centers, rainforests, and outdoor eating spaces, the “keep wildlife wild” campaign, and directions on proper interactions with Australia’s very own wild life. Even within the natural eco system, the Australian people are aware of sustainability. In the wildlife areas, there are numerous signs explaining why not to do something. The wildlife areas have emus and it is normal to want to feed the baby emu to get it to come closer; however, a sign explains that feeding baby emus turns them into aggressive adults who harass humans. Just knowing “you can’t” is often not enough. Removing the barriers and helping people understand why it is important for environmental sustainability.

While visiting the Great Ocean Road, we learned about the environmentally friendly practice of moving koalas. This is to ensure the continued health of the gum trees they were living off of, as over populated koalas will eat too much, effectively killing their food source. We also learned about the practice of controlled fires in the bush to renew the soil and allow plants to breathe.

Adding to the fact Melbourne lends itself to making recycling and environmentally friendly practices second nature, Melbourne makes contribution to sustainability easier. There are multiple ways to contribute to sustainability on a near-daily basis. Every place that we have visited has a variation of a donation box. There are donation boxes at museums/aquariums, wildlife centers and zoos; campaigns to raise awareness, and options to round up your price while checking out to donate. These practices are apparent in the U.S.; the difference is the quantity and the explanation. Everything here has an explanation of why or what you are donating to and helping.

One thing that was hard to get use to, but is brilliant, is an outlet switch. The outlet switches turn the electricity to each individual outlet off, which saves even more electricity and is more environmentally friendly. Appliances give you options to be more efficient in energy usage (dishwashers have multiple levels depending on what you’re washing, clothes washers have a specific option to add more water if you insist upon it). This is very much the same concept with the toilet flushing: only use as much as you need.

Transportation! Obviously, this one is huge. Public transportation is widely used; trams, trains, and buses are just a way of life in Melbourne. Tram use is encouraged by the government through the installation of a free transportation zone, which is easily accessed as it sits directly in the center of the Central Business District. We feel the U.S. would change higher prices on public transport in the most opportune location, as it is more highly trafficked. The tram and train cards that are used outside the free zone (Myki cards) are stronger and can be reused and topped up, rather than ones like NYC Metro Cards that fall apart and are thrown away without thought. To add on to the transportation curbing the carbon footprint, there are far less semi trucks in use; utes are more environmentally friendly than US pickup trucks, as they are made from 2-wheel drive vehicles rather than gas-guzzling 4-wheel drive pickups.

As social workers, all this stuff is notable and important to us. The biggest thing in working in practice is learning how to work around or remove barriers. It is not just that Australia provides more options to practice environmentally friendly practices – it’s that Australia works to remove barriers to increase the probability of environmental protection. For example, with CLEAR directions on recycling and a recycling bin next to the trashcan, recycling becomes second nature. During our trip to the Great Ocean Road, we really tapped into mindfulness and setting intentions. Sustainable practices come from being mindful of what you are doing. We learned how setting positive intentions sets you up to succeed, and we can see the similarity in how Australia’s environmental intentions set the country up for sustainability. We decided to set a positive intention for this week. Well two, really:

1. Allow compliments and conversations to open genuine and shared moments.
2. Follow the word of the Gunditjmara people, and “never take more than you need”, because sustainability requires mindfulness.