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Psychologists shortfall is felt
THE Gippsland region is experiencing a shortage of psychologists which has been exacerbated by long lists fuelled by COVID lockdowns. Gippsland was experiencing long waiting lists before lockdown due to the 2020 bushfires and other challenges faced by rural residents such as inaccessible housing, lack of employment and lack of mental health services. Local psychologist Dr Debra Smith feels that not enough people are in the profession, “the government always promises better mental health services but we don’t have enough people trained up. “We need more people training and better pathways...we need to attract people to rural areas and keep them in rural areas,” she said. Currently it takes at least six years of education to become a general psychologist, consisting of a bachelor’s degree followed by a fourth year of further studies then either an internship pathway or post graduate studies which can take a further two years. As of June 2021, Victoria had 11,231 general or provisional psychologists registered with 2381 of them approved supervisors according to the Psychology board APHRA. Dr Smith said the community was ready to fight through lockdowns and come out the other side at the beginning of Victoria’s lockdown last year. “In this region we felt we would do well and we could recover from natural disasters and bounce back...but no one expected it to go on this long,” Dr Smith said. Dr Smith was critical of governments for talking a lot about mental health services but failing to provide adequate assistance to the regions. “The government always promises better mental health services but we don’t have enough people trained to fill the gaps,” she said. Dr Smith says the mental health services in the Wellington Shire such as head to help are being stretched thin with some reports of a waiting list of up to nine weeks to see a mental health professional. Throughout lockdown seven we have seen claims that lockdowns are causing a mental health strain, but Dr Smith says it is not that simple. “A lot of things causes mental health issues, availability of housing would cause more problems than lockdown,” she said. While she says lockdowns are not solely responsible for a decline in mental health, Dr Smith believes the ending of lockdowns will lower the need for people to seek out her services, “if we open up again they no longer have such a need to come and see us,” she said. Virtual attendance: Latrobe Valley speech pathologist Michelle Sands links in to the Gippsland Grammar Michael Grose presentation.
photographs supplied
Connection: Former Gippsland Grammar board chair and current parent Vicki McLeod, of Yarram, enjoys the opportunity to connect with the School Community at the Michael Grose session.
Parenting expert shares insights
RENOWNED parenting expert and self-confessed anxiety sufferer Michael Grose ‘visited’ Gippsland Grammar last week to help families and staff understand and navigate anxiety generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The online Zoom session was attended by about 200 members of the School Community from throughout the region including Yarram, Latrobe Valley, Sale, Maffra, Bairnsdale, Orbost and Metung. Each participant brought different experiences and challenges, some with children in the School’s Early Learning Centre and others with teenagers battling through VCE. Michael Grose is one of Australia’s leading parenting and educational writers and speakers. He is the author of nine books for parents, including the best-selling ‘Why First Borns Rule the World’. Essentially, the evening explained the brain, the fundamentals behind anxiety, how to recognise anxiety and tips and ideas to manage it. “Fundamentally what is behind anxiety is a lack of control … and we need to give them (children) ideas to give them control,” Mr Grose said. “We need to get children out of their heads and into their guts.” Mr Grose said everyone had different ways of coping or managing in different situations. He explained that personality types and genetic predisposition impacted the way individuals coped in different or stressful situations. Mr Grose said there was no doubt that encouraging children to live in the present moment would make them feel less anxious. “Teenagers, and even adults, will fuse anxious thought with fact,” he said. Mr Grose said the key was to help students recognise or notice the thought and move forward from there. Gippsland Grammar principal Leisa Harper was delighted to be able to help the school community convert some of the anxiety into resilience. “I know the pandemic continues to bring worry and anxiety to children and young people,” Mrs Harper said. “While children and teenagers were the special focus of this presentation, the messages of hope and resilience were just as pertinent for parents and teachers. “I was so pleased to engage with our families on this important issue - anxiety, the common cold of mental health. “It gave us a practical language to talk about anxiety, permission to be vulnerable, and tools to move forward.”
Gippsland Business Awards celebrated
THE 2021 Federation University Gippsland Business Awards finalists were celebrated with an online event last week that also acknowledged the agility of all regional businesses in ongoing challenging times. Unable to celebrate in person as planned, the 2021 finalists were recognised at the Federation University Gippsland Business Awards’ first virtual launch. Gippsland Business Awards committee chair Graeme Sennett said while current restrictions prevented a face-to-face launch, it did not stop the launch celebration. “Gippsland businesses have been busy contending with and overcoming the many challenges presented by COVID-19 and this was just another bump,” Mr Sennett said. “This year’s finalists represent the region’s most innovative, enthusiastic, professional, and outstanding businesses. In all, there are 51 finalists in 11 categories, with all areas of Gippsland well represented.” Mr Sennett said the organising committee was “thrilled to have the strong support of both Federation University as naming rights sponsor and Telstra, who traditionally sponsor the finalists’ breakfast”. Finalist categories this year include Accommodation, Beauty & Personal Care, Business & Professional Services, Food & Wine Producers, Health & Wellbeing, Hospitality, Manufacturing/ Export, Mechanical Trades & Construction, New Business, Retail, Tourism Activities & Attractions. A new Business Agility Award has also been introduced to recognise those business who have responded to a constantly changing environment. “What they do in the good times is great, but what they have achieved over this challenging period is truly exceptional,” Mr Sennett added. Each of the category winners will be announced at a special awards event on Friday, October 8, 2021 where the major winner, the Gippsland Business of the Year, will also be announced. For further details of finalists, including video footage of each finalist categories, refer to the Federation University Gippsland Business Awards website at www.gba.org.au
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