FREE Counselling for school aged children and young people

Thanks to funding provided by the Australian Government under the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (SEMPHN), Family Life is pleased to announce a new FREE counselling service for school aged children and young people.

This funded service is aimed at school aged children, without a mental health diagnosis, who will benefit from a brief period of therapeutic support to assist them to overcome stress or anxiety resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A child or young person attending school (excluding pre-school) or living within the following local government areas, can access the service: Bayside, Glen Eira, Stonnington, Port Phillip, Dandenong, Casey, Cardinia, Kingston, Frankston and Mornington Peninsula. Priority access will be given to children aged 12 and under.

A GP referral is not required.

Anyone can make a referral to the service by contacting the SEMPHN Access and Referral Team on 1800 862 363 (8.30am-4.30pm weekdays) and asking about their “Family Life Covid-19 Program”.

Alternatively you can submit a referral to SEMPHN using their online referral form. In the Presenting Issues section of the form include “Family Life Covid-19 Program” along with any presenting issues.

For more information about the SEMPHN Access and Referral team use this link www.semphn.org.au/resources/access

Counselling Services

At Heartlinks of Family Life we offer professional, confidential and quality counselling for individuals, young people, couples and families.

All of our practitioners are qualified and experienced, and have expertise in a range of areas allowing us to provide support to the whole family. Counselling support will be tailored to your individual concerns. We offer welcoming, private counselling rooms and child-friendly play-based therapy rooms at our Sandringham and Frankston locations, and also offer online, telehealth services.

Our aim is to support you and your family through the challenging times in your relationships and life, to assist you to improve and strengthen communication and relationship skills, and to help you with strategies to resolve problems and manage your situation in a positive way. Our focus is on promoting healthy and respectful relationships, to enable you and those closest to you, to thrive.

Please note during COVID-19 restrictions all services are delivered via telehealth, secure online video or telephone.

Free workshop - Parenting Anxious and Sensitive Children

Thanks to funding from the City of Kingston we are pleased to offer our Parenting Anxious and Sensitive Children workshop free of charge to any parent/guardian living, working or with children attending a school in the City of Kingston.

Do you have a child who worries about the simplest of things? Do they get upset easily? Do they seem to have empathy beyond their young years? Are they concerned about the return to school or worried about being exposed to COVID-19? Maybe someone has even labelled them as "highly emotional" or "shy". Chances are you have a sensitive child. And you are not alone. Parenting an anxious or sensitive child is an immense responsibility.

Our Parenting Anxious and Sensitive Children workshop aims to increase your capacity to support your child affected by anxiety, worry or stress. Over three weekly sessions, you will be guided through this solutions-based program and supported to address individual concerns effectively.

When: Wednesday October 28, November 4 and 11

Time: 10am to 12pm

How: Via Zoom

Parenting workshop - November 2020

Positive Parenting - Teen

Parenting has always come with its own unique challenges and never more so than the present.

Learn how to support your teen to develop positive coping skills, build their resilience and navigate challenges constructively. Transform misunderstanding, exasperation and doubt into certainty, optimism and strength.

Workshops dates: Wednesday November 4, 11 and 18, 2020

Time: 5:30pm to 7:30pm (online via ZOOM)

Other workshops and training available

We have a wide range of workshops and training available, reflecting the current needs of the community including:

Looking After You - no matter who You are

Positive Parenting - for all ages

Engaging Fathers

Identifying & Responding to Domestic Abuse

Managing Mental Health - at your workplace or community group

Our prices are reasonable as our focus is on education and strengthening communities. We will accept group booking for five or more participants.

Building stronger families and supporting children to thrive

Heartlinks is a fee for service, social enterprise of Family Life, with a vision to create communities that are capable, resilient and safe through the provision of quality, family-focused therapeutic services, educational group workshops and trauma-informed professional development training.

As a social enterprise of Family Life, Heartlinks is focused on creating shared value, and invests any surplus back into programs and services to transform the lives of children, young people and families in our community.

Heartlinks of Family Life is passionate about sharing our knowledge and expertise, supporting our vision of creating capable communities by building stronger families and supporting children to thrive.

Want to know more about Heartlinks and our services?

Visit our website via the link below, call us on (03) 8599 5488 or send us an email at heartlinks@familylife.com.au

More Info and Online Registrations available on:

Prep-YR2 STEM Lego(R): https://www.trybooking.com/BLOBP
YR3-YR6 STEM LEGO(R): https://www.trybooking.com/BLOBR
YR1-YR6 BASIC Scratch Games: https://www.trybooking.com/BLORG
YR3-YR6 Intermediate Scratch Games: https://www.trybooking.com/BLOJB
YR2-YR6 WeDo 2.0 Coding Program: https://www.trybooking.com/BLORL

CLASSROOM CUISINE