Lived Experience Forum

[utopia]

Has anyone heard of the organisation, MIND Australia?
Workcover wants to send me to MIND, instead of the Melbourne Clinic Outreach Service (it's cheaper).
I've tried looking it up, but the website is down at the moment.
Any experiences with this group - good or bad. Please share.

[Kurra]

The site is up now @utopia. Hugzzz 💙

[Former-Member]

Hi @utopia,

I was recently accepted into the Partners in Recovery (PIR) program and one of the organisations that implement the program in my area is Mind Australia. My Support Facilitator works for Mind and she is wonderful. I’ve only been working with her for a couple of months but I feel incredibly blessed. I guess, as with any organisation, it might vary from person to person but my experience has been great.

One of the possible benefits of Mind (if they are more local than the outreach service) is that they will probably know what other services are available locally and be able to help you connect with those.

Good luck with it all, @utopia.

[utopia]

Thank you @Former-Member.

Im only being given 10 hours under this program. My psychiatrist wanted me to do a different Outreach Service, that is closer to my home, I'm in country Victoria. But WorkCover won't fund it.

So they have said it's 10 hours with Mind Australia or nothing.

[Former-Member]

I’m sorry Workcover are making things difficult again, @utopia.

I’m in a regional area and Mind here are great. I hope you find them helpful, too. 

[Former-Member]

Mind runs excellent family support programs in my area for kids and parents in need and work closely with schools too. My only slight worry is that I've found that some of their workers are not actually trained in mental health or special needs... So kind of depends a hit on the person you are assigned and what type of support program you are looking for but would ask some questions.

[utopia]

Thanks @Former-Member

[Sahara]

It sounds like it is worth a try, @utopia. Thay aren't offering you anything else, so why not give it a go? I don't know much about Mind -but then I haven't really heard anything about them.

Maybe you could ask for a written overview of what they intend to cover in the 10 hours you have been given? 

I agree with what people are saying here- like in any organization, there will be individuals who do a fantastic job and also there will be those who aren't so great.

The best counsellor I ever had was was provided totally free of charge by my university, and she was not even a psychologist! She was a social worker with years and years of experience.

So it is not always the case that a cheaper service is not as good as an expensive service. You have to take pot luck where-ever you go, in my experience. 

Good luck @utopia! 

[Sahara]

Oooooh... I am an "elder" now!  

[NikNik]

Hi @utopia

Mind is one of our wonderful Forums partners. People can access these forums through their site (it's a shame they are down at the moment). Two of our past moderators (Baboo and Karma) were from Mind as well 🙂

Nik