Choosing Between Two Imperatives
On Saturday June 6th Australians were invited to join marches in solidarity with the American “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations and to protest black deaths in custody and violence against Aboriginal people in this country.
At the same time, we continued to be reminded of the risks of COVID-19 and the need to socially distance in order to protect our community and especially those who are most vulnerable with the Chief Medical Officer advising against the gathering. Some states like South Australia chose to allow the demonstration without debate while in NSW a court ruling was overturned allowing it to be an authorised public assembly only minutes before it began. Similar gatherings are planned in Perth where the WA Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt expressed concern for the health of Aboriginal attendees saying “Western Australia, in particular, has done more than any other state in Australia to protect our Aboriginal communities. This Coronavirus is still there, we haven’t defeated it yet.”
Choosing between two important courses of action often confronts families and can be the central issue with matters that present to therapy. How do you weigh up the costs and benefits of the requirements of one family member over another? How do you decide whether to spend time helping elderly relatives or your child? At an outer edge where, for example, a parent chooses to stay with a partner who threatens self-harm and has abused a child, those observing are clear that this is ‘wrong’ and that children’s safety should always be paramount. However, the decisions are not always so clear, and practitioners find themselves as confounded as the family. Collapsing the either/or nature of the choice is sometimes the only best advice. As Norman Swan ABC journalist said if you choose to attend the rally, social distance, wear a mask and have the app on your phone for contact tracing.
NDIS Services
Bower Place is an experienced NDIS service provider, of therapeutic practice, support coordination, and therapeutic mentoring with expertise in services for complex, co-morbid, child, adolescent and adult mental health, disability and child protection matters. We work therapeutically with cognitively challenged clients and those with significant cultural, language or religious differentials. Bower Place works in 7 first languages; English, Mandarin, Farsi, Dari, Arabic, Dinka and Russian.
Bower Place is seasoned in face-to-face and online service delivery and we have organised our staff into expert teams to respond to each client’s need in their unique context. This may be for direct services to clients or those providing other forms of care. All staff have access to the most recent and secure technology in order to offer the highest level of therapeutic services on-line and with safety and confidentiality. We are skilled in working with individuals, couples, families and work groups. We also provide support and guidance to those who work with their own clients or patients.
For bookings or further information please contact Bower Place (08) 8221 6066 or info@bowerplace.com.au
Specialist Face-to Face & Online Counselling
Support and therapeutic services for people experiencing the impact of their own and others’ distress
Bower Place has a 33-year history of providing expert professional help to children, adolescents, adults, couples, families and organizations struggling with the most difficult personal, relational and social difficulties. In response to the pandemic we have organised our staff into expert teams to respond to each client’s need in their unique context. The need may be for direct services to clients or to those who are providing other forms of care. All staff have access to the most recent and secure technology so we can continue to offer the highest level of therapeutic services on-line and with safety and confidentiality. Our system allows us to work with individuals, couples, families and work groups to address individual and relational difficulties.
For bookings or further information please contact Bower Place (08) 8221 6066 or info@bowerplace.com.au
Knowledge and Training – Professional Development
Professionals in both the public and private sectors have expertise in their chosen field, be it medicine, law or accounting, but are constrained to respond to the emotional demands of their clients. They may also feel overwhelmed by those demands. The task of emotional helping requires specialist expertise in managing complex situations, an ability to assess the dynamics and difficulties that present both individually and relationally and understand the impact of the current health crisis on individuals, families and the work contexts. This is particularly true of those working in the human services field; psychology, social work, accounting, law whose clients look to for clear, unequivocal guidance, support and advice. As the demand from our clients increases, we may find ourselves doubly overwhelmed and unable to adequately respond to them and others in our world.
High quality training and professional development to colleagues, business leaders, teams and organizations will continue to be offered as on-line supervision and training. Input can be tailored to the specific needs of the individual practitioner, team or work group to help them work more effectively with their client group while remaining effective and functional.
Bower Place provides confidential expert face-to-face and online consultations for children, adolescents, adults, couples and families experiencing the impact of the COVID-19. When humans experience extraordinary external stressors, individual and relationship distress between couples and within families can escalate.
For bookings or further information please contact Bower Place (08) 8221 6066 or info@bowerplace.com.au
