For Young People

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

I talk with young people. This is part of the work that I do. So if you are concerned about a young person who is your child, brother, sister…or someone you know, you are welcome to get in touch. Or if you happen to be a young person yourself, and you would like to have a chat, we can do that. Or we can chat to find out if I am the person you might want to talk more with, and if not, we can find the right person and place for you. And our chat we can do where I live and work in the inner west of Sydney, or somewhere that suits you. All the normal privacy stuff applies. That is, if you are under 16 then we can still have a private chat; you will just need an adult to come with you. If you want to know a bit more about how this chat might go, you can click here to find out. Or if you are an adult, parent, worker, teacher…someone who is worried about a young person, then please, you too are welcome to contact me.

If you want to get some idea of what the groups are like that I run, here is a little pic/vid of a group we ran in Sydney a little while ago.

‘The voice in your head’

The title sounds a little odd, but really it’s just saying this: if you tell yourself you’re worthwhile, you are likely to be so. And the reverse is true too. So this workshop looks at how we see ourselves and what we tell ourselves and the difference this can make to how we navigate our way through life and all that comes our way, the tough stuff, the ordinary stuff and the wonderful stuff.

Gender, sex and sexuality

A fraught, volatile and interesting topic. How do boys/girls women/men want to be seen by members of their own sex? By members of the opposite sex? What is sexuality? What are the various ways sexuality can manifest itself in people’s lives? Where does sex belong? How do you decide what you want? What are others’ expectations of you? And what do you expect of yourself? Does love still exist and where do you find it? How do you know you have found it? What is a relationship anyway?

Alcohol and other drug use

How do you decide what you want to do with your body? What might encourage you to take a risk? To use alcohol or other drugs? Use them dangerously? If you started to get into trouble with use, how would you know? How would your friends know? What help might you need and where would you get it? What information do you think you want and where would you get this? What responsibility do people have for looking after each other? What would you do for a friend who seemed to be in trouble with substance use? Or in trouble with life generally?This workshop looks at use of alcohol and drugs from the perspective of the choices people make, why those choices might be made, the influences at work in the lives of young people, and how young people can keep themselves and those around them safe. Information on substances is set within this overall context.

Discrimination and its opposite

Just as a community might want to look at how to develop into the sort of place everyone would want to live, so too might a school look at how to become a welcoming and inspiring place. So this workshop looks at asking just what sort of school does everyone want? The students, the staff and the parents? And what are the core values the school wants to develop, and what is each person’s job in all this and how does this all translate into everyday practical action?

Peer education

A quite wonderful way for young people to care for each other, peer education has many shapes and forms, from more formal mentoring to casual conversation. This workshop looks at what young people can offer each other. It also looks at some of the stumbling blocks along the way like what to do if someone tells you a ‘secret’, or you feel out of your depth, or how to be ‘friends’ with someone when you have another role to play? The workshop also looks at how to make sure you are doing a good job for both yourself and those you are coming into contact with.

Conflict. Troubles. Problems. They’re part of life. What can you do about them?

This is an interactive workshop which presents an easy to understand, but really quite hard to do!… four step approach to sorting out conflict. We will also look at the stuff that gets in the way of us actually doing just that; things like anger, pride and hurt. We will also look at what can help us move in the right direction: things like knowing who we are, being confident and comfortable about ourselves, being in charge of ourselves and having good people in our lives who can help us out when times get tuff.