myrollercoaster 2.35

www.myrollercoaster.org.au provides a safe place online for young people to get information, express themselves, connect with other people, explore support options and/or book a counselling appointment.

myrollercoaster grew out of realisation that traditional support services didn’t suit young people.

Services like getting counselling – turning up at counselling rooms, waiting in reception, being called into a small room, and talking about a problem with someone you didn’t know for 50 minutes.

There were a few problems –

· sometimes professional counselling is a really good option

· often times a young person experiencing grief and loss just needs information to help understand what’s happening to them or someone they care about

· information is readily available on-line, but it may not be presented in a manner that suits a young person’s situation

· often a young person seeks guidance or support from a friend or trusted adult. The friend or adult may need advice on how best to support the young person.

UnitingCare Goulburn North-East – an agency of the Uniting Church in Australia - brought together organisations, young people and service providers in Wangaratta, a town in north-east Victoria, Australia, to consider how to co-design a new approach. By looking at how young people use social media and each other for support, and by considering great research from organisations like the Young & Well Cooperative Research Centre, a new way of working was drafted.

Over 12 months the stepped model of care was shaped that reinforced self-help, peer support and access to professional services for 13 – 25 year olds. This was piloted in Wangaratta in 2014 and went regional in 2015 to Albury and Wodonga.

The myrollercoaster team consists of therapeutic and administrative staff at UnitingCare Goulburn North East, volunteers (primarily aged 15 – 30), school welfare officers, mental health workers and youth service providers.