You don’t have to fly solo

Being part of a small community can feel incredibly empowering and isolating at the same time. As a community service professional, you are highly visible – everyone knows who you are, and people associate you with your professional role.

Walking into a community event to be welcomed by all, can feel like a big warm hug. However, it can also be very uncomfortable when having had a challenging counselling session with a client, later that day you then bump into that client with her family at the supermarket.

This is compounded by your professional ethics. Literally, there is no one appropriate in your community to talk to, debrief with, get advice or to simply chew the fat and decompress with.

We know that a problem shared is a problem halved but realistically in small regional and remote communities, your options for sharing may be limited.

The kind of support you need is the ‘human’ kind – it’s not about stretching or improving or making you better at what you do – it’s about authentic support, having conversations with someone who gets you and shares your experience of being a professional in a rural or remote community.

Flying solo can feel great for a short while. It can also get tiring, but you don’t have to keep doing it alone. Peer mentoring that is scaffolded by a flexible program based on your needs could make the world of difference for your happiness, well-being and your capacity to keep bringing your best self to your role.

Connecting Across the Land is a flexible program designed to meet a need expressed by sexual violence, women’s health and wellbeing and domestic violence workers across remote areas of Queensland.  The program will be tailored to meet the needs of participants who will work together to build authentic connections that continue long after the semi-structured phase of the program is complete.

If you’re curious we would like to invite you to join us for the Connecting Across the Land information session on 30 July.  You can register here https://workupqld.org.au/whats-on/

Contact Christine at WorkUP Queensland for more information: christine@healingfoundation.org.au or phone on 0400 999 184.

We would love to have you. You don’t have to fly solo!