Services are provided for women on low incomes and include:
- Counselling for women who are wanting help with their use of alcohol or drugs
- Counselling for women who are wanting help with dealing with the substance use of someone close to them
- Talks in community venues (phone us to request a talk)
- Groups to assist with developing healthy lifestyles and healthy relationships
- Health promotion and community development activities in community venues
- Referrals to other health and community services
- Referral to complementary services (acupuncture or naturopathy) to assist in the counselling/support process
For women using harmful substances, the Centre has an emphasis on relapse prevention whilst addressing the psycho-social issues which are often central to women’s substance use. We don’t provide supported withdrawal, pharmacotherapies or treat women with severe untreated psychiatric illnesses.
Our counselling is provided by appointments – we’re not a crisis centre.
Who can use our services …
The drug and alcohol services are for women who are on low incomes (under $25,000/year).
Increasingly women wanting help with quitting or reducing smoking tobacco are taking up a short course of counselling appointments to help ensure their next quit attempt is the successful one.
A voluntary donation of $10, or $5 concession, at the time of the visit is appreciated and helps cover the costs of providing the services.
The way we work with women affected by drugs or alcohol….
We work within the ‘social model of health’ framework which recognises the social context of women’s lives. We believe that personal experiences, relationships and environmental issues such as housing, transport and education impact on women’s health. The role of substances, such as alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs can also be significant.
We work with women to understand their substance use, to minimize the harm and to build their personal resilience. For women affected by the substance use of a person significant to them, we work with individual women to understand the factors surrounding the use and to help her with her decision-making.
Contact us to make an appointment.
