Celebrating Father's and Father Figures in the Lives of Children.

As the name suggests, this is about exploring issues concerning the separation for your child or children.

It is important to focus on the win. Do not worry too much about the journey.

It’s wonderful that we have R U Okay day and encourage and remind people to ask the question, but how often will a person be honest. Consider the amount of times people ask, “How are you?” How often do you ponder the question and answer honestly? Most people go to the default, “fine”. So, I challenge you to go beyond asking, are you okay, but to have a conversation. Perhaps start with how are you and when someone responds with fine or alright or whatever answer they give, ask more questions. Perhaps ask why? What is happening that you are fine? Only alright? What will make it better? Tell me something good that is happening right now? What was the highlight of your day? What is happening that you have to look forward to? Let’s take R U Okay one step further.

When it comes to preparing family reports, experience and empathy are crucial. With over 20 years of working with children and families, Annamarie brings a wealth of experience, compassion, and kindness to every situation.

Anxiety is not necessarily a bad thing. Anxiety can spur us on and help us stay alert. It is that little bit of anxiety that helps us in exam situations. In the past, it was anxiety that helped us stay alive. By being alert and vigilant, we knew when to run or hide when that sabretooth tiger was nearby.

Be the change you want to see. Practice what you preach. These are sentences that we have heard before, but how many of us actually do this, particularly in the human services sector? I recall working in an organisation where a staff member had an issue with me, which lead us to mediation. During mediation, she remarked that she did not believe I was able to change . This concerned me. How can you work in the human sector if you do not believe that a person can change? Aren’t we working with clients towards change? Even worse, perhaps this person had one ideal for clients but failed to recognise, that we should also be practicing our beliefs and expectations. Just as parents model to their children, workers in the human services sector need to be modelling behaviour in the workplace that they expect of their clients. In another organisation I observed many concerning behaviours including verbal abuse and gaslighting . When these concerns were raised, rather than call out and address the behaviour, the people in each scenario were simply moved to another area of the organisation . Clients were not permitted to display this behaviour, but the organisation allowed it in the workplace. Not just that, but it was expected that partners of clients who displayed this type of behaviour would stand up to them and condemn the behaviour, yet the organisation turned a blind eye. If an organisation was unwilling to address the issue, why was it expected of clients? Workers ask many things of clients but are they willing to do these things themselves? What is the culture of the organisation? Are we practicing what we preach or is it a case of 'do as I say' not 'do as I do'? Does this then make us imposters or human? Like our clients, we too are a work in progress and ought to be reflecting and perfecting. We need to acknowledge when we have not achieved and work towards change. Research tells us that connection is important and can be the protective factor that prevents or at least minimises mental health issues, illicit substance use, problematic alcohol use, and the like. If we know this, why are organisations not better at working together? Why do so many continue to work on their own? We need to be better at working together and working from a strengths based perspective. Instead of looking at the deficits such as not enough funding, look at what you do have, be solutions focused and not problem saturated. Do you know what assets your team brings? Get to know them. Can they bake? Do they speak a different language? What are their interests? What can they bring to the table? Be creative in your solutions. Work together to resolve situations. Are you able to collaborate with another organisation or person? If we expect it from our clients, then we need to expect if of ourselves. It is time to change the culture and model appropriate behaviour and practice. Let us not be afraid of admitting when we have been wrong or that we too can improve. Would you like to learn more? Is it time to develop a cultural change? Contact me today to discuss your needs and let’s work together to create a brighter future for yourself, your organisation and our community. Annamarie C