Lifeline Gold Coast Services
24 Hour Telephone Counselling
Last year Lifeline Gold Coast’s Volunteer Telephone Counsellors received over 17,000 calls on a wide range of issues. Lifeline’s 13 11 14 service is staffed by trained volunteer telephone counsellors who are ready to take calls 24-hours a day, any day of the week from anywhere in Australia. Anyone can call Lifeline. The telephone service offers generalist counselling that does not discriminate. Somewhere in Australia there is a new call to Lifeline every minute. The Gold Coast alone receives approximately 16,000 calls per year. Lifeline counsellors are ready to talk and listen no matter how big or how small the problem might seem. They are trained to offer emotional support in times of crisis or when callers may be feeling down. Most people have access to a phone in the comfort of their own home and this is where people are most likely to dwell if they are in need of emotional support. Lifeline provides the ideal way for people to anonymously seek out help without leaving their home. They simply need to pick up the phone and dial 13 11 14.
Personal Counselling
Personal and professional face to face counseling is conducted across the Gold Coast by qualified counselors who keep up to date with the latest developments in their field. Lifeline’s personal counselling covers a wide range of issues, including grief and loss, relationship issues, loneliness, self esteem, assertiveness, life direction, suicidal feelings and crisis situations.
Along with private counselling sessions are a series of educational and therapeutic groups that Lifeline runs. These cover topics such as anger management, self esteem, conflict resolution, art therapy and suicide prevention training. Face to face counselling is offered at various locations throughout the Gold Coast including Broadbeach, Tweed, Nerang, Coomera, Beaudesert and Labrador.
Child Youth & Family Services
Ensuring the children of our future are given the start to life that they deserve is of paramount importance to Lifeline Gold Coast. Child, Youth and Family counselling is a core service which offers specialist one on one or group therapy, depending on the child’s needs. Issues addressed include bullying, trauma, behavioural issues, anxiety, depression, self esteem and separation or divorce.
Group therapy is run four times a year for children aged 3 – 12 years who have experienced grief and loss, trauma or abuse and neglect of some kind in their short lives. Adolescents are not forgotten either with a specific group for 13 – 15 year olds that focuses on helping teenagers through the effects of parent divorce or separation, loss of a close friend, school, home or peer issues. These groups are about providing a space where kids can come together and share the things they struggle with in life. Single parenting courses and parent support groups are also offered free of charge.
Gold Coast Child & Youth Sexual Abuse Service
A topic that is almost taboo in today’s society is child sexual abuse. However, with the Gold Coast having one of the highest rates of child abuse in the state, Lifeline is there for those children who have suffered such unthinkable acts. The Gold Coast Child & Youth Sexual Abuse Counselling Service provides support to not only the victims but also their families. Lifeline seeks to address the issues through counselling before they become entrenched in the child’s personality and affect their general life development. In all too many cases, children without the chance to be counselled and healed, go on to lead unhappy and destructive lives.
Financial Counselling
Lifeline Gold Coast's financial counsellors help a wide range of clients with an equally wide range of financial problems. They encourage clients to get out of the ‘cycle of debt’ by assisting them with the necessary skills to manage their finances. Financial Counsellors do not manage or take control of a client’s financial affairs, nor does Lifeline pay accounts on a client’s behalf. We are unable to give investment advice or recommend private professional services. Lifeline’s Financial Counsellors encourage and assist people to manage their financial affairs. Their services include:
- Assessment of the financial situation
- Help with the preparation of budget
- Negotiate with creditors on the client’s behalf
- Advocate on behalf of the client where necessary
- Assist with completion of paper work
- Link clients with appropriate community agencies and resources
- Debt repayment plans
- Alternatives to bankruptcy
- Provide information on government assistance
Community Recovery
Often when natural disasters or events occur, the devastation lasts a lot longer than the incident itself. Lifeline’s Community Recovery Program is aimed at making an immediate impact on the trauma and stress experienced by communities through psychological first aid and counselling interventions, as well as spearheading longer term recovery through a coordinated approach to rebuilding or re-establishing key community networks and support structures. Lifeline Gold Coast has recently provided support to those affected by the Equine Influeza outbreak, local flooding and many of the Community Recovery Team also travelled to Cairns to assist with the aftermath of Cyclone Larry. As an organisation we have proven to be flexible and agile in our ability to provide a quick response to challenging situations.
Rural Counselling
The green behind the gold in our region is not forgotten either. Many members of the rural community have been doing it tough as a result of the drought and just the pressures of life on the land. Lifeline Gold Coast provides outreach rural counselling to areas such as Beaudesert, Jimboomba, Canungra, Cedar Vale and Mt Tamborine. Historically, farmers have learnt to be independent, hardworking and optimistic, but with deregulation, increasing fuel costs and the worst drought in 100 years, they face almost insurmountable obstacles. Our role is to support their loss and grief, as well as help them to adjust to the changes.
Communities for Children
Northern Gold Coast Communities for Children is a government funded initiative that focuses on the Gold Coast/Brisbane growth corridor - Australia’s fastest population growth area. Northern Gold Coast Communities for Children project has worked at trying to connect areas such as Oxenford, Pimpama, Coomera, Upper Coomera, Cedar Creek and Ormeau and create a child friendly community. When the project first started there was virtually no existing services in the area to support families, limited public transport, schools at capacity with no planning intended for additional facilities within the next few years. The Northern Gold Coast Communities for Children vision is to create a community where young children and their families have greater self-reliance and self-determination and are provided with opportunities to maximize health and wellbeing, learning capacity, emotional support and community cohesion.
Business Lifeline
Business Lifeline is a fresh, innovative concept from Lifeline Gold Coast, providing businesses with affordable, practical seminars delivered by renowned speakers, as well as human services training, coaching and business mentoring and business development networking opportunities.
All of the services and facilities are generously donated - so all of the income goes to helping Lifeline Gold Coast sustain its vital community services. That way, we’re helping both your business and our Lifeline clients with the one program.
To find out more about business lifeline visit www.businesslifeline.com.au