Carer Peer Support Worker

**Carer Peer Support Worker**

**headspace Upper Coomera and Southport
- Utilise your own lived experience to support families and caregivers
- Play a pivotal role in helping to establish a new team, within our Southport service
- Employee Assistance Program | Salary Packaging options | Part Time hours

**Seek Introduction - **Provide recovery-orientated, person-centred peer support to family and caregivers through a mix of individual and group programs.

headspace provides comprehensive support services to young people aged 12 to 25 years, who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties.

With a strong focus on person-centred care and family collaboration; our services are delivered by a multidisciplinary team of allied health and medical practitioners working alongside lived experience peer workers. This role brings lived experience and support to the caregivers (family and friends) of young people who are accessing headspace programs.

**Your Opportunity**

There are two positions available, one for our centre in Southport and another at our Upper Coomera centre. Each role is part time, 4 days per week (30.4 hours) and may require some travel between the two centres. The salary for this position is $36 - $38 per hour plus Superannuation and Salary Packaging.

**What we’re looking for**

With a passion for, and non-judgemental approach to lived experience, you will have already completed your Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work, and now be looking to put that theory into practice.

Along with the ability to share your own lived experience of being the primary caregiver for a young person experiencing mental health challenges, you will have the following skills and attributes:

- Ability to facilitate support groups in a safe and inclusive manner, and encourage others to share their experiences
- A collaborative, open approach - this a newly developed team and you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to developing the culture and environment
- Strong communication and engagement skills and the capacity to relate to a diverse range of people
- Appropriate sharing of your own lived experience, working within professional boundaries and role modelling positive behaviours
- An established self-care and self-reflection routine, and be comfortable asking for assistance when you require support
- Self-managing, you will be comfortable balancing your own workload within a team environment
- Good computer skills, use of Microsoft Suite and Client Management Systems
- An understanding of how mental health challenges can impact families and caregivers.

A Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work or an equivalent lived experience training program is essential, and our team will support you in developing your skills and experience within the role.

You will need to have an Australian Drivers Licence and a Working with Children Blue Card.

headspace provides comprehensive support services to young people aged 12 - 25 years, who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties.

With a strong focus on person-centred care, youth specific interventions, functional recovery, and family collaboration; our services are delivered by a multidisciplinary team of allied health and medical practitioners working alongside lived experience peer workers. Support extends across physical health, work and study, and substance misuse, offering integrated support to young people when and where they need it.

As a Peer Support Worker (Carer), you will work within a lived experience framework to provide peer-to-peer individual support and group activities for the caregivers (family and friends) of young people who are accessing the headspace programs.

The role is designed to walk alongside caregivers to provide:

- recovery orientation and person-centered peer support through understanding and shared similar experiences
- advocacy and education for caregivers to engage with treatment and services
- validation and normalisation of experiences
- relatability, hope and optimism to caregivers throughout the recovery journey
- support to navigate and destigmatise mental health services
- decrease isolation, build connection, and encourage self-care

**Responsibilities**:
**_Peer Support _**
- Initiate and participate in supportive conversations with caregivers to improve their understanding of treatment and services.
- Appropriately and purposefully share parts of your own lived experience about caring for a young person experiencing mental health difficulties.
- Develop, s ource and share strategies, resources and information that could be helpful to caregiver education, self-care and support.
- S upport caregivers (advocating as required) to feel safe and have their needs and preferences heard.
- Collaborate and partner with multidisciplinary teams to develop and deliver:

- tailored, individual support around identified topics and shared experiences
- facilitate p eer-led groups for families, carers a