Accredited Mental Health Social Workers (AMHSWs) are recognised providers with Medicare Australia and other programs, delivering clinical social work services in a variety of health settings and utilising a range of evidence-based strategies.
AMHSWs work with people across the lifespan and provide a unique contribution to the mental health space in their holistic approach to working with a person. They help individuals to resolve presenting psychological problems, the associated social and other environmental problems, and improve their quality of life. This may involve family as well as individual counselling, and group therapy. Social workers recognise the broader implications of an individual having a mental illness and the impact on friends, family, work and education. They can use a variety of strategies to assist people.
Art can be a valuable tool for children and their families to gain a greater understanding of each others experience of living with mental health difficulties. How such understanding can have the potential to bring about a sense of increased wellbeing for the individual as well as the family as a group; and increased understanding of their inner self, relationships, emotions and thoughts which has the potential to improve the child and their family’s ability to engage with each other, extended family and the community has been shown through research and a large number of case studies.
