SITTING at a table at the Beaconsfield office of Eastern Region Mental Health Association with its clients Heather Anne Brown and Lisa Mitchell, I was mindful of how best to broach the issue at hand. Mental health has long been a sensitive issue.
"It's still got a stigma attached to it,'' Lisa says. "But there are many forms - sometimes it's just that one side of you doesn't work as well as another.
"My intellectual side works very well - but my social side doesn't.''
Lisa is a successful mature-age student who is in her last semester of a criminology degree at Monash University and plans to go on to do a law degree.
Anxiety has been at the heart of Lisa's problems. But being involved in ERMHA's group activities over the past five years has helped restore her sense of peace and worth.
"I find this relaxing, soothing...it makes you feel good about yourself, and it's also fun and engaging in a safe place.''
Later this month, artwork from the ERMHA printmaking class that Heather Anne and Lisa attend will be exhibited at Libran Dogma Gallery in Narre Warren North.
Gallery owner Di Lockwood says she was asked by Arts Access, a Government-funded program run by ERMHA, to work with Heather Anne, Lisa and another ERMHA client, Jorg Klin.
"I have been working with them at the Old Cheese Factory in Berwick,'' she says. "Arts Access asked me to help them prepare for and curate their own exhibition as part of the celebrations for Mental Health Week.''
ERMHA coordinator Richard Price says their philosophy is all about engaging clients in a group activity to "get them back into the community''.
"We deal with people who have enduring mental illness - we are based around a recovery process, getting people into the community, such as neighbourhood house programs, fitness and personal training, going to movies in groups and having a coffee afterwards to chat. We try to empower people to give them their own voice.''
ERMHA day program outreach worker Jessie Cairncross says anxiety is a major factor for many people struggling with mental heath issues.
The printmaking workshops, and the many other art programs ERHMA has run over the years, have proven helpful in lowering clients' anxiety levels, particularly in social situations.
ERHMA offers one-on-one support for clients, either at their own home or in a community setting. The purpose of the contact is to offer psycho-social support so as to improve the participant's quality of life while working towards personal goals.
A program is tailored for each participant upon entry to the service and regular reviews are held to monitor progress.
ERHMA's Casey/Cardinia office can be reached on 97961000. The organisation's head office at Dandenong is on 9706738.
The ERHMA exhibition is on from October 11 at Libran Dogma Gallery, 62 A'Beckett Road, Narre Warren North. Phone: 97968234.
You can also see artwork at the Cardinia Cultural Centre and Heritage Hill, McCrae Street, Dandenong.
Email a friend