Reach out for mental health support

The holiday season can be challenging for those experiencing mental ill health, but there will be support available for people of all ages at Redcliffe Area Youth Space (RAYS) for the duration.

The Safe Space program, funded by Brisbane North Primary Health Network (PHN), has been running at RAYS since August 2022.

It provides friendly and welcoming support for people experiencing emotional distress in a safe environment, as an alternative to emergency departments.

Safe Space Clinical Lead Matt Yates says it is open from 5-9pm on weekdays and 3-7pm on Saturdays and Sundays and on public holidays. From the weekend of December 21 until January 6, the program will be open public holiday times (3-7pm).

Safe Space has a team of clinicians and peer support workers, who tailor their approach to each guest’s needs.

If people simply want to connect with others, they can do that in the group space. The team can also work with people one-on-one, if they need that level of support.

“If they’re still feeling distressed about their safety (at the end of the session) … we can do some safety planning around what going home looks like … do we need to call an ambulance and get some extra support in,” Matt says.

“We’ve got a great relationship with the social work team at Redcliffe Hospital and the mental health co-responders (the mental health ambulance).

“It’s really based on that individual need and obviously their safety. Often, we’ll safety plan with people around making sure they’re safe in the immediate term, and then check in on them the next day. They can come back the next evening, if they want. We will reassess and take it day by day.

“That’s the beauty of being open seven days a week … we can do that on a weekend. Everyone, if they want, gets a follow-up call the next day.”

The service is open to people of all ages and is helping about 200 a month.

“We’ve had people as young as seven years old up to people aged over 70 years,” Matt explains.

Peer worker Karen Brunker says the team supports people in various ways.

“It looks different for everybody. It’s just about providing a really nice, calming, distracting environment,” she says.

“We look at everybody as an individual and it’s a case of being able to chat.”

Guests support each other too. Some have done yoga, breathing exercises, colouring in, playing cards and other activities together to ease their distress.

“There’s a really lovely little community of support and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been here 50 times or if it’s your first time,” Matt says.

“I feel it’s such a benefit to our emergency response system because hospitals are set up really well to help people with medical emergencies … they’re not set up great to help people with mental health … there’s bright lights, you have to wait a long time.”

Karen adds: “We don’t delve into the nitty gritty … it’s about how can we help you in this moment”.

Safe Space provides a calming environment with low lighting, weighted blankets, diffusers, fidget toys and noise-cancelling headphones, as well as group activities.

Practical support includes providing resources to help guests, and encouraging them to continue to access mental health support via other avenues.

“We have home-cooked meals and we eat together … the power of connection and the power of community … you see it work,” Matt says.

People needing support can simply go to Redcliffe Area Youth Space at the corner of Anzac and Oxley avenues, Redcliffe, during Safe Space hours.

They can phone 0435 827 817 if they want to speak to someone over the phone.