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Disaster Counselling & Community Resiliance Building
" Disaster gave me two things: A moment to react, and a decision to overcome."
- Michael Dooley, Professor
"It seems after a disaster, many good things and blessings happen."
William Jackson, Soldier
"Out of the expereince of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud"
Nelson Mendela, Activist & Politician
Disaster Counselling & Community Resiliance Building
Australia has been hit by some pretty serious natrual and man-made disasters, such as flooding, bushfires, Storms, and terrorist threats. During a disaster, we have our emergency services who will physically take care of you during a crisis, but who takes care of your immidate Psychological needs?
Most mental health services take time to access and are not avalible straight away. Savvy Counselling & Consulting are in the unique position to offer Counselling and Psychological First Aid deployment to disaster zones, having completed training in Psychological First Aid and also Cultrual Central Disaster Counselling. This means that our Counsellor can be deployed to a disaster zone and actively help people on the ground and assist them identify what services they need immediately. Getting this assistance to them fast will help minimise the potential long term effects of trauma and PTSD. We can also provide a referal service, so people know what mental health services are avalible to them in their area for follow up care.
During the 2019 nation wide bushfires, Savvy was on the ground at a staging area, providing Psychological First Aid to people who had lost everything in the fires, and helping them identify their immidate needs, before refering them to professional services.
The Aftermath of a disaster or crisis can serverely impact the wellbeing of an entire community, or town if the support services are not in place and ready to go. Savvy Counselling & consulting can assist local Government areas (LGA's) to put in place plans to help restore community resiliance and wellbeing after a serious event, and can also actively work along side them to immpliment that plan by working directly with community leaders and community members.