Helping others to heal

Mental health isn’t just a short-term issue, it’s a life-long journey that has many ups and downs.

But by helping others to work through their own mental health challenges, Mt Barker Medicare Mental Health Centre peer worker Miles Prout has been able to share their own lived experience and continue healing.

“I find a lot of meaning in walking alongside somebody else in their own recovery journey, and that kind of amplifies my own recovery,” they said.

“I still have my hard days, I still take a day off work here and there for my mental health, but part of that lived experience is that ongoing recovery journey.”

At 16, Mx Prout was referred to youth mental health services by their school counsellor and was later diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

“I’ve gone through ... not believing I’d ever be able to work and all of those sorts of things because of the impacts of my mental health,” they said.

“Then I was in an extremely privileged position to be able to access some different types of supports and therapies ... my lived experience has been an ongoing thing because life continues to happen.”

In his time with the centre, Mx Prout has provided mental health support for a broad demographic, with people aged 16 and above able to access treatment.

Removing barriers to access, such as allowing walk-ins, has resulted in more people using the mental health centre for the first time – many of who are men.

Peer workers are core to the model at the centre and serve as a connector between the person in distress and the clinical team, helping translate needs, lower defenses, and empower the individual to voice their own choices, where needed.

“I truly believe it’s because of the accessible nature of being a walk-in service, you don’t have to go to your GP and get a mental health care plan, you don’t have to take multiple steps, you can just walk in the door,” Mx Prout said.

“When people come in quite distressed, we’re not going to give them the paperwork to do immediately ... quite often we will take them to a quiet place, the peer team member will do a little bit of what we call co-regulation, and the clinician can support as well.

“I’ve seen people that ... (have had) relationship break ups ... sometimes people will be out of work or they will be at retirement age and are struggling with that, or it can be people who are carers for people in mental health distress.”

Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) is one of the treatments which helped Mx Prout in his recovery and is one he practices at the centre.

“DBT is about holding two truths at once – things can be hard, but they can also get better,” they said.

“It also helps validate somebody’s experience and supports them to learn the skills and tools which are going to help them get through their life.”

  Artwork created by the community was recently displayed in the centre’s meeting room as part of BPD Awareness Week, which is the first week of October – Mental Health Month.

The Mt Barker Medicare Mental Health Centre is provided by Summit Health and funded by Country SA PHN through the Australian Government’s PHN program. The centre is located at 2-4 Cameron Road Mt Barker and can be reached on 8473 6900.