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SalvoPsych Hype!
Newsletter of SalvoPsych
an initiative of The Salvation Army and the Australian Psychological Society Volume 1, Issue 1
March 2012
The fog has lifted! Despite it hav-ing been in place for the last two years, some people still haven’t a clear picture of how the Sal-voPsych scheme is meant to work. But now, thanks to a simple powerpoint demonstration and discussion by Assoc. Prof. Jacques Metzer, of the Australian Psycho-logical Society, many of the Doorways Programme Coordina-tors are now much more ‘in the know’!
The gathering, which took place at
the Salvation Army Centre at Tea
Tree Gully on February 3rd, saw 15 TSA Coordinators together with TSA
Community Support Services
Director and SalvoPsych Chair,
Margaret Davies in attendance.
Jacques explained how the all-
important referral process works,
how to identify appropriate clients of the scheme and how both the
TSA and APS participants benefit
from their involvement in this great
initiative.
“It was as if there was a sudden
awakening amongst the attendees”, Margaret said, adding that the psy-
chologists offering their services
may expect an upsurge in referrals
now that the processes have been explained more fully.
Further explanatory sessions and
discussions are planned to take
place around the state during the
coming year.
TSA Doorways Coordinators now see their way clear!
Jacques and Sally Metzer at a Doorways Caseworkers meeting
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SalvoPsych 2011 Review results in major changes
An intensive review of the SalvoPsych Program which took place
at the end of last year, highlighted the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of the scheme. The outcomes of the
review, which was designed and conducted by Organisational Psy-
chologist Kathryn McEwen, are currently being implemented.
The decision has been made to change the management structure
of the SalvoPsych initiative, and also to formalize the name of the
organizing Committee.
The new ‘SalvoPsych Steering Committee’, allows for no less than
6 and up to 12 members, with equal representation from both
The Salvation Army and the SA/State Branch of the Australian Psy-
chological Society.
Current office holders are: Margaret Davies (TSA) Chair, Kathryn
McEwen (APS) Treasurer, Sally Metzer (TSA Volunteer) Secretary
and Jacques Metzer (APS), the new One-to-One Programme Re-
ferral Coordinator.
Other Committee members are: Kathryn McEwen (APS), Karen
Osborne (APS), Sharon Brinkley (TSA), Tony Palombi (TSA) and
Alana Bombardieri (TSA)
*Anyone wishing to see a copy of the review can access it on the
APS Website (go to: Membership /Members/ Groups/Branches/
South Australia/SalvoPsych
Congratulations to SalvoPsych advocate
Dr. Jill Benson, OAM
Dr. Benson, who has given her full support to the SalvoPsych
Programme, was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the
recent Australia Day Honours List. She received the award for
her service to medicine through contributing in the field of
Mental Health, particularly for refugees and people seeking
asylum, and to the indigenous community in South Australia.
We are very proud to have Dr. Benson’s words of encourage-
ment printed in the SalvoPsych Brochure which is distributed to
interested GPs around the state.
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Calling all GP’s around SA… SalvoPsych needs you!
A crucial component of the SalvoPsych Referral process involves the client being referred to a
General Practitioner. After deciding that SalvoPsych is appropriate for the client, The Salvation
Army Doorways Coordinator will make an appointment for the client at the nearest participat-
ing GP’s practice. If need be, the Doorways Coordinator will actually take the client to the ap-
pointment. The GP may then formulate a Mental Health Care plan and refer the client onto a
SalvoPsych psychologist. To inform GPs of their vital role in the success of the SalvoPsych pro-
gramme, an informative article has been forwarded to the Royal Australian College of General
Practitioners, and also the Australian Medical Association for circulation on their e-newsletter
sites. It should be circulated soon. It is hoped that a number of GPs will see the story and be
motivated to contact the SalvoPsych Referral Coordinator Jacques Metzer to have their names
included on a list of SalvoPsych friendly medical practitioners. If you know a medico who may
be interested in being involved, please pass on his or her name to Jacques who will then make
contact with the GP and forward the SalvoPsych GP Brochure. Easy!
SalvoPsych 2011 Survey results—show how committed you are! 78 members of the Australian Psychological Society offered their professional services to the Salvation Army clients through the SalvoPsych programme last year. 67 General/Clinical psychologists were practising within thirteen Salvation Army Regions,
with some eight psychologists happy to see clients in more than one region. Adelaide : 29 clinicians Marion : 6 Norwood: 8 Arndale: 3 Playford: 10 Southern : 8 South East: 2
Although accurate records have unfortunately not been kept during this period, a total of approximately 100 sessions have been conducted since the inception of the scheme. Eight Organisational psychologists offered and conducted mentoring, workshops and
seminars to TSA clients and staff. One Health Psychologist offered and conducted two well-being seminars to TSA clients
and staff. Interest is being shown by other APS members including Forensic and Clinical Neuropsy-
chologists The Salvation Army is currently arranging rooms at some of their facilities for those psychologists who prefer to work ‘on site’. The Survey involved all participating psychologists being contacted personally by Sally Metzer either online or by telephone over a four week period during October/November, 2011. All but two participating psychologists replied. *Please note: Supplying information is a con-dition of the Memorandum of Understanding between The Salvation Army and participating members of the SA State/Branch of the Australian Psychological Society. (Refer 5.2 ‘Participate in providing materials to APS and TSA to evaluate SalvoPsych’).
Thank you to everyone who took part in this important survey!
Eastern: 3 Mid North: 1 Pt. Augusta/ Whyalla: 2 Eyre Peninsula: 1 Yorke Peninsula: 3 Riverland : 0
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”I chose to become involved with SalvoPsych because I believe it is an excellent opportunity to combine professional psychological skills and programs with a community organization that is full of caring staff and volunteers dedicated to improve the life of oth-ers. In my first meeting with Margaret Davies, we discussed how Or-ganizational Psychology best practice could be used to in service staff so that they could then pass on the knowledge in their pro-grams and service delivery. My first delivery was on ‘Managing Change’, and I am hoping to visit some country areas this year combining SalvoPsych with my skills and experience in the sport-ing arena through local organizations so that it becomes an effec-tive use of time and a coordinated approach to community needs. In my newly elected role on the APS State Committee I will now
become the liaison between this Committee and the SalvoPsych
Committee, where I hope to ensure that we develop innovative
ideas and initiatives. It would also be great to recruit new psy-
chologists to the cause ensuring that we use the opportunity to
publicise how a great initiative and the combined goodwill of the
two groups can help our community.
Organisational Psychologist Karen Osborne, a member of the SalvoPsych Steering Committee, thinks it would be a good idea if more of her colleagues joined the SalvoPsych initia-tive. “SalvoPsych is a life-changing partnership,” she says. “A large team of psychologists have already joined the ranks to provide counselling and therapy to people experiencing mental health problems. Why don’t you join in too?” To promote the message, Karen has produced and is circulat-ing a flyer aimed at other members of the College of Organ-isational Psychologists in South Australia. “What skills can you offer to support the team of Salvation Army workers who provide hands-on assistance?” she asks. Karen believes that psychologists can benefit greatly from their involvement. “It can be an opportunity to trial new ideas, gain experience in a new sector, and establish valuable networking contacts. Contributing to SalvoPsych is an opportunity to be of value to the community”, she says. If you’re an Organisational Psychologist and would like to be
part of SalvoPsych, contact Karen on
[email protected] M: 0408 893 613
Karen puts out a call to her professional colleagues
Introducing Jenny Williams, SalvoPsych Representative on the APS SA State/Branch Committee
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Client numbers building in the first quarter of the year. A total of eleven TSA clients have been referred to APS SalvoPsych psy-chologists since January, and the numbers are steadily increasing, ac-cording to One-to-One Referral Coor-dinator Jacques Metzer. “It’s been good to see a constant flow of clients, and also to be in touch with psychologists all over Adelaide who are glad that they are now having the opportunity to offer their time and professional services to the scheme,” he said. *If you’re a Doorways Coordinator and wish to refer a client to the SalvoPsych One-to-One programme, please contact Dr. Jacques Metzer, and he will arrange for a participat-ing APS SalvoPsych psychologist to see your client as soon as he can. e: [email protected] m : 0418 857 695
Client numbers building in the first quarter of the year.
Message from Chairperson—Margaret Davies It has been extremely exciting to be part of the continuing evolving SalvoPsych collaboration. Since its inception , this program has demonstrated how successful two renown organisations can be when they combined to help vulnerable members of the community . The key to the ongoing success of this program is the willingness of the participating psychologists to give generously of their time and passion—and I am sure that in return they feel a sense of having helped people in need. The Salvation Army is very grateful to everyone involved and we look forward to further expanding this initiative . Margaret Davies Community Support Services Network Director The Salvation Army—SA
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SalvoPsych assists struggling TSA client: The Salvation Army provides people and families with advocacy during times of financial stress, assisting
them with basic needs such as putting food on the table and maintaining housing arrangements. How-
ever, some clients’ needs go beyond the basic necessities and are searching for specialised assistance.
The SalvoPsych initiative provides clients with the opportunity to access free psychological help, equip-
ping people with the necessary skills to manage their lives comfortably during times which may be com-
plicated and extremely stressful. As is to be expected, the situations vary for every client who presents
to the Salvation Army.
In July 2011, a client was seen for assistance in Emergency Relief Services and also expressed interest in
seeking assistance from a psychologist. The client was in the midst of a relationship breakdown, had
moved interstate and lost contact with his children.
Bec Goudie, Doorways Caseworker at the Marion TSA at the time saw the client and commenced the
referral process to a SalvoPsych psychologist. A suitable GP who supported the client with a Mental
Health Treatment plan was found. The client then began seeing a local psychologist whom he could visit
easily for sessions every three weeks. During this time The Salvation Army Caseworker supported the
client with food assistance and financial counselling, therefore providing him with some stability in his
current situation.
Over the past five months the client has accessed psychological care which has helped to equip him with
the necessary skills required to cope during a difficult and tiresome family breakdown. The client will
have his final session with the psychologist in coming weeks but spoke recently of finally finding stable
accommodation and planning visits to his children in the coming months.
“Although the road ahead will still be tough for this client, thanks to the SalvoPsych programme, he has
been supported with professional help to rise above his situation and look positively towards the future,”
Bec said.
A SalvoPsych case study
Contact details:
If you wish to contribute to this newsletter
Please contact Sally Metzer on m: 0418 857 695
