Bilingual Counselling

The Centre has a long established Bilingual Counselling program and is currently providing counselling in Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghai Dialect though fully qualified Chinese counsellors on staff at the Centre.

Sydney Women’s Counselling Centre is located in the Canterbury LGA, an area made up of people from many lands, cultures and language groups. Centre staff are particularly conscious of this and provide services that are culturally appropriate to the women in our area and the greater Sydney metropolitan area and we provide a bilingual counselling program or interpreters if appropriate to do so.

Scarce resources limit the extent of bilingual services available but the Centre always endeavours to ensure accessibility and appropriateness of services to women and will aid women’s access to other ethno-specific agencies to meet their needs.

Information / brochures are available in a variety of community languages and staff are trained in cross cultural issues.

All counselling programs at the Centre work from a Social Determinants of Health and Trauma Informed Care framework. The objective is for synchronicity between individual client’s priorities, needs and presentation at any one time and the most appropriate and well fitting therapeutic response.

As in our other programs, counselling is client focused, confidential and conducted in a supportive, trustworthy respectful environment with individually tailored treatment options utilising each person’s inner strengths to resolve their problems and reach their life goals.

The Bilingual Counselling Program addresses a range of presenting issues. Often there will be significant co occurring issues that can also be addressed in a holistic and integrated way during counselling.

BILINGUAL COUNSELLING IS AVAILABLE FOR:

Depression
Domestic Violence
Anxiety
Adjustment problems
Problem Gambling
Anxiety
Grief and Loss

Childhood Abuse/Neglect
Low self esteem
Parenting Issues
Relationship difficulties
Isolation
Stress management
Women’s health issues

Women may also be suffering from feelings of isolation & daily challenges with coping with low income, unemployment, housing issues & family demands.

Women may or may not have a diagnosed mental health issue. When mental health issues are at severe levels or clients are in acute phases and a high level of practical/welfare, case work/management, crisis intervention tasks are required, counsellors will work with the client and our network partners ( such as Community Mental Health , Partners in Recovery, Family Referral Service etc) to engage a range of services for the client and their family.

Many women in this program elect to have medium to long term counselling where they can work on their presenting issues and have time and safety in making sense of how other complex underling issues have impacted on them and their families.

Longer term counselling is also sought after by many clients who have lack of access to long-term counselling related to exclusion from other mainstream health services (as they don’t meet criteria), or have used up their MSP limit of sessions or lack of affordability of private practitioners.

You are a person to meet, not a problem to solve.

Perhaps there are certain problems that seem to repeat themselves or you are noticing a pattern of behavioural responses in yourself to situations or events that are causing you distress, and you’re not sure how to change that. Seeing one of our experienced therapists/counsellors at the Centre can help to uncover what is going on and facilitate your journey to more productive patterns and a better state of psychological/mental and emotional wellness.

Empowering women to improve the quality of their lives and fulfill their potential.