R U OK Day (9 September) and World Suicide Prevention Day (10 September) will highlight the importance of destigmatising mental illness and reaching out for help if struggling in lockdown.
The 2021 theme of R U OK Day is ‘Are they really OK? Ask them today’, with messages to the community to make a moment meaningful and ask friends, family members and colleagues how they’re really going.
For R U OK Day PACFA is sending a message, via a media release and social media, that our highly qualified and experienced counsellors and psychotherapists can provide professional support to friends, family members and colleagues when the answer to the question ‘R U OK?’ is ‘No.’
Our recent member survey indicated that PACFA members have greater availability in this time of need for mental health services than psychologists, with over 60 per cent of respondents saying they could see a new client within two weeks. Nearly a quarter of respondents could see a new client within 48 hours.
On World Suicide Prevention Day, 10 September, 10.30-11.30 am,
Suicide Prevention Australia will present
a free webinar, Shining a Light on Suicide Prevention.
In her
September message to PACFA members, President Di Stow, also highlighted the need for counsellors and psychotherapists, particularly those members in lockdown, to look after their own mental health during the Covid pandemic.