e-mail support service
for emergencies please call 000 or the Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511
Before you get started with our E-Mail Support Service, you need to know that we are currently limited to servicing NSW local
If you live within
headspace offers online counselling (12- 25)
This service provides an alternative way for young people to seek help for their problems.
Advantages:
- Free, to young people with access to a computer
- Convenient way for young people to ask questions or get help
- Sensitive problems can be explored confidentially.
- Writing things down, helps people to think about what is worrying them which in turn assists them to think through their problems more carefully.
- Helping friends: It provides another way for young people to access help for themselves and their friends which can often lead to phone or face to face counselling.
- Web-links: Young people can also be directed to relevant websites that may provide more specific information or resources about their particular concerns.
how does it work?
- Read the Terms of Use page: by reading this page and agreeing to the conditions, you can access confidential, free, local, relevant up to date information and help regarding a wide range of problems and difficulties .
- ycentral workers: our qualified staff will get back to you ASAP, but there may be some delay depending on how busy they are, but no longer than a few days.
- If the problem is urgent you are encouraged to ring, Kidshelpline 1800 55 1800 or Lifeline 13 11 14. These services are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
young people are encouraged to contact for a range of problems including:
- mental health (depression/anxiety)
- social (making friends/bullying)
- relationships (partner/family)
- health (sexual/developmental/illness)
- financial
- legal
who is it for?
The ycentral E-Mail Support Service is for young people aged 12-25 years on the Central Coast of NSW in
If you live outside of this area in Australia, you can get an email or web service from Kidshelpline If you are a young person aged 12-25 years on the Central Coast and need to talk to someone straight away, ring 4304 7870 during business hours or 1800 011 511 (Mental Health Line "Central Intake")
how quickly will we get back to you?
A soon as we get your email we will try and get back to you right away, but this might take a couple of days depending on how busy we are with other enquiries. If you want a quick response or the matter is urgent call 4304 7870 during office hours 0830am -5.00pm), or get onto
who are the ycentral workers?
All our staff are trained Psychologists, Social Workers, Mental Health Workers, Doctors and Nurses who are experienced, trained and interested in working with young people.
how to get the most from our e-mail support service
- If you have an urgent problem it is probably best to get help right away by letting someone know what the problem is. Talking to friends, family or someone you trust will get you a quick response, or ring Kidshelpline 1800 55 1800
- Try to be clear in your own mind, how you would describe your problem to another person
- Think how you would tell someone how you feel about this problem and how it is affecting your life.
- How long have you been feeling like this and how often is it happening?
- How bad do things get for you?
- Who are the important people in your life and does anyone know how you are feeling?
- What are your strong points that are helping you to deal with this problem?
security
When you send us an email we do not share this information with anybody else.
duty of care and notification
The only time we would ever disclose information was if we were aware that:
- Someone was hurting you
- You were at risk of taking your own life
- You have hurt someone else or have made such a threat.
Under the above circumstance we have a legal obligation under the Child Protection and/or Mental Health Act to notify a government authority of our concerns. This is done to protect your safety and is usually discussed with you by your counsellor.
record keeping
We keep copies of emails so that counselors can check back if there have been earlier emails you have written to us. This helps us to keep track of what’s going on for you so that counsellors are better able to help you. All electronic copies of emails are protected by the Northern Sydney Central Coast Health computing services firewall and any hard copies are kept securely in locked filing cabinets.
privacy
ycentral operates within Australian legal requirements and Standards for Privacy and Information Management. These systems are designed to safeguard your privacy and information. See the Privacy Act:
net security
The ycentral web-server is protected by the Northern Sydney Central Coast Health firewall; however we cannot guarantee that any website can be totally free of hackers or viruses.
