Welcome to headspace Horsham! We are a youth service in the Wimmera that supports young people between the ages of 12 to 25 years of age with their mental health and wellbeing. This includes support with things such as mental health and wellbeing, physical and sexual health, AOD, work and study, situational stress and normal challenges young people face in their day to day life.

Our team is made up of a diverse group of people all dedicated to helping young people get great outcomes and improve their mental health and wellbeing.

headspace Horsham has professionally trained staff that are focused on helping young people between the ages of 12 and 25 years to address their mental health and wellbeing, confidentially and with respect.

All of our services are FREE for young people between the ages of 12 and 25!

How to make a referral

1. We offer a number of ways to access our service: 

• Complete an electronic Referral Form and a Client Consent Form and save it to your device. Both of these forms are online, to make it easier for you to email it to info.headspacehorsham@vt.uniting.org
• You can drop into our Horsham office and one of our workers will sit down with you and talk through whats going on. If they cant see you right away, we will make an appointment for you - 77 Hamilton St, Horsham VIC 3400
  
• Call us on (03) 5381 1543 and one of the headspace Horsham team members will speak with you about whats happening and how our team can help

At headspace Horsham we operate under an open referral system. This means ANYONE can refer a young person into service for support.

This includes community organisations, school wellbeing staff/teachers, GPs, family and friends of young people, etc. Our referral form is generalised and can be used by anyone to seek support for young people.

You will be asked to fill out a Consent Form prior to your first appointment here at headspace. Confidentiality is important in building relationships with you and will be discussed early on in your session with our team. This means that whatever you discuss in sessions remains private and not be passed on to anyone else without your permission. However we need your consent to be able to store your referral information on our system so we can move ahead with best helping you.

If you are wanting support, all you have to do is fill in our electronic Referral Form and Consent Form save it to your device and email it to info.headspacehorsham@vt.uniting.org

Note: It is important to remember that headspace Horsham services are attended voluntarily by young people. It is recommended that referrers have a chat to their young person before making a referral on their behalf.

2. The next step 

One of our team will contact you within 2 business days to discuss your referral. Please call us or drop into our office if you feel it's urgent.

3. When will I first meet someone?

You will meet with one of our Mental Health Clinicians at what we call Intake & Assessment. This might go between an hour to an hour and a half. They will give you information, ask you questions and answer any questions you might have.

Your worker will work on specific goals, which include, but are not limited to:

• Problem solving
• Supportive counselling
• Study, vocational or employment assistance
• Alcohol and other drug assistance with a Youth, Alcohol & Other Drug Counsellor
• Sexual Assault and Family Violence Counsellor
• Participation in headspace Horsham groups
• Referral to another agency best suited to your needs

4. What's next

After your Intake & Assessment appointment our Mental Health Clinicians will assess the best way to support you whether that is here at headspace or if there is a better service that is more tailored to your needs.

If you have any question or are unsure about anything please contact us on phone (03) 5381 1543 or email info.headspacehorsham@vt.uniting.org 

What does confidentiality mean for you at headspace?

In Australia, laws protect clients' rights to have the information they share with doctors and others who provide health services kept private. These laws mean that what you tell people during a health care appointment must remain private between you and that person or service, except in particular situations.

There may be times when the person you are seeing at headspace is required by law to share information about you with another organisation, your parents or carers, or in some specific situations, court or the police. This may happen if the staff member thinks you or another person is at risk physically or mentally. If you are under 16 and someone is hurting you, we are required by law to make a report to the Police or Child Protection Services.

Whenever possible, a headspace staff member will talk to you first to explain the reason and need for any disclosure of your personal information. However, confidentiality is your right in almost all circumstances. If you aren't sure, just ask the staff member about your confidentiality before you talk to them. We will always do our best to give you a straight answer.

More information:

Learn about Family and Friends rights and responsibilities

Learn about Young People's Rights and Responsibilities

headspace Horsham supports young people of all abilities and needs to access services. 
Our headspace Horsham centre has:

Disability access, gender neutral toilets, large waiting areas and doorways for wheelchair accessibility, sensory objects, translating and interpreter services and hearing impairment support services

Translating and Interpreting Services

headspace Horsham can organise translation and interpretation services if required.
The Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) is an interpreting service for young people who do not speak English or English is their second language.
More information can be found here: https://www.tisnational.gov.au/en

Language Loop also connect non-English speakers and organisations through language, to live life without limits via services they can trust.
Services include translation, interpreting and telephone interpreting. More information can be found here www.languageloop.com.au

Hearing impaired

National Relay Service
The NRS is an Australia-wide phone service for people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment.
24-hour relay call numbers
• TTY/voice calls: 133 677
• Speak & Listen: 1300 555 727
• SMS relay: 0423 677 767
• Website: https://relayservice.gov.au/about/

Frequently asked questions.

how much does it cost to get help?

headspace Horsham offer FREE services.

If we don’t have a service available at our centre, we will help you look for other free services or services that are low cost.

We have a ‘NO WRONG DOOR’ policy which means if we can’t provide adequate services to you we will find you someone that can.

Is headspace a LGBTIQ friendly place?

Absolutely! We support many young people with various gender identities and sexual preferences. Everyone is welcome at headspace Horsham regardless of ethnicity, lifestyle choice, faith, sexual orientation and gender identity we provide services that are welcoming, safe, culturally appropriate and inclusive.

I’m unable to make the long commute to your centre in Horsham.  Can I still access your services?

You sure can!! The headspace Horsham Telehealth Service utilises video conferencing technology to connect rural and remote areas to headspace Horsham services, reducing travel time, expenses and personal hardship on the young person, family, friends and carers.

headspace Horsham workers liaise with registered Horsham Telehealth Centres/Schools and their Wellbeing liaison to coordinate an appointment time suitable for everyone.

Contact our centre or your school to see if this is something you can access.

I would like help but I am not ready to come in yet. What can I do?

If you are not ready to come into our centre for an appointment, our free and confidential online support may be of benefit to you.

eheadspace is a free online service for young people where you can talk to a trained professional on anything that is going on for you. This is a really great first step to accessing support if you are not ready to see a counsellor in our centre. eheadspace offers free web chat, email or phone conversations (1800 650 890) to young people and their family between 9am - 1am.

See above tab for more information.

What do I do if I need help in an emergency?

At headspace Horsham, we understand that things can happen for young people that may be distressing. This could include thoughts of wanting to hurt yourself, or thoughts of suicide. If this is going on for you – Phone 000 or attend the nearest emergency department which is located at:

Your confidentiality.

When you talk to someone at headspace Horsham, what you say is kept confidential. This means that nothing you say can be passed on to anyone else without your permission. We also won’t tell your parents or carers any information about you accessing our service unless you want us to.

However, there are a couple of exceptions. If we are seriously worried about your safety or the safety of others, we - by law- try to keep everyone safe. This means that we might have to share these concerns with someone else and break this confidentiality to help keep you or others safe.

If I’m not connecting with my clinician is it okay if I see someone else?

It sure is. If you are finding that you are not connecting with your clinician, you are more than welcome to see someone else at our centre. You can do this by asking any headspace Horsham worker. There are many options on how this can be done. Our main priority is that you are seeing someone you feel comfortable with and who will be the best person to help support you through your journey.  So, don’t be afraid to ask. Please note that transferring to a new clinician may involve wait times, this will depend on the clinician’s current case load.

Why do I need to fill in an iPad when I come to headspace?

Each survey you fill out goes to the clinician you are seeing so that they have an idea of how you have been feeling before seeing you in session. Filling out the survey also helps us with our funding so that we can keep providing FREE services to our community that supports young people.

I cannot make it to my appointment or I do not want to come to my appointment.

That’s okay! We would love it if you could call us on (03) 5381 1543 and let us know in advance! Alternatively email info.headspacehorsham@vt.uniting.org

We can also help you rebook your appointment at the same time.

We are in very high demand for our services,

so we ask for a minimum 24-hour cancellation notice where possible.

NO SHOW or CANCELLATION OF APPOINTMENT AT SHORT NOTICE HAS EFFECT ON:

1. You. 

Overcoming your presenting difficulties requires commitment to your appointments. Progress simply cannot be made if you do not attend your appointments as scheduled as momentum of headspace services is lost.

2. Other Young People. 

There are many Young People who are on a waiting list for an earlier appointment, and these Young People are missing out on an earlier appointment they need. With sufficient notice of cancellation, we are able to offer this earlier appointment to them, however without sufficient notice, this is very difficult for us to do.

3. headspace Clinicians. 

Inadequate notice of change to appointments and non-attendance is disruptive to the clinician’s time who has allocated your appointment time to you to help you achieve your goals.

Appointment Reminders

We do provide appointment reminders via text messages at the time of making your appointment and 24hrs prior to your appointment.

OTHER REMINDER STRATEGIES:

• somewhere you will see this regularly - on your fridge or bathroom mirror
• In your diary or calendar that you use
• In your phone calendar, and set an alarm reminder for the appointment
• Ensure that your appointment does not conflict with other commitments

Can I bring a support person with me to my appointment?

If you feel more comfortable with a friend, parent or carer in the room, this is okay! Whatever makes you feel comfortable is what we will support.

Is headspace wheelchair accessible?

Yes we are an all abilities access facility, with wheelchair accessible restrooms.

Can we leave feedback? And what about family, friends and carers?

We always love getting feedback from our clients, parents or carers. Both the good and the bad as this is what helps to make our service the best that it can be for young people.

We have feedback forms for compliments and complaints at reception. This can be completed and put in our confidential box at reception. You are also welcome to ask our staff for a feedback form if there aren’t any available to you.

You are also more than welcome to complete the feedback form here and email it to info.headspacehorsham@vt.uniting.org

eheadspace has both online or phone mental health support for young people and for family who are seeking support about how to help a young person (aged 12-25) in their life. 

Designed for short term support; one session might be enough for you or you can come back at any time for another session.

eheadspace available 9am-1am (Melbourne time) 7 days a week for 1-on-1 chats with trained clincians.

It's a confidential, free and safe space to talk about what's going on for you. 

All you will need to do is create a headspace account which is quick, easy, and gives you the choice to access any of these extras that you want to...

• access our professional services like 1-on-1 chat
• build a personal mental health toolkit with resources that you like
• participate in our community by contributing to chats or sharing resources
• save your activity and keep a private record of whatever you need

You will need to  know your email address, date of birth, and your postcode to create an account. If you have a mobile number, this can be helpful to activate via SMS and offers additional contact options for you to speak with our eheadspace team. 

For more information please visit eheadspace 

Here at headspace we understand that activities you do can have a big impact on your head space.

When you spend time doing things you enjoy (or used to enjoy), it can give you relief from hard times, and build some fun in your life.

We have taken out the hard work of finding out what is going on each month in the community, so you can spend more time getting into life.

Check out our monthly newsletters to to find out everything happening within our centre and in the community at large for young people and their family and friends! 

January 2024

February 2024

March 2024

April 2024

May 2024

June 2024

July 2024 

August 2024

September 2024

October 2024

November 2024

Existing clients of headspace Horsham may be recommended for referral to headspace National Telehealth Service.

National Telehealth Service enables young people to access diagnostic assessment and management advice (*note: this does not include assessment for ADHD or ASD) through a MBS bulk-billed Telehealth consultation with a psychiatrist using video conferencing.

Your headspace clinician will ask you to get a valid referral from your GP in order to book an appointment with one of the psychiatrist team.

All referrals and appointments are scheduled in consultation with headspace Horsham who are required to liaise with the young person receiving the service.  The young person comes into headspace Horsham for the video link with the psychiatrist, who may be located anywhere within Australia.

All telehealth consultations are bulk billed - meaning there are no out of pocket expenses.

Where a young person has a scheduled telehealth service with headspace Horsham, they will have received a text message with their hapi survey along with a reminder message for the appointment time. 

We ask that everyone that connects with headspace completes a survey before each session.

Follow the below link to fill out your survey, ideally within half an hour of your appointment.

https://hapi.headspace.org.au/login/young_person 

Next up, we're going to connect you with the headspace Horsham virtual waiting room.

Click on the virtual waiting room link, follow the prompts to enter the virtual waiting room.

Remember to use the Chrome browser.

We'll be with you shortly.

Here at headspace Horsham whilst our services are available to YP, we are here to support the families and friends of YP and encourage family and friend inclusive practice within our centre.

We also do family and friends support or counselling if needed and we have great programs such as Tuning into Teens that we offer to parents and carers.

If you have any questions about how you can be involved in the care of your young person whilst at headspace, please feel free to speak to any of our staff when in centre or give us a call on (03) 5381 1543.

Alternatively, you can also check out the following resources that provide more information about how we involved family and friends at headspace Horsham:

• headspace Horsham Family and Friends Information booklet

Did you know that headspace Work and Study provide free online support to young people aged 15-25yrs?

If you’re unsure about what’s next, don’t know where to start when looking for a job or have questions surrounding what you might want to study, headspace Work and Study is here to help.

You can find out more about this service via the link below:

headspace Work & Study Online Support

You can book an appointment with a headspace account and speak with one of the Work and Study Specialists, who can help get you to where you want to be.

headspace Horsham are committed to providing the best possible service, support and care to our young people, family, friends and carers.

Who can submit a compliment/complaint/service suggestion?

Anyone; young people, family, friends, carers, service professionals, schools, organisations, etc. Everyone’s feedback is valuable to us.

Complaints and suggestions help us to refine and improve our services, performances, policies, processes and systems. Similarly, compliments help us recognise when we are meeting or exceeding community standards for service, needs and performance.

Feedback can be compliments, complaints and suggestions:

• Compliments are praise or congratulations about our service delivery, services or performance

• Complaints are an expression of dissatisfaction about our service delivery, services, performance or how we conduct our business

• Service Suggestions are ideas on how we could improve or expand on our services or do our business differently. **services include programs/events that we provide or participate in

Compliments-Complaints-Service-Suggestions-Fillable-Form