headspace
Upper Coomera

We understand that asking for help when you're not feeling yourself takes strength and can feel uncomfortable. Because of this, we have made our referral process as easy as possible. 

If you are a young person between the ages of 12-25, there are a number of ways in which you can access our services at headspace Upper Coomera.

• You can make an appointment yourself
• You can have a friend or family member make an appointment for you
• You can make an appointment with your GP and ask them to complete the referral form for you 
• A trusted professional from your school, TAFE, University or any other health or community service provider can complete the referral form or call on your behalf.

If you are under the age of 16 years of age, we encourage you to bring along a parent, care giver or support person for your first appointment. 

Making an appointment

To make an appointment at headspace Upper Coomera: 

• You can call us on 07 5600 1999
• You can email us at reception@headspaceuc.org.au
• You can drop into the centre at Shop 1, 1 Brygon Creek Road, Upper Coomera during our opening hours. 

When you call to make an appointment our friendly and helpful reception staff will take some details like your name, contact information and any Medicare information and then book you in to our next available time to see a clinician. You will then get a welcome pack explaining more. 

Scroll down to the drop down tab; what to expect at headspace Upper Coomera to find out what happens in that appointment. 

While you can just walk-in to the centre to see someone, you may have to wait until a clinician is free so we prefer if you make an appointment. 

Our phone and email accounts are only checked during our opening hours. If you require immediate support, please contact:

• MH Call on 1300 642 255
• Kids Helpline on 18100 551 800
• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Emergency Services 000

Cost 

Services are free. 

You don't need to have a Mental Health TreatmentPlan (also known as a mental health CarePlan) before contacting headspace and coming in for your first appointment. If after your appointment, you and the clinician feel that this would be the best way to support you, then we can help you through getting a Mental Health Treatment Plan after you attend. 

Bulk Billing is where headspace, instead of charging you, can bill Medicare (or the Australian government) for the health services that you receive. You can find more information at this government website Bulk billing and Medicare. 

Wondering what happens when you come to an appointment at headspace Upper Coomera ?

Our friendly team at reception will greet you and help you with a few bits of essential paperwork, then you can make yourself comfortable in our waiting room, with tea and coffee available and your clinician will come to meet you.

If you are coming with family, friends or other support people, some helpful info can be found in this welcome pack

headSTART is what we call our pathway into services provided at headspace Upper Coomera, it is based on a very well researched model called "single session framework" . This research found that more often than not, between 1 and 3 sessions is enough to support someone with their current situation and difficulties. 

The clinician will work with you to keep the questions and assessment to a minimum and focus on providing strategies and tools straight away. 

This pathway helps us to keep the wait time for an appointment with a clinician to two weeks and under so you can get support when you need it. 

Should you and the clinician agree that you need additional support, they’ll work with you to map the best pathway and link you to services that will best meet your needs. This could be with Practitioners or programs within headspace Upper Coomera, or with other local services and specialists. Should we think another service would be more suitable, we will make that referral and paperwork for you, and if you think it would be helpful we can support you as you move across and meet new people” 

While we are best known for our mental health support, we also offer services to support overall well being:

GP for your physical health, this service is available for young people registered with headspace and our GP can support you with physical health issues, with accessing a Mental Health Care Plan, medication reviews and anything else you would see a GP for. 

True Clinic for sexual health 

YODA for alcohol other drugs 

Busy Ability and headspace Work and Study for support with employment

hAPI survery - what are they and why are they important?

To be able to continue providing a completely free service it is important that we collect some basic (de identified) information for every appointment. It is also important that we collect information about how you are going to best be able to support you, and if you come to see us more than once we can see how you are going and whether what we are doing is helping so we can respond and change where needed. The way we do this at headspace is through a centralised platform called hAPI. 

Before any appointment at headspace Upper Coomera, you will be asked to complete a "hAPI survey", you will be unable to complete it on your phone so we have access to an iPad in the centre and staff will be able to assist you to complete them. 

In addition, some of the information you provide is used in an unidentified way to show the government, the headspace network and our funders what services are needed here on the Gold Coast. 

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete  the first time but is quicker for any subsequent appointment. 

Our team are experts in their field, with a specific interest in the unique experiences and needs of young people. Meet the team: 

Suzi - Centre Manager (Team Leader) 

Marilyn - Practice Manager (Admin Team Leader)

Lissy - Clinical Educator & Senior Mental Health Clinician 

Lani, Michael and Kylah - Reception 

Kirsty, Tristan and Jessie - Mental Health Clinicians

Dr Susie Radford - General Practitioner

Georgia - Community Engagement Coordinator 

Private Practitioner: 

Julie Storay - Social Worker 

Justin Ong - Psychologist 

Other services provided by:

YODA at Lives Lived Well (Alcohol and Other Drug Counselling)

headspace Work and Study (Vocational Support) 

True Clinic (Sexual health)

Lead Agency:

Lives Lived Well - more information at their website here: Lives Lived Well

How to contact our staff: 

• To book, change or cancel an appointment: Contact reception on 07 5600 1999
• To contact our Centre Manager - Suzi Brendon: Contact Suzi by phone on 0437 331 440 or email suzi.brendon@headspace.org.au
• For all Community Engagement opportunities or enquiries: Contact Georgia on 0437 007 845 or by email georgia.richards@headspaceuc.org.au 

Please use these request forms if you are a School/Uni/Tafe or Service/Community Group

headspace Upper Coomera supports the development of future clinicians by having Psychology, Social Work and Counselling students from our local Universities on a learning placement at centre; you may be asked if a student can be in the room observing the clinician running your appointment, or whether a student can take the lead in your appointment under the guidance of a permanent, experienced clinician. Some students will be about to graduate, and in these circumstances, they may run the session on their own, this is after extensive training, support and guidance of our clinical team. You can decline the student being present, and we will reallocate to a clinician, this decision in no way impacts the care that you will receive

headspace Upper Coomera is not a crisis service and we cannot guarantee that we can respond in an emergency.

For urgent assistance, please contact;

Emergency services 000
If you need immediate help or are at risk of harm to yourself or others, call 000 now

Lifeline 13 11 14
Confidential service providing support to anyone in Australia who is feeling overwhelmed, having difficulty coping or thinking about suicide

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
Australia's only free support service specifically for children and young people aged 5 to 25 years, offering confidential and private counselling and mental health and wellbeing information and referrals

13YARN  13 92 76
The first national crisis support line for mob who are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping. Confidential one-on-one with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Crisis supporter. 

1300 MH CALL – 1300 64 22 55
A free, 24/7 service offering advice and information in a mental health emergency or crisis.
Further information about this service can be found here

Other Services and Resources

Head to Health
Head to Health is a free, confidential service that helps all Australians access the mental health and wellbeing services that are right for them.
Whether you are looking for mental health support for yourself, someone you care about, or just trying to improve your wellbeing – Head to Health is a good place to start.
They can help you navigate and choose the most suitable care options, whether that’s face-to-face, via phone, or online.

Find out more about Head to Health here 
Please note; Head to Health is not an emergency or crisis service.

headspace online services
headspace has developed online resources that can be accessed by setting up your own free and confidential account 

Through this account you can access: 

• 1:1 support with a mental health clinician online or on the phone (9am – midnight, NOT a crisis service)
• Weekly online clinician led community chats on specific topics
• Peer chats to connect with others experiencing similar issues
• Online tools and resources to build your own personalised toolkit
• Work and Study specialist support

Sign up for your headspace account here 

Taplink
Taplink is a list of online, phone and face to face support and services covering mental health, housing, drug and alcohol support and much more.

Check out Taplink here

headspace Upper Coomera's Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a group of passionate young people who work with our centre to give guidance and feedback, collaborate on events and campaigns, create social media and help make sure young people’s voices are being heard. 

If you are keen to find out more about our YAC and how to apply, get in touch with Georgia by email georgia.richards@headspaceuc.org.au or call/text 0473 007 845

You are also able to click here for the application. 

Accessibility 

headspace Upper Coomera been built ensure access to people of all abilities, there is wheelchair access from the car park straight in front of the centre, all our doors are wide enough for wheelchairs and our reception desk has a lower level to allow everyone to be able to talk directly with our reception staff

We have adapted toilet facilities 

Transport Options

headspace Upper Coomera is on several main bus routes: you can plan your journey here 

If you are driving here, please see the map at the top of the website which has a link for directions. There is plenty of parking around the centre and it is all free. 

If you need further help or are struggling to afford transport, please speak to our reception team. 

If you, or your family and friends do not have English as a first language, our staff have access to a free interpreting service at all times, please ask reception about this service when you are booking you’re appointment.

The centre also has access to an AUSLAN Interpreter if you use Australian Sign Language.

At headspace Upper Coomera we take your privacy very seriously and anything shared with us is confidential. We keep all your information on a secure database which is only available to headspace Upper Coomera staff. The law stops us from sharing your information outside these people unless we have your permission. 

Sometimes you do not want us to share your information and we respect that, however there may be times when we need to talk to someone without your permission, such as: if you or someone else is at significant risk of harm or if the law requires us to do so. We will always let you know if this needs to happen. 

Consent forms to be added soon for your viewing. 

At headspace Upper Coomera we want to work together with you to ensure that you receive all the support you need to reach your goals. We believe that to achieve this is necessary to tell you what you can expect from us and what we may expect from you. 

You have the right to:

• be treated with respect at all times
• receive a high-quality, professional and non-judgemental service
• feel safe and supported to voice your thoughts, feelings and opinions and have them listened to
• work together with your thoughts, feelings and opinions and have them listened to
• work together with your team at headspace Upper Coomera on goals and care plans with which you have agreed 
• be involved in making decisions that affect your life 
• provide feedback to us or to headspace National about the treatment you receive here
• ask for access to information we may have collected about you 
• ask to receive support from a different worker if you are not satisfied or comfortable with the worker who is allocated to you 
• expect that no information about you will be given to anyone that isn't involved in your support or treatment unless you choose to allow that information to be shared or unless the law requires us to disclose that information 
• give us as much or as little information as you want

Your responsibility is to:

• Treat the headspace Upper Coomera team with respect and recognise that we are here to help
• not attend headspace Upper Coomera when under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other substances.
• make every effort to contact us should you not be able to make your appointment
• respect the privacy of other people accessing the service
• respect the property and premise of headspace Upper Coomera

We believe that family and friends play an important role in the path to better wellbeing. We understand that there may be many different types of family and friends that are important. Research shows that involving family and friends in a young person’s care can lead to better health outcomes.  

Wherever possible, we support and create meaningful opportunities for family and friends to directly participate in our services, in ways that the young person is comfortable with, and that are likely to be beneficial to the young person's wellbeing.  

All involvement of family and friends at headspace is done with the young person's privacy and confidentiality in mind. 

Please see this Family and Friends Welcome Pack for more information and headspace National also offer online support services for family and friends.

headspace Upper Coomera welcomes feedback, compliments and complaints from young people, their friends and family.   
Sharing your experience and ideas helps us to know what we’re doing well, and how we can make improvements. 
 
You can do this by; 

• Filling in the Tell Us About It form in the waiting room, and drop it in the box 
• Speaking to a team member in the centre 
• Phoning us on 07 5600 1999 
• Emailing us at reception@headspaceuc.org.au  

• Sharing online via Care Opinion
• or via headspace national office feedback  

Providing feedback or making a complaint will not impact your care or access to services. 
We appreciate your willingness to provide this valuable feedback so that we can provide the best possible care and experience to young people and their families. 

Do my parents need to come with me?

Although we feel it's great if parents can come and support you, we also understand this may be difficult for many reasons. Therefore, your parents don't have to attend appointments with you. You can attend by yourself or you may want to bring someone else that you feel comfortable with to join the session. If you’re 16 years or under we will require consent from a family member or guardian to attend. 

What happens when I call to make an appointment?

You will talk to one of our friendly staff who will:

• Chat with you about what you are wanting help with
• Explain to you the services we can provide
• Work with you to develop a plan around how we can work with you

We will use this information to match you with a worker who will contact you to book a face-to-face or phone appointment. You can also ask a friend, teacher, parent, other family member, health worker or community agency to contact headspace Upper Coomera for you; however we will still reach out to you to get your consent. 

Do you tell people what I say?

At headspace Upper Coomera, we take your privacy very seriously and anything you say to us is confidential. If your information needs to be given to other people or organisations we will ask you first for your permission. The only time we would talk to someone else without your permission is if you tell us that you are going to hurt yourself or someone else, or if we are required to by law. Keeping you and other people safe is our main priority.

What if I'm not ready to speak to someone face-to-face?

It's totally normal to feel nervous about getting help for the first time. If you're going through a tough time and you're not ready to chat to someone face-to-face, eheadspace provides confidential online web-chat and telephone mental health support 7 days a week, 9am- 1am. To access eheadspace for the first time all you need to do is register at Online and phone support or phone 1800 650 890. 

headspace Upper Coomera offers a number of student placements each year, and the demand for placements is always high. To assist students in deciding whether headspace Upper Coomera may be an appropriate and suitable placement option, we have created the following information.

What type of activities do students get to participate in whilst on placement?

• Conducting psychosocial assessment and providing single-session intervention
• Participating in Clinical MDT Review meetings.
• Making referrals to external and internal service providers.
• Provide case coordination.
• Co-facilitating therapeutic groups.
• Provide brief intervention counselling sessions.
• Participate in community awareness activities.

What type of students can complete a placement at headspace Upper Coomera?

Students that headspace Upper Coomera usually works with are;

• Social Work Bachelor or masters, final placement.
• Psychology internships- will require an external supervisor.
• Bachelor or masters of Counselling, final placement.
• Bachelor or masters of Occupational Therapy, final placement.

How do I make a request for placement? 

Please make applications for placements through the Clinical Educator at your University.