RHYTHMIC DRUMMING & COUNSELLING SERVICES
Therapeutic Drumming, Counselling and Mentoring Service
ABOUT ME
Experienced Counselling Professional
I am an experienced counsellor working from a "Strengths Based", "Client Focused" and "Trauma Informed Framework". I strongly believe that the key to change is based on our connections and relationships with the people in our lives. I am experienced in working with children, adolescents and adults in individual and group settings. I hold a Diploma of Counselling and Communication, Cert 4 in Training and Assessment (Language, Literacy and Numeracy). I am also working towards membership of the ACA college of supervisors having completed the "RISE UP" individual and group supervision certificate of attainment. Some of my specialist skills include Therapeutic Drumming, Child Centred Play Therapy and Trauma Informed Practice. I am a member of the Australian Counselling Association and the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
RHYTHMIC DRUMMING
Mick is an accredited DRUMBEAT facilitator and has also adapted his skills with African drumming and group work to be able to facilitate therapeutic drumming sessions for groups or individuals. Rhythmic Drumming Riverland have provided therapeutic drumming services to Schools, Guides, Out of School Hours Care, Youth Groups, Carer Groups, Aged Care and Corporate Groups. Sessions can be adapted to suit the needs of the particular client group.
THERAPEUTIC COUNSELLING AND MENTORING
One on one Therapeutic Counselling or Mentoring, specialising in support for children and young people. Client centred counselling approach specialising in behaviour support, trauma and attachment, self esteem and communication.
VICARIOUS TRAUMA WORKSHOPS
Using the "Professional Quality of Life Scale" (PROQOL) helping professionals will be able to self assess their level of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue, which is a pre cursor to the experience of Vicarious Trauma. This workshop is suitable for anyone in the helping profession from teachers and counsellors to aged care workers and emergency service workers. Session includes suggestions and preventions / interventions to assist workers to manage the negative effects of caregiving.
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP SUPERVISION
Mick practices counselling supervision via the “Rise Up” model, developed by Philip Armstrong, CEO of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA). This supervision model consists of four important steps:
Identifying possible mental and/or emotional health issues for the supervisee. Discussing this step will allow you to have a long and productive career as a practical and functional therapist.
Challenging the counsellor-supervisee’s use of theories, modalities and ethics in relationship to the client. The purpose of this step helps you to learn and expand your knowledge base of theory and practical applications.
Assisting the counsellor-supervisee to develop further as a professional within the accepted guidelines via self-reflection. This is an obvious element of quality control, necessary within the profession, that will enhance your legal and ethical practice skills.
Providing the counsellor-supervisee with business-building skills and career development opportunities. This step will allow you to become a well-rounded, well-respected professional with the industry.
ACE AWARENESS PRESENTATION
Understand Adverse Childhood Experiences and their impact on development, relationships, behaviour and health.
Essential for school staff and other professionals working with people
THE BIG TREEHOUSE THERAPEUTIC DOLLS
Trauma effects the way children experience their environment - it impacts the way they play and diminishes their orientation towards exploration. Trauma can become a filter through which the sensory experience of their world is interpreted. When a child is exposed to trauma, their body reacts in a way to maximise the chance of survival. This involves a number of physical actions that prepare the child’s body to endure the threat. After the experience is over, the memory of it can still linger, held in the body, and cause a heightened sense of readiness as the child attempts to be alert to further cues of danger. If the trauma is ongoing, as it is for so many children, the stress response will be chronically activated. As such, a child experiences stress constantly – at times when their memories, dreams and thoughts are awakened with terror and fear. They struggle to feel safe and calm. They become disconnected from an awareness of their body and find it difficult to understand their internal rhythms and sensations. Play can bring the body of children and their internal processes of safety into more effective alignment. The Big Tree dolls are tools aimed at helping to modulate a child’s traumatised nervous system and to build more flexibility into their trauma response system. The enriched sensory nature of the dolls and their relatable characters confer messages on both physiological, emotional and cognitive levels that could help children to build an increased sense of safety and awareness of themselves in the present moment. With repeated exposure and relational support our children can learn to trust in this growing sense of calm and safety and generalise it from therapeutic spaces into their day to day lives.
As a shift away from the more traditional cognitive and language based approaches, the Australian Childhood Foundation practitioners have incorporated more body focused interventions which place an emphasis on the experience of the ‘whole child’.The weighted, colourful, tactile nature of the Big Tree dolls complement this approach. The sensory nature of these four characters provide children with tools to better regulate their guarded systems. The Big Tree dolls are relatable, playful supports to children recovering from trauma and can meet the needs of children progressing through their unique therapeutic journey. The Big Tree dolls can be used in different ways with children to promote diverse dimensions of therapeutic work. While the dolls function well on a sensory level, they have also been designed to operate and support children metaphorically. Each doll has a story and a set of trauma recovery related themes that make them uniquely placed to aid children healing from trauma.
LEGO BASED THERAPY
LEGO®-Based Therapy is an evidence informed social communication program that works by teaching the participant observation and adaptability skills rather than rote language or a checklist of social information. LEGO®-Based Therapy doesn’t aim to make a participant communicate more typically, but, instead, it gives the participant the tools to become more adaptable in their social activities.
Some of the skills worked on during LEGO® -Based Therapy include:
Collaboration – participants work as a group to achieve a common goal
Joint problem solving, sharing and turn-taking – taking turns in different roles, dividing up the tasks and working on the build together
Maintaining attention – participants need to remain focused on the task to build the models
Verbal and non-verbal communication – using language and non-verbal skills (such as eye contact) to express ideas and feelings
Conflict resolution – working through differences for a shared aim
Creativity in coming up with a group name, building the models and free playtime
Fine motor skills for manipulating the LEGO® blocks
Concepts participants get to learn about colours, numbers, categories, describing and more.
National Disability Insurance Scheme
If your NDIS is "SELF" managed or "PLAN" managed you can use it to access our services.
Contact Mick or Sherri to discuss your options.
RATE MY WORK
Add Your Review