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The Courage Project
Bravehearts Courage Project provides therapeutic and advocacy supports to children and young people who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing, physical and/or sexual abuse and are at risk of self-harm.
The Courage Project is an initiative that was first developed in conjunction with Mackay Women’s Service (MWS) to deliver a mental health service to disadvantaged and disengaged children and young people (under the age of 14) that have experienced trauma-related issues. The service is available to clients residing in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac Council Regions. The service uses evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches to support children and young people in their healing journey. The multidisciplinary team works with children and young people individually as well as their non-offending family members and support services.
The Courage Project is supported by funding from Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) through the Australian Government’s PHN Program.
Our Services
Counselling
The Courage Project specialist child counselling is tailored to meet the needs of the individual and, where possible, the family. This may include:
- Individual counselling and support
- Family support
- Protective behaviours and early intervention support
- Counselling support for problem sexual behaviours for children 12 and under
Child and Family Advocacy
The Child and Family Advocate assists children and families navigate and understand the service system and accessing supports to meet their needs. This includes but is not limited to:
- Wrap around support for children and families who meet the eligibility criteria for the program
- Working with the child/young person to create a strength-based individual plan and assisting them to achieve the goals that they set
- Assistance in navigating the tertiary and non-tertiary service systems including reporting to Police and/or Child Safety
- Assistance in providing referrals to appropriate support services outside of the scope of The Courage Project
- Provide community engagement, training and education to meet the needs of the local services and community
Outreach
The Courage Project is funded by the North Queensland PHN to provide counselling and support services across the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Council areas. Through a partnership approach we will deliver counselling and child and family advocacy support services across the region to support children and young people both face to face, and via E-Health. We also work closely with existing services and community stakeholders to deliver community information and awareness sessions to increase the local capacity and capability to support children and young people affected by physical and sexual abuse.
Our Clients
The Courage Project provides counselling services to:
- Children and young people (under the age of 14) who are at risk of developing a mental health illness or who already have a diagnosed mental health illness in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac Regional Council areas.
- Children and young people (under the age of 14) who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing child sexual abuse and/or physical violence which may precipitate a mental health illness.
- Support services to their non-offending adult family members including parents, partners, siblings and others.
How to Access our Services
The Courage Project welcomes referrals from parent and carers, support agencies and GP’s.
To access support contact us directly using the details below or download and complete our referral form.
If you have any enquiries about The Courage Project, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 1800 272 831.