FAQs for young people

Youth Focus offers a range of evidence-based, trauma-informed mental health services that are guided by your individual needs and goals.

Youth Counsellors will use a variety of techniques and approaches tailored to your specific needs and objectives. Your Youth Counsellor will work with you to determine the type, number, and focus of each session, based on what you find most helpful and what you want to achieve in your life, in that moment.

At Youth Focus, we understand that every young person’s mental health journey is different, so we make sure young people are in control of their mental health journey.

If you’re between 12 -25 years old, you are eligible to access Youth Focus services.

You do not need a referral from another health provider or service. You or your chosen support person can get in touch directly and we will arrange a time to chat with you about what support at Youth Focus might look like and how we can help you meet your needs and goals.

Youth Focus can provide services to young people from 12 years old up until their 26^th birthday. Below are some other services which can be helpful if you’re outside of this age bracket.

Under 12 years old

• Helping Minds (7 to 17 years old)
• School Psychologist
• Wanslea (5 to 18 years old)
• Anglicare WA (5+ years old)
• Relationships Australia WA (3+ years old)
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• See a GP for a Mental Health Treatment Plan

Over 25 years old

• Medicare Mental Heath Centres (previously Head to Health)
• Talk to your employer about Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) or university about their psychology clinic.
• See a GP for a Mental Health Treatment Plan
• Community Adult Mental Health Service (CMHS)
• Call Lifeline for someone to talk to

Youth Focus offers services in a range of locations, including centres and schools.

You can find out more about our locations here or by calling 6266 4333.

Our centres are accessible by public transport and have free parking nearby.

We aim to make our services as available as possible, so you can get the help you need, when you need it.

Sometimes there are waitlists for our services. These vary depending on the location. You can call 6266 4333 to find out more.

If you are connected with Youth Focus, we will keep you updated on wait times until you’re linked in with a Counsellor.

Yes! We can do sessions in-person and via phone or computer.  We use a secure program for our online appointments to protect your privacy. If you’re having an online or phone appointment, you will receive a link beforehand to help you dial-in.

Your first session is a great chance for you to ask questions and for us to understand what’s going on for you. It’s important that you feel safe, welcomed, and that the counsellor is focusing on the things that you find important.

If you’ve been to counselling before, it might be useful to discuss what was and wasn’t helpful previously. This session can also involve your chosen support people if you would like – your needs and goals will still be the focus.

During this appointment your counsellor will tell you a bit about themselves, Youth Focus and their role. They’ll also:

• Explain your rights and responsibilities
• Discuss how we record and store your information, and who we might share it with (privacy and confidentiality)
• Discuss your goals for connecting with Youth Focus and make a plan with you about what your support will look like e.g. number of sessions, frequency of appointments, location, in-person or online.
• Explain how you can provide feedback.

At the end of the session, you and your counsellor will talk about the next steps. Sometimes one appointment will be all that you need at the time. You can always reach out again in the future to book another appointment.

If you feel like another session will be useful, you and your counsellor may arrange a follow-up phone call or another appointment.

It’s completely up to you – counselling is your space to talk about whatever will be useful. It can be a great way to get support when you’re going through tough times and a yarn with a professional about what might help. It might be things like:

• Exploring difficult feelings like feeling down, anxious, angry, stressed or overwhelmed
• Learning to understand yourself better
• Exploring what you’re doing well or want to do more of
• Talking about relationship challenges with friends, family, romantic relationships
• Health challenges
• Work or study goals
• Processing grief and loss
• Understanding your gender and identity
• Discussing alcohol and other drug use

You might find that you have one topic that you would like to work through or maybe it’s a few things at the same time. You and your counsellor will work together to focus on what’s most important for you.

Your information is stored on an ‘electronic medical record’ which only Youth Focus staff can access. This information is used by your team to work together to support you.

In some situations, it can be useful to share information with people outside of Youth Focus, like your support person or other services. We will always talk to you about this first, so you are in control of who receives the information and what you would like to share.

There are some situations where we may need to share certain information without your consent, generally to keep you or others safe.

Youth Focus also records some information about our clients to help provide the best service possible. Your name and personal information will never be connected to this data.

Youth Focus is here for young people aged 12 – 25, living in Western Australia. We believe that you have the right to feel safe, well, valued and listened to, no matter who you are, where you’re from, what you do, or who you love. We aim to provide services that are youth-friendly, accessible, culturally secure and LGBQTIA+ affirming.

Although our services are delivered in English, we have access to translating and interpreting services (including AUSLAN). Our locations are accessible, and we can tailor our support to meet your needs.

Please let us know if you or your support people have any preferences and accessibility requirements e.g. chosen name, pronouns, wheelchair access, AUSLAN interpreting, online appointments.

If we are not the most suitable service, we will assist you to find one that is.

The length of the appointment varies depending on where you are and what you’re talking about. They will generally last between 60 to 90 minutes.

Appointments can be shorter at schools to align with the class timetable or if you find briefer sessions work better for you.

Yes, finding the right counsellor is important to getting the most out of mental health support. If you’ve met with a clinician and feel they’re not the right fit for you, we have other Youth Counsellors available so you can find someone you feel comfortable with.

The location of services may impact on the capacity to meet certain preferences, like gender. Where this is the case the staff member will talk to you about different options e.g. alternative locations, online appointments, on-referral.

You can discuss this with your Youth Counsellor directly. You can also call reception on 6266 4333 who will connect you with the Manager.

Your feedback helps us to deliver more effective services and support for young people. To give us feedback about our services, programs or people, please contact us by calling 6266 4333, emailing [email protected] or visiting our feedback page.

At the end of each session, we’ll invite you to complete a brief survey which lets us know whether the appointment was helpful.

You can find out more about your right to give feedback here.

Sometimes our services will no longer be approriate. This might happen if you;

• Don’t want to continue to receive support from Youth Focus 

• Are over the age of 25 years 

• Need more specialist mental health assessment or support that we cannot provide 

Wherever possible, we will support you to connect with a more suitable service. You can always leave services and return at another time.

Definitely! You can leave and return to Youth Focus whenever you need to, providing you are still aged between 12 and 25 years, are willing to receive mental health support, and our services are still appropriate for what you need.

1. Motivated to participate in mental health support
2. 12-25 years old
3. and we are the most suitable service for you

You can generally book straight in with your Youth Counsellor if you return within 3 months of exiting, and there have been no significant changes.

You can request to see the same Youth Counsellor. If they are unavailable or there is a wait to see them, we may suggest you see another one of our experienced and caring Youth Counsellors.