New to Melbourne need to make Friends

Hi there @Talzy_T and welcome to the forums. I’m so glad you found this space to talk and be around people who have similar interests to you. I’m a Community Guide here on the forums and I have a lived experience of 3 mental health issues- depression, schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder with some anxiety in the mix as well. I’m also from Melbourne which I grew up in except for 6 years that I spent in Tasmania doing uni. Nice to meet you!

I read that you’re interested in peer work which is great to read. Part of my role here as a Community Guide is to help others on the forums as a peer with lived experience and that’s what I’m doing in this volunteer role at SANE Australia on the forums. I’m also in the process of studying a Certificate IV in Mental Health - currently in the process of changing TAFE providers as I speak. If you’re interested in peer work, there are courses available in peer work through Tafe organisations as well as the opportunity to get a job in peer work provided you have some sort of experience like working in hospitals or in the community. I’ve found the job site Ethical Jobs to be a good site for these type of jobs if you’re interested in the field. I’m going to tag peer workers @Former-Member @hanami here as well as @tyme and the Community Manager of the forums @Daisydreamer who might have some more ideas as to how to get into peer work.

This is my first role in peer work as a Community Guide which I’ve been doing for nearly 2 years here on the forums. I applied for a Community Guide role when the positions came up on the forums and was lucky enough to be accepted into the role. The position involves helping new forum members navigate the forums and being around the forums to talk and even start new discussions on the forums about topics of interest. I have a forum discussion post thread called Daily Achievements! which I started to help me remind myself of the little things I achieve each day and to help me with my depression which can be bad at times for me. It’s a little reminder that I can achieve things despite having a mental illness. Maybe you’d like to have a look at that area of the forums?

As for meeting new people in Melbourne, I’ve found the local library to be a great starting place as it’s full of information about the community and there are often groups to join in on as well. Also, maybe try the local community centre as a point of reference as well. Have you thought of doing some volunteer work as a way of meeting new people? The website ‘seek volunteer’ is a good site and so is one called govolunteer. These are just ideas for you to potentially explore should you be interested in this sort of thing.

I look forward to seeing you around the forums!

Take care!

Judi9877☺️💐🌻

@Judi9877 Yeah Thanks for all the help, I've been trying to apply for roles lately in peer support workers mostly either require Certification IV in mental health or just lived experience with mental health. I do have experience in retail and IT but will that be enough? I feel like I dont want to waste time again on studying because that didnt go well the first time around at Uni.

I really am interested in peer work and want to know if I have right requirements I need in order apply for the role. Yes I've looked over at ethical jobs website as my support worker told me I should go on to it and apply. The thing is there arent many jobs for peer support worker listed on there compared to seek.

Yes I think going to my local library and the community centre may help me find connections. Thank You!!

Hi @Talzy_T

Moving to a new city can be tough in regards to making new friends. I am close to someone who moved from a country town to Melbourne about 7 years ago and she really struggled at first to make friends. She's an introvert too with some mental health struggles. She was lucky to make friends through work.

I'm a peer worker too and have completed the cert 4. I did get my first role as a peer worker without thee certificate but I had to commit to doing it within my first year of work as part of my contract. It was a great course too get to understand the fundamentals of peer work. I did it online too which made things easier with work combined with study.

Hope some of that helps.

💮❤️

@hanami Thanks for sharing your experience. I just wanted to ask what are some challenges facing toward talking to people who have gone through mental trauma is it at any point that people may physically harm you in conversations that may trigger them? or are there worse cases of people taking their own lives from a suicide incident?

Does it worry you that whatever advice you've given to that person take it negatively and might blame you for a problem that might of have occurred? How do you handle it?

These are all such amazing questions coming out of this discussion! If I can help answer any queries re. peer support work just @ me.

I truly believe, and have seen in action right here in this forum, that our lived experience can be used to empower ourselves and others – it's our super power!

@Former-Member What kind of experience do I need in order to get my foot in the door as a peer support worker?

I currently have sales retail and IT experience. Do I need any qualifications in order to be successful in the role and if so what companies should I apply for?

Hi @Talzy_T, great question and keep them coming!

I believe it would be beneficial to have completed, or be enrolled in, a certificate 4 in mental health/peer work. That would set you apart from those who don't hold that training.

I'd start by looking at employment websites such as SEEK or ethical jobs and using the search term "peer support" or "peer work" or even "peer". The Centre for Volunteering also offer volunteer opportunities which may help gain experience working with people with complex needs. One example is this opportunity.

Next step would be getting your resume up to scratch, is that something you'd like some assistance with?

@Former-Member My resume is pretty good at the moment but is it catered for mental health, peer support work?

I think I may need assistance with refreshing my resume but I'm not sure If I need to as its mostly IT and Retail centric for those roles. Would be kind in having a look at it? or point me in the right direction who will?