After coming back from vacation…

Do you think doing two certs at a time is too hectic? Doing a cert doesn't mean you earn money, so I don't see how it affects your payment. Or are you saying if centrelink will pay for the cert @Blackcloud ?

@tyme yeah, I know that doing a course doesn't earn you money. I was thinking if I'm able to do both courses only part time then it would most likely fit the schedule.

And yeah, I do mean as in that if your payments will be affected if you do two courses at the same time.. like in terms of the hours of both courses you do per week (both in part time)

The studying shouldn't affect your centrelink payments unless you are earning money.

With courses though, I believe only one can be subsidised if they are the same level e.g both are cert 4s or both are diplomas.

Definitely worth while asking @Blackcloud

@tyme @Yeah from what I’m seeing, one is a free tafe course and the other one is not. so I guess that counts?

Sounds interesting @Blackcloud . Do what feels right for you 🙂

Coming back to respond to @RiverSeal ’s post about the Cert IV in Mental Health Peer Work almost 3 months after that post was made 😅

I’m wondering if doing the psychology units as my electives in my soon-to-be Bachelor in Fine Arts course (that I hopefully hope I’ll get into by next semester) would help me in becoming a peer worker - I guess in terms of becoming a part time peer worker whilst you’re still studying at the same time 🤔 since I’m pretty sure with a lot of roles out there, you’re most likely required to have prior relevant experience to be able to get into a further role if ya get me. I know with arts therapist, I’ve read somewhere that you might be required to undertake counselling or something in order to be an arts therapist.

My main issue is though is that when it comes to talking to people verbally (face to face, phone/video calls — all those settings) I usually struggle to form coherent sentences so that usually has a big impact on my communication, which is why I’m better off with working on the computer and typing out answers to users instead of having to give people advices by mouth whilst really struggling to come up with and know what to say…and a lot of times I would often have to repeat certain words too in my sentences because it usually takes a long time for me to have words coming into my head whilst I’m talking. this is also the main reason why I don’t thrive in customer service roles because I know that at least I would have a lot of customers questioning and make comments about my speech — the reason why I’ve always been too scared to work in customer service

@tyme @Jynx @rav3n @Ru-bee

hiya @Blackcloud i read your other post on the best friend's club thread too about you enjoying your art classes - and heading into week 3 already!? time FLEW by this month. art history does sound interesting! when i did my visual art subjects i remember finding out some fascinating backstories to artworks, and learning a lot about how details we don't think about have such an impact on our work. i hope you get to experience the awe i experienced!!

about the psych electives - if you're interested in them, it would be worth giving a go! different peer work roles have different requirements so in some ways, yes doing the elective can give you more knowledge and be helpful to add to your cover letter. but also, there are some roles that don't require it (but it can still be a 'bonus' piece of knowledge). i have friends who have never studied psych and instead studied construction, teaching, law, makeup-visual art, etc., and they still found peer work roles. so basically to sum it up - doing those psych electives can be helpful in learning more about mental health and understanding people's behaviours in general & you can use your knowledge from it in your cover letter/interview, etc.

i hear you about not feeling comfortable with f2f roles/talking ones. there are online peer support roles out there that are text-based, but sometimes they do have things like zoom meetings/supervision sessions where you're expected to chat with your co-workers/managers, etc. but perhaps they can make adjustments (like communicating in the chat box instead of speaking with camera/mic) if you reach out to them and let them know what you'd prefer.

@rav3n i know right?! can't believe I'm already into week 3 now, but at the same time it's kinda great that time goes by quickly haha! I hope I can smash/pass all the assessments in these 2 units I'm currently doing in this course, so that I can then soon apply for a bachelor of fine arts at a university here in melbourne/victoria (there's a particular university here that i really wanna get accepted to). One of their entry requirements to get into the bachelor in fine arts - for university study, is for you to basically pass at least two units within the relevant course you're doing (especially if the units youre doing are in bachelor/undergraduate-level). So I hope I can pass all those by late June this year before I can submit the application like a week or a few days before the next intake application date via VTAC closes.

yeah, I thought that doing the psych units would be beneficial for it as like you said, it does help you in learning more about mental health and understanding peoples behaviour. I would love to be able to do a unit that involves all of that as I've always questioned why people act a certain way negatively -- especially considering how worse teens these days have been getting.

I did look through the units, and unfortunately some of them do involve you to work in groups within at least one assessment in each of those units (thankfully not all units), so I will be in contact with the uni's disability support services to discuss with them about my issues with groupwork and how that relates to my disability/conditions etc. etc. because there's no way i can thrive working in groups, especially for assessments and practical stuff... 😕

yes, the online peer support roles are the only ones that i was thinking of really wanting to do. I even dream of becoming apart of the peer working team at SANE one day 🙂 I love giving people a listening ear and sharing my similar experiences with everyone here as we all go through our struggles in life. ❤️ ahh okay, i'll keep in mind with the adjustments part, yeah, it's just because with verbal communication I genuinely really struggle to talk without being able to form coherent sentences, so I've find that typing them makes it a lot easier for me to get my messages across than verbally saying them. Cool, thanks so much for the advice!!

@Blackcloud ohhh that makes sense! how are you feeling about passing those art units so far, do you find them easy, hard? has your teachers/tutors given you any feedback on your work yet? i have a good feeling you'll be able to pass those units so i'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

it definitely is interesting learning the "why" behind people's behaviours! it's really great that you're interested in understanding people better - and in my experience, the people in my psych class were quite nice & understanding too compared to some of my other classes. good idea to chat with disability support service in regards to the assignment. back when i did group assignments it was during covid so 70% of our group communication was through messages and then 30% was through zoom calls (i had my camera off most times and mainly used the chat function). hopefully there's an option that works for you!

aww it would be so cool to have you apart of the SANE team some day! i hear what you mean about the verbal aspect, i think a lot of people with social anxiety tend to prefer text-based over calls/f2f. i think even headspace and ReachOut are some other organisations that do online peer support, not too sure if any of them are hiring at the moment though. i think the nice thing about working in mental health companies is that they understand people might have different preferences or need support with certain things, so when you do apply for mental health/peer support roles, they'll be opportunities to discuss what works for you and if you want adjustments to be taken into consideration.

also how did that movie with that other person go?

@rav3n the folio assessment we're doing right now is due sometime next month, but yes I have been getting feedback from my lecturer regarding the drawings I did, and I do really appreciate the feedback she gives me everytime she responds, because I know on what I did well on and what I need to improve a bit more on as well! I think seeking for feedback that way allows me to take my work in the unit very seriously and that it shows I'm very dedicated to passing them!

The first assessment on the art history unit is also due sometime next month but I've been working on gathering a lot of resources I've been reading through and taking notes from those resources I've read that relates to the image analysis topic that I'm gonna be doing and that I'll have to start writing my first draft on! And then the second assessment for that one is an....essay (ugh) 😒 thankfully for both these assignments, you have to do them at anytime and then submit them before the due date so thank god!!

the movie i've watched with my support worker over the past week was great - though the movie we've watched wasn't necessarily my fav lol even though i've picked it since it was one of the movies that was available at the cinemas within the allocated time during my 3 hours session with the support worker. she's a very lovely lady to talk to and i'm glad to be having her! I also appreciate our (her and I) chats in relation to me wanting to be an arts therapist and the fine art course im about to do + the psychology units i wanna pick up and her doing all these psychology/mental health etc. etc. related courses within...i dont know how many years she did them all lol!