From July this year, Community Links Wollondilly became the lead agency of a local consortium to provide psychological services for underserviced populations.

Community Links Wollondilly also services the Wingecarribee.

Clinical program coordinator for You in Mind Martin Lumetzberger is one of four clinicians who have taken over the funding for the next 12 months.

He was employed by Community Links Wollondilly to build a service “into the shires” as opposed to allocating funding to individual clinicians.

“The idea is about driving therapy into isolated communities which means finding people who are sitting in and around the outlying villages of both shires while also continuing to provide the services for people within the bigger population centres,” he said.

Through the You in Mind program people can access 12 hours for individual counselling and on top of that, they can also access 12 hours for groups.

Mr Lumetzberger said they had been driving access to outlying villages and building on pre existing relationships with GP practices.

“We’re tasked with creating an innovative, creative, flexible psychological service which doesn’t simply require vulnerable people coming to an office in the main parts of town.”

Mr Lumetzberger said he had started holding individual and parent sessions in caravan parks, peoples’ homes and had even met young people in parks.

He said Primary Health Network, which distributed the funding, had been extremely responsive to feedback and had created single counselling sessions.

“Single sessions can be a good entry point into the world of counselling because it can answer issues around stigma and accessibility. But it also means they can see a therapist for free without mental health treatment plan.” Visit http://www.swsphn.com.au/youinmind for more on the program or contact Mr Lumetzberger through Community Links Wollondilly.