A career where the ‘little wins’ count
In a sector that rarely gets good publicity, Helen Rawlings is a beacon of positivity.
For Helen, watching a person recover from a mental illness is an achievement and a privilege. She wonders why the public never hear stories about people who get well. Perhaps, for many people, recovery is still an intensely private experience or maybe, we’re just not interested.
“That’s a sad thing,” Helen says. “A large number of people have positive experiences with their mental health and do get on with their lives. We never hear good stories about people who get well. I just don’t think we highlight that enough.”
Helen began her career in mental health as a social worker in Bairnsdale and Sale in 1992 when community teams were first introduced to the region. As an intensive youth mobile outreach worker, she travelled to some of the most remote parts of Gippsland to support children and young people experiencing some pretty big challenges.
“Back then there was a lot of hidden stuff like family violence and abuse. Because the communities were quite remote, a lot of kids were isolated in those families and highly traumatised. There were no mobile phones or computers,” Helen says. “All they had was school and you used to try to make school their haven because there was nothing else.”
After 10 years, Helen quit to restore an old house in East Gippsland and run a bed and breakfast. That dream lasted 18 months.
“I missed being among people – in the thick of it. Yes, we had guests at the B&B but it wasn’t really the same.”
So, Helen returned to Latrobe Regional Health’s mental health service in 2002 where she learnt to celebrate any win, no matter how small.
“The small achievements count in mental health. When I used to work in the community, you would see people at their worst and then you might go to their house and they make you a cup of tea and it might be the first time they’ve done that without you asking them to put on the kettle. And they are up and showered and dressed. For someone who is mentally ill, that is a massive achievement,” Helen says.
It’s a message Helen will share with the team at Latrobe Valley Community Mental Health Service when she retires this week. People working in the sector generally do a fantastic job, she says, despite the stress, frustration and changes that are accompanying the transformation of mental health services locally.
“In that day-to-day slog staff think they are not doing a good job and things aren’t going as well as they would like. It’s taking the little wins, remembering them and building on it.
“I’m hoping the system will be better. There are some good and some not so good things about it. You’ve always got to try to stay positive and make it better for people. And whenever there is any change, your focus has always got to be on the consumer and if you keep that person-centred care, you can’t go wrong.”