For many people, living well with complex mental health requires more than just medical management of symptoms. Taking active steps to towards a healthy and more fulfilling life will not only help your mental health, it will improve your physical wellbeing and connection with the world around you. 

Quick facts

• Families, friends and carers provide support to people living with mental health issues, but often don’t get the support they need themselves.
• Burnout can include fatigue, cynicism, low mood, and feelings of guilt or shame.
• Families and friends can benefit from self-care, time out, improving boundaries, and getting their own support.

• What is carer burnout?

  It is possible for people living with mental health issues to access the right types of treatment and supports, and live a full and meaningful life. But recovery can include ups and downs.

  Family members, friends, and other carers often provide a range of emotional and practical supports to people living with mental health issues. Supporting someone in this role can be demanding, stressful, and even exhausting at times:

  • Mental health issues often affect how people relate to and understand others. They can have a ‘ripple effect’ on families and friends, creating tension, uncertainty, troubled emotions and big changes in how people live their lives.
  • Many symptoms of mental health issues first appear when a person is in their late teens or early twenties. This means that symptoms are likely to occur when the person is still living with their family.
  • Families and friends may also take on the role of day-to-day care and support. This often happens with little training or support, or acknowledgment of their own needs and mental health.
  • Sometimes family and friends are not invited into treatment-related decisions, or their own needs are not considered a priority. This can lead to feelings of confusion or them feeling unsure or devalued.

• About carer burnout

  Burnout is the state of feeling emotionally and physically exhausted due to being exposed to excessive and prolonged periods of stress.

  When families, friends, and carers are exposed to these periods, it’s common to experience signs and symptoms such as:

  • fatigue and exhaustion
  • feeling unable to complete tasks to the same standard as before
  • changes in appetite
  • changes in sleeping patterns
  • loss of motivation
  • feeling helpless
  • increased cynicism and negative view of current situation
  • decreased satisfaction or sense of accomplishment
  • feeling a sense of guilt or shame, or doubting skills and ability to support others
  • social withdrawal
  • frequent headaches and tension
  • often getting sick (due to lowered immunity)
  • using alcohol or drugs to cope

  Many of these symptoms are also similar to experiences of depression in a depressive episode and can feel just as overwhelming. If you or someone you know are experiencing these symptoms, it’s important to act now and prevent the effects of burnout becoming worse.

• Preventing burnout

  When supporting someone else, it’s important for families, friends, and carers to look after themselves, too. A range of self-care strategies can help prevent burnout, or reduce its impact:

  • Looking after physical health through exercise, healthy eating, and getting enough sleep.
  • Allow for regular ‘time out’ or respite. Families and friends need time to themselves to relax, socialise, or look after themselves.
  • Starting or reviving a hobby. Hobbies are a great way to unwind, and focus on something personal.
  • Connect with others. Socialising with supportive people and increasing time spent with them can help with emotional support, and reduce stress levels.
  • Talk about feelings. It’s important not to ‘bottle up’ tough emotions.
  • Don’t try to do too much. Families, friends, and carers should pace themselves, and keep an eye on stress levels.
  • Managing the caring role

  It can be difficult to know how best to support a person who is experiencing mental health issues. Most people receive no formal training in this role, and learn as they go. While everyone is different, some of these strategies might be helpful to improve relationships and have a healthy mindset:

  • Learn from others. Find out about any training for family carers of people with mental health issues, and consider joining a support group.
  • Be prepared by learning as much as possible about the relevant mental health issue, what helps, and getting a sense of what to expect in the future.
  • Acknowledge limitations and considering what they can reasonably do to support the person.
  • Know it’s okay to set boundaries around the care and support being provided. It’s okay to say ‘no’, and to be firm around the care and support provided. It’s okay to say ‘no’, and to be firm.
  • Learn about helpful communication techniques to manage conflict and communicate everyone’s wants and needs.
  • Ask to be involved. If possible, ask about becoming involved in treatment and care-related decisions. Many health professionals will be willing to involve families and friends, but won’t always provide the invitation themselves.
  • Prepare in advance of any crises. Families and friends are often the first person responding to a crisis. There are actions that can be taken to help prevent or manage crises. For example, families can create a safety plan together and have emergency contact information close by.

• Getting professional support

  Families, friends and carers often prioritise the mental wellbeing of the people they support. While it is great to support others, it is impossible to care for others when reserves are low. Sometimes speaking with a GP, psychologist, counsellor, or other mental health professional can help re-frame the negative view developed during burnout. They can help families, friends and carers manage symptoms of burnout, assist in setting up and implementing boundaries, and help develop skills and knowledge to support them in the caring role. For this reason, it is important for families, friends, and carers to sometimes put themselves first. This can be an extremely hard thing to do but it can make a world of difference.

  Every person will need to find what works for them and it’s normal for this to take time. Effective support is available for families, friends, and carers.

  SANE is for people with recurring, persistent or complex mental health issues and trauma, and for their families, friends and communities.

  At SANE you can choose from a range of free support services, including counselling, community forums, peer support and groups, information and resources. Visit www.sane.org to learn more, or contact us on 1800 18 SANE.

• Support and resources

  • Lifeline: 13 11 14
  • Mental Health Carers Australia: https://www.mentalhealthcarersaustralia.org.au/
  • Carer Gateway: https://www.carergateway.gov.au/

We are delighted to be expanding access to our free guided support service.

From August 22 2022, SANE’s online and phone support service will be accessible across more areas of Australia. 

Available to individuals living with complex mental health issues and their families/carers, this service provides professional phone and online counselling and one-on-one contact with a peer support worker, as well as access to community forums and a range of therapeutic activities designed to support recovery and help participants learn the skills to better manage their mental health. 

SANE’s Peer Guide Program is an exciting new initiative Funded by the Department of Social Services – Strong and Resilient Communities (SARC) and Mental Health Commission of New South Wales. The aim of this program is to support people living with complex mental health concerns to access pathways designed to support their journey towards employment and/or further education.

Peer Support Work is an important part of the mental health workforce that is based on shared experiences of living with mental health challenges. Pursuing employment in Peer Work can be transformative. People are able to leverage their experiences with mental illness – one of the very issues that may have compounded their disadvantage - into a pathway to employment, engagement and participation. 

Peers are uniquely placed to offer support to each other because they are people who understand from their own lived or living experiences. You can read more about Peer Support at SANE here.

Why Peer Guide Program?

People with complex mental health issues living in areas of higher relative disadvantage face many challenges entering or re-entering the workforce and finding employment. Some of these challenges include stigma, discrimination, lack of appropriate support, education or training. (Source: SANE National Stigma Report Card)

Often there is limited opportunity for people with complex mental health needs to explore and gain practical work experience.

There are also limited pathways that allow people with a lived experience to gain work experience in peer support that would allow them to transition to employment or study in the mental health workforce.

Over the past five years, SANE’s Community Guide Program has been impactful and continues to provide opportunities for service users who seek help on SANE’s Forums to transition from people accessing mental health services to becoming trained volunteers providing support to others. 

Leveraging on the space and principles the Community Guide Program has provided for SANE’s users, SANE is developing and introducing the Peer Guide Program. The program will focus on:

• Online training on key competencies for peer support work and transferrable employment skills
• Providing participants with mentoring by a dedicated peer mentor
• Practical work experience by volunteering within SANE
• Supporting education/employment readiness for program participants.
  
  

The Peer Guide Program was co-designed with people with a lived experience of complex mental health concerns. 

SANE is committed to having lived experience at the heart of all our programs, bridging the gap and ending mental health inequity and social and economic exclusion. Through the Peer Guide Program, SANE champions people with complex mental health needs and creates a dedicated pathway to support service with soft entry pathways to peer support careers.

HOW TO BECOME A PEER GUIDE

To apply to be a Peer Guide, the person must meet the following criteria :

• Must be at least 18 years of age or above
• Must be residing in the Wide Bay Queensland region; Hobart Tasmania region; rural or regional New South Wales regions; or the Mornington Pensinsula Victoria
• Have experienced some form of interruption in employment or education as a result of managing complex mental health concerns
• Must be willing and able to commit to 10 weeks of online training, followed by 10 weeks of online volunteering (we know and understand that circumstances change, participation and engagement will fluctuate, and time for self-care is needed)
• Must be able to commit 2 hours per week to the program
• Feel comfortable in learning how to support others as peers
• Click here to read the full position description

If you feel you match the above criteria, please complete the Expression of Interest Form here.

If you have any other questions, you may contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

You may have seen that SANE recently launched a guided service for people aged 18 years and over with complex mental health issues. The digital service was co-designed with lived experience organisations and is available to families and carers as well. 

To support health professionals referring patients into the guided service, SANE ran a series of webinars to outline benefits and outcomes for patients, how to refer, and the framework upon which the service is built.

During the webinars, the SANE team shared:

• What we offer and who can benefit from our innovative new service to streamline the process of seeking support and help connect the mental health system
• An overview of our brand-new digital portal offering a free, easy to use and holistic platform for recovery
• An introduction to the referral hub to help connect clients with our service

CLICK HERE TO WATCH 

Australians with complex mental health issues are set to benefit from the country’s first digital and telephone service that provides ongoing mental health support designed specifically for them.

Developed and delivered by leading complex mental health organisation SANE, this new service provides guided support for people with issues like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or OCD. The service is also built for the autistic community and those with intellectual disability seeking mental health support.

Words by Rachel Green, CEO of SANE

Whenever I’m asked what SANE does, I answer, “we fight against inequity for people with complex mental health issues, and their families.”

Inequity underpins everything.

Quick facts

• Peer support involves people or groups supporting one another based on shared experiences of mental health challenges. 
• Intentionally and safely sharing stories can promote mental health recovery and increase hope and connection.   
• Professional Peer Support Workers are trained to use their experience of mental health issues or caring for someone to support others safely.    
• Peer support has benefits for quality of life and can increase skills and confidence in managing mental health issues.   

• What is peer support?

  Peer support is when people give or receive support based on shared experiences of mental health concerns. Peer support relationships are different from traditional clinician-patient relationships and are not based on medical models. Instead, peer support provides mental health benefits through empathy, acceptance, and skill-sharing that comes from dealing with similar lived experiences.   

• Benefits of peer support

  There is limited evidence that peer support reduces mental health symptoms. However, it can still be an important tool in recovery. Receiving peer support has a range of possible benefits for people with mental health issues, including (1-3):  

  • Increased knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage mental health and treatment  
  • Improved quality of life and emotional resilience  
  • Feelings of hope and empowerment  
  • Increased sense of connection and less loneliness 
  • Less self-stigma around mental health  
  • Greater self-reported recovery  
  • Fewer hospital admissions  
  • Reduced substance use issues. 

  The person giving peer support can also be helped by the process. People providing peer support describe:  

  • Greater self-esteem through making a positive impact on others  
  • More feelings of equality in relationships  
  • Gaining helpful knowledge from peers  
  • Social approval and connectedness with others.   

• What does peer support involve?

  A peer support relationship can be one person supporting others emotionally, socially, or through their shared lived experience. It can also be mutual, where each person involved is giving and receiving support.

  Peer support is often provided professionally in mental health services. However, a lot of peer support happens informally, between people who share similar experiences and connect in person or online.   

  Peer support does not replace other mental health support from psychologists, counsellors, or psychiatrists. However, it is often used alongside other mental health services, empowering people to lead fulfilling lives and manage mental health challenges.     

  People do not need to share the same mental health diagnosis for peer support to work. Instead, the benefits come from having faced similar (but not necessarily the same) challenges.

• Types of peer support

  Peer support can be delivered in a range of ways, in person, over the phone, or online. Peer support can be one, or a combination, of the two categories:  

  Informal peer support

  Informal peer support is a mutual relationship between people who have similar experiences. There are not necessarily any guidelines or trained group facilitators, and there may be no mental health services involved. This could take place on social media groups, common interest meet-ups, blogs or Forums.   

  Professional peer support

  A professional Peer Support Worker will have training in how to use their mental health experience intentionally to support others safely, in groups or one-to-one. They may have additional training in group facilitation, mental health support, and assisting people who've been through trauma.

  Peer Support Workers aim to support people wherever they are in their recovery, and to focus on a person's strengths. 

• Find out more

  To explore if peer support will be helpful, think about what would suit you best. You may feel more comfortable depending on whether you are meeting one-to-one or in a group, and whether support is face-to-face or online.  

  It is also important to think about what you feel comfortable sharing and whether hearing other peoples’ experiences will be helpful right now, or if it might be upsetting. Peer support will not suit everyone all the time, and that is normal.     

  When searching for peer support, keep your safety in mind. Look for groups, services, and communities that:  

  • Are run by trustworthy organisations or charities  
  • Are facilitated by group leaders or Peer Support Workers who have support and training  
  • Have guidelines to make sure everyone is safe   
  • Keep your information private.  

  For help finding the right support for you, contact a trusted GP, mental health professional, or helpline to talk through options.   

  Peer support can be an important part of mental health recovery, increasing hope, quality of life, and empowering people to manage their mental health.     

  To discover more ways of connecting with others with shared experience, explore SANE’s range of peer support services, for anyone with mental health challenges or concerned about someone.   

  LEARN MORE 

• Resources

  • What is peer work? - video by Peer Work Hub
  • SANE Forums Lived Experience Community  
  • SANE Forums Family, Friends & carers Community  
  • Online peer communities create hope everyday – Blog   

• References

  1. Shalaby RAH, Agyapong, VIO. Peer Support in mental health: literature review. JMIR Ment Health 2020 Jun; 7(6).   
  2. White S, Foster R, Marks J, Morshead R, Goldsmith L, Barlow S et al. The effectiveness of one-to-one peer support in mental health services: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 2020 Nov; 20.   
  3. Repper J, Carter T. A review of the literature on peer support in mental health services. J Ment Health 2011 Aug; 20(4): 392-411.   

Are you looking to work for an organisation that is an industry leader in tackling the big issues in life? Do you want to be involved in meaningful work, collaborating with a diverse workforce to improve the lives of many through a hands-on approach?

Then you’ve come to the right place, we are looking for expressions of interest for our Service Delivery team in the role of Peer Support Workers.

What we stand for

SANE works to make a real difference for the five million people affected by complex mental health issues nationally. Australians affected by complex mental health issues, experience major barriers in accessing quality, affordable support, and face high levels of stigma and discrimination. 

SANE is committed to changing this reality through its digital and phone counselling, peer support services, arts programming and services, and advocacy and research programs.

What we offer

At SANE we offer generous not-for-profit salary packaging options, an employee assistance program, additional days pro-rata of paid Reflection Leave per year, and the opportunity to help Australians affected by complex mental issues live long and fulfilling lives

What we want

We are looking for passionate Peer Support Workers who are able to purposefully share parts of their mental health and recovery journey to build empathetic supportive relationships, to promote empowerment and to share information and resources with people living with complex mental health issues. 

At SANE we have three teams of Peer Support Workers, focusing on different aspects of the service. 

• Peer Support Workers, Groups - develop, implement and facilitate Online Peer Group discussions on our chat platform.
• Peer Support Worker, Forums - provide direct peer support to those seeking support, helping to keep the forums safe through moderation, developing peer-led discussions, events and activities, and developing the peer support skills of volunteers and forum members. 
• Peer Support Worker, Support Centre - deliver 1:1 peer support across the SANE program including triage, welcome calls, care planning sessions, multi-session peer support and drop-in 1:1 peer support.

What you have

• Previous experience in Mental Health Peer Work, peer facilitation or lived experience workforce roles 
• Personal lived experience of mental health concerns, service use and recovery, and a willingness to share your story purposefully to support the mental health of others.
• A minimum Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work, Mental Health, Community Work, Welfare or currently working towards a higher relevant qualification. 
• Completed training in ASIST, Trauma Informed Care, Safe Story Telling and Intentional Peer Support 
• Experience working in telephone based or online environments, in particular tele-web service delivery in mental health services

If you think this might be the right fit for you? Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and include your CV, 1-2 page cover letter that includes the role/s you are interested in, and general availability. We will contact you when relevant role/s become available.

Please ensure you let us know why you’d be a great addition to the SANE team.

Position Descriptions with more information:

Peer Support Worker, Groups

Peer Support Worker, Forums

Peer Support Worker, Support Centre 

Are you looking to work for an organisation that is an industry leader in tackling the big issues in life? Do you want to be involved in meaningful work, collaborating with a diverse workforce to improve the lives of many through a hands-on approach?

Then you’ve come to the right place, we are looking for expressions of interest for our Service Delivery team in the role of Counsellor.

What we stand for 

SANE works to make a real difference for the five million people affected by complex mental health issues nationally. Australians affected by complex mental health issues, experience major barriers in accessing quality, affordable support, and face high levels of stigma and discrimination. 

SANE is committed to changing this reality through its digital and phone counselling, peer support services, arts programming and services, and advocacy and research programs.

What we offer

At SANE we offer generous not-for-profit salary packaging options, an employee assistance program, additional days pro-rata of paid Reflection Leave per year, and the opportunity to help Australians affected by complex mental issues live long and fulfilling lives.

What we want

We are looking for enthusiastic Counsellors who can provide trauma informed counselling, support, information and referrals to people affected by complex mental health issues, including carers, health professionals and others. Counselling sessions are run via phone, video, webchat and email. 

At SANE we have two different models of counselling, they are: 

• Multi-Session Counsellors - primarily work in the multi-session team and will provide multi session counselling within an agreed model of care and clinical governance standards. 
• Support Counsellors - provide single session trauma informed counselling within a clinical governance framework.

What you have

• Tertiary qualification in psychology, social work, counselling or other related field
• Eligibility for membership with, or working towards full or provisional registration with, the appropriate professional body (AASW, AHPRA, PACFA, ACA)
• 2 -3 years’ experience in a similar role
• High level understanding of mental health issues, both theoretically and practical
• Experience providing counselling or support to vulnerable communities and/or vulnerable groups or individual
• Compassion and enthusiasm for providing support to people affected by complex mental health issues

If you think this might be the right fit for you? Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and include your CV, 1-2 page cover letter that includes the role/s you are interested in, and general availability. We will contact you when relevant role/s become available.

Please ensure you let us know why you’d be a great addition to the SANE team.

Position Descriptions with more information:

Counsellor Support

Counsellor Multi-Session Support