HeadStart

We believe that GPs are well placed to provide optimal mental health care to most young people who present to them. HeadStart aims to engage GPs in a non-pathologising approach to assessing and supporting young people in primary care.

At the core of our program is a model that seeks to explore the young person's distress, with the aim of developing a narrative that explains their predicament. Watchful waiting is often required to help reach that explanation, and a rehabilitation approach is taken to help the young person re-engage.

Underpinning our approach are the following assumptions:

• Many young people who present in distress do not require intensive or specialist interventions to address their needs.
• Suffering and adversity are normal experiences to be validated and understood. Diagnosis is rarely helpful.
• 'Watchful waiting' is often preferable to hasty actions.

HeadStart consists of:

• A six-hour level one training program accredited with 40 (cat 1) points for RACGP members (751219), 8 core points for ACRRM members and Level 1 Mental Health Skills Training with the GPMHSC comprising didactic input, workshop activities and skills training.
• Access for graduate GPs to:
  • telephone advice
  • eHealth consultations allowing the GP to discuss a case with a child psychiatrist, and have that psychiatrist briefly review the patient via video.
• Focussed Psychological Strategies Skills Training (FPS ST)
• access to brochures, teaching modules and other information through a password protected section of this website