Lifeboat @ Soul Food Cafe in 2023
Boats are built for adventure and so are we.
Are you prepared to leave the safety of the harbour; the comfort of the cave?
Do you want to be adventurous and take your life to another level? If so, Lifeboat is for you!
Soulfood Café/Lifeboat is not your typical mental health service. The old model focuses on individual problems (e.g. mental health assessment, diagnosis and treatment). The new wellness model focuses on holistic health (physical, mental, social & spiritual wellbeing), life skills and supportive communities. This new direction in mental health is something we fully embrace at Soul Food Cafe. That’s why we offer both innovative community training and psychology services.
Prevention is Better Than Cure!
Telehealth Services
Believe it or not, psychology means “study of the soul”
Soul Food Cafe is a training centre for life. It aims to help you take your life to another level by fully engaging your mind, body AND soul. As tri-dimensional beings, it’s important to find your ‘why’, read your dashboard and move in more personally meaningful ways. Our Psychology Workshops and Lifeboat Counselling are designed to help you do this.
“In terms of soul work, we dare not get rid of the pain before we have learned what it has to teach us.” - Richard Rohr
Sorting out signals from your mind, body and soul is not a simple process. Take, for example, physical pain from a neuroscience perspective. While we may think that this process is relatively straightforward, it's not. Why? Because there are no “pain pathways or pain messages”. Instead, there are peripheral nerve endings all over the body that send signals to our brain. Our brain, given all data on hand, then makes a judgement based on what seems to be in our best interest. Sadly, that judgement is not foolproof. That is, our brain can be tricked by these signals which, in turn, can shape our perception of what's wrong with us and can hijack our recovery. However, thanks to neuroplasticity, our oversensitized brain can relearn normal sensitivity over time to assist our recovery.
The mind's mental pain or anguish is like the body's pain. That is, we need to read our dashboard and discern the noise of our mind from the signals of our soul. To help you with this process, we offer a series of informative and interactive Psychology Workshops.
Online Psychology Workshops
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver
Soul Food Cafe’s Online Psychology Workshops aim to help you explore, understand and improve your life. They are run by clinical psychologists for 1-hour/week over 10 weeks and are available to people on Mental Health Care Plans (see below) AND full fee paying members of the community.
1. Healthy mind & soul
Want to go on a journey of discovery? This workshop will help you find your ‘why’ and develop a deeper understanding of a healthy mind & soul.
2. Learn to read your dashboard
Do you tend to overthink things or get stuck in the same old? This workshop will help you to read your dashboard, sort out the signals of your mind, body and soul… and move!
3. Who do you think you are?
Do you know the story that runs, and often ruins, your life? This workshop uses the key Life Story tool from our Mind & Soul Toolbox to help discover your real self.
4. Rewrite your inner script
Sick of negative thoughts where you’re constantly questioning or sabotaging yourself? This workshop uses neuroscience to help challenge yourself and rewrite a new inner script.
Sign up for our Healthy Mind & Soul Workshop and immediately get our Travel Guide Ebook.
Taking the journey of discovery requires choosing not to be a victim and, instead, becoming a resilient captain of your own mind & soul.
Resilience can be defined as: overcoming the odds; sustained competency under stress; and recovery from trauma.
Resilient individuals can be described as people who: reassert control and mastery over their lives; regulate emotion and behaviour; reassess and resolve problems; have a realistic and optimistic outlook; and reach out and empathise with others.
Workshop Payment Options
Clients who have a Mental Health Care Plan from their GP (MHCP) receive 10 group sessions and 10 individual sessions per calendar year.
Cost of 1x10 Session Online Workshop:
MHCP Fee = $0 + $70 SFC materials ($35 concession)
Full Fee = $280 + $70 SFC materials ($35 concession)
Note: Although Medicare covers the cost of the workshop for people on MHCPs, there is a fee for Soul Food Cafe online materials such as the Mind & Soul travel guide book, Mind & Soul tools, powerpoints, videos & workbooks. Concession applies to Health Care Card or Pension Holders.
Telehealth Information
IT not your strength? No problem, the information below should help. All you need is a desktop computer, laptop tablet or smartphone with a web browser and an internet connection.
There are no plugins or downloads required. Importantly, once you’ve set up the equipment below for the first time, telehealth is smooth sailing from then on!
DEVICES – Make sure your device is fully charged or plugged into power. Use headphones to help eliminate echo and audio feedback.
WIFI – For the strongest WiFi signal, sit near your router so there are as few obstructions as possible between it and your device. These include walls or floors, as well as potential signal interference from microwaves and televisions.
STREAMING – If other users on your network are running data-intensive applications, such as streaming, online gaming, or video calls, you may experience poor video quality.
INTERNET SPEED – A minimum 3.5 Mbps download and upload speed is recommended. We highly recommend bandwidth above 10-15 Mbps to have a better experience. To test your internet speed on multiple devices go to https://www.highspeedinternet.com/tools/speed-test
Lifeboat Counselling
Counselling Issues
Our counselling focuses on adult and adolescent clients. Areas include:
Fatigue and burnout
Work and school stress
Anxiety and depression
Grief and loss
Loneliness and relationship issues
Age, stage and meaning issues
Spirituality and religion
Drugs, alcohol and addiction
Mental health disorders
Counselling Principles
Affirm that clients have a choice and can change if they choose
Share the helping process with clients
Help clients see counselling as work sessions
Help clients become better problem-solvers in their lives
Become a resource person for clients
Dr Paul Whetham is a clinical psychologist, who is trained in psychotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy, with over 30 years' experience. He is passionate about neuroplasticity and creating novel enriched environments where we thrive through dialogue and discovery. Paul did his PhD research on loneliness and burnout, and he has co-written Psychology textbooks for South Australian and International secondary schools. He was previously the Director of the Masters in Counselling program at UniSA and is a fellow of the APS clinical college.
FEES & APPOINTMENTS
Payment Options
Clients who have a Mental Health Care Plan from their GP receive up to 10x50 minute consults per calendar year. There will be an additional gap to pay in addition to the rebate.
Full Fee: $205 ($76.60 gap)
Concession Fee: $150 ($21.60 gap for Health Care Card or Pension Holders)
Payment is payable on the day and the rebate will be deposited into your nominated savings account within 24 hours.
We can also see clients funded by private health cover, Return To Work SA, NDIS, DVA and self-funded.
If claiming under private health cover, you will need to contact your specific provider about the rebate payable.
Note: It is not usually possible to claim under Medicare and then claim on private health for the gap.
Make an Appointment
Please contact Lifeboat on 0417 477 772 to make an appointment.
For immediate 24 hour support ring Lifeline 131 14 or the Mental Health Crisis Line 131 465.