Peer support in Red Cross Personal Support teams for Queensland Floods

Dear Sir/Madam,

The Red Cross have asked the APS to support their flood recovery work in Queensland by providing peer support and coaching for members of their personal support teams.  This would involve psychologists with a knowledge of personal support, psychological first aid and disaster recovery work joining personal support teams for emergency activations of 4 to 5 days.  Psychologists would be providing personal support to the public along with Red Cross volunteers, as well as offering peer support to the Red Cross personal support volunteers and informal coaching in the provision of personal support.

The Red Cross Personal Support program involves the provision of information, practical assistance, emotional support, assessment of people’s immediate needs, promotion of people’s self-efficacy and referral to other support agencies and services as required.

This work would be as a volunteer for the Red Cross.  The APS will provide the Red Cross with the names of interested psychologists, with preference likely given to those in the area, and they will follow up our contacts on an as-needs basis, and organise dates, travel, and other matters. 

To register your interest

The APS has begun a list of psychologists who are interested in volunteering to be a part of personal support teams and provide peer support and personal support coaching, in the coming weeks to help with flood affected communities in Queensland.  To register your interest, please click here and fill in the form.  You will be asked to provide your name, email, phone number, AHPRA registration number and post code. You need to be familiar with the Red Cross personal support framework.

If you have questions or would like to contact me, please email me at drn@psychology.org.au.

Susie Burke
Senior Psychologist, Public Interest, Environment and Disaster Response
Australian Psychological Society

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