Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Rehabilitation Counselling is a profession that realizes both of my personal and professional ambition to exercise my passion for advocacy and social inclusion. My drive to assist and support persons who experience illness, disability, injury and any form of social disadvantage within society is what led me to consistently involve myself in helping professions and human rights causes. In particular, I am highly invested in matters of mental health, psychological injury, psychological aspects of adjustments to injury, workplace rehabilitation, disability management, women’s welfare, and refugee health & rehabilitation. My professional experience attests to this and has simultaneously provided me with the necessary skills to perform within vocational rehabilitation, case management, career counselling, mediation, individual & group counselling, disability management, return to work, and community development.
Conducting Medical Case Conferences - facilitate upgrades in capacity, determine return to work goals, discuss current symptoms, obtain treatment recommendations, and determine suitability of return to work services. Delivering Job Seeking Education Services - address gaps in job seeking capabilities, develop job seeking knowledge, skills, and competence for independent job seeking of new and suitable employment. Completing S53 Applications as a single service requirement in order to assist in the arrangement of training and support for injured workers. Performing Vocational Assessment interviews in order to gather the relevant functional and vocational information required in determining the most suitable alternative employment option and direct pathway to return to work for each injured worker. Preparing and completing Vocational Assessment reports that detail the proposed suitable employment options and recommended ongoing return to work services that best align with each injured worker’s return to work needs. Providing ongoing case management services in order to facilitate consistent and timely communications between each stakeholder (employers, injured workers, treating professionals, brokers and insurers) - obtain accurate and up-to-date medical information on treatment needs and the suitability of each proposed return to work service, discuss return to work service and cost approval, and ensure all stakeholders agree on the return to work goal.
Co-facilitated and conducted eight Job Seeking sessions with an Employment Consultant in assessing the job readiness skills of workers and the availability of vocational jobs to establish return to work options. Conducted work placement preparation sessions with an employment consultant in order to achieve an appropriate level of job seeking and interview skills for 3 workers. Performed a vocational assessment interview as well as prepared a vocational assessment report to understand the worker's job interests and to provide appropriate job options.
Managed on time delivery of 10 worker's compensation claims for psychological injury under the Department of Education sector. Liaised with all claim stakeholders (i.e. injury management advisors, Department of Education claims management officers, rehabilitation consultants, nominated treating doctors, injury management consultants, and other relevant health professionals) to ascertain consistent service delivery and maintain a consistent recovery path for employees. Processed, reviewed, and approved ongoing worker rehabilitation treatment plans and/or necessary investigations for 4 claims which contributed to each one's faster progression.
Administered and scored DASS-21 questionnaires along with other psychometric assessments (i.e. Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children 4th edition, Stanford Binet Intelligence Scales 5th edition, etc.) to gain a proper cognitive diagnosis and to assist in the establishment of goals and treatment plans for each client. Took part in case review meetings with speech pathologists and psychologists at the practice to understand the client's current situation and to design subsequent treatment plans for the attainment of established goals. Gave inputs to the formulation of risk management and safety plans for clients at risk of self-harm and/or suicide. Participated in learning sessions with psychologists at the practice for in-depth discussions on treatment approaches and their applications inclusive of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Couples Therapy.