New name, same trusted service for Salvos Counselling
Major Robyn Smartt (front left) with members of the Salvos Counselling team. (Photo: Esther Pinn)
The Salvation Army Counselling Services has relaunched itself as Salvos Counselling during a brief ceremony at its Sydney head office on 28 February.
Along with a new name, a new vision for the service has also been unveiled.
“We’re here to bring freedom and hope,” Major Robyn Smartt, director of Salvos Counselling across the Army’s Australia Eastern Territory, said at the launch at Rhodes.
Major Smartt said it had been a two-year journey of discovering their identity and ethos as a counselling service, culminating in the new name and vision.
Since 1986, Salvos Counselling has provided help to individuals despite their financial circumstances, offering fees charged on a sliding scale in line with the client’s income.
“We believe everyone has a right to freedom from the things that are holding them back, regardless of their financial situation,” said Major Smartt.
“We provide top-quality professional counselling to those who can afford it and also the marginalised - the people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to gain access to counsellors with the level of skill that our Salvos counsellors have to offer.”
Salvos Counselling’s origins were founded in marriage and relationship counselling. In 1993, the service extended to include an individual and emotional issue focus.
Major Smartt and her team pride themselves on a history of caring, compassionate Christian staff and counsellors. Salvos Counselling has 31 staff based at 13 offices across the territory.
The service now offers individual counselling, trauma counselling, consultancy with corps and centres, The Salvation Army’s Employee Assistance Program, professional supervision, and individual and group debriefing.
It has also recently become involved with the Army’s Offshore Processing Humanitarian Mission, completing pre-selection assessments and resilience training for all Salvation Army personnel deployed to work with asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island.
In Brisbane, Salvos Counselling has recently started a program called drumbeat, offering counselling to teenagers and adults through music.
As part of the relaunch, Salvos Counselling has given its website, salvoscounselling.salvos.org.au, a new look. Individuals can book counselling sessions online and access further information about issues such as stress and depression.
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