To See a Counsellor or Make a Referral
Please phone WWILD on 07-32629877 if you would like some counselling support, to help someone else or if you want more information about our service or other services.
Referrals:
- Are taken over the phone by any WWILD staff member
- May be made by anyone – a person with intellectual or learning disability, a family member, support worker or supporter
- Are discussed at the weekly team meeting.
- Are followed up by the intake worker, who will contact the person to talk about what happens next.
- Are not accepted by email. We require more detailed information for a proper referral. Please phone or if you send an email after hours please follow-up with a phone call if you haven’t heard back from us.
Please remember WWILD is not a crisis service, if this is an emergency please contact 000 or the Queensland Police on 131444 or click on this link for other crisis and after hours services https://wwild.org.au/links/
Counselling Locations
WWILD’s counsellors work at:
- WWILD’s Wooloowin office Monday – Friday
- at the Beenleigh Neighbourhood Centre on Mondays and Thursdays,
- at the HomeLife Service in Caboolture on Thursdays.
About our counselling
• We see the person – not their disability.
• We do not define the person by their sexual abuse and trauma.
• We believe the client is the expert in their own life (not the counsellor).
• We understand we need to take time – to build rapport, assess, identify and work together on goals.
• We change our communication approach according to the needs of the client.
• We are careful about suggestibility and masking, the need to avoid jargon and asking closed questions.
• We can work with the effects of trauma, without referring to the event itself.
• We normalise effects and acknowledge coping strategies, and develop and practice new strategies.
• We utilise trauma informed practice and seek to empower the client by identifying choices and options.
• We aim to improve the client’s self-esteem and self-protection strategies.
• We use a range of theoretical approaches and creative strategies in working with our clients.
How to prepare someone for counselling
Read ‘What is Counselling?’ page with the person for more information.
Explain to the person that:
It’s their choice to come to see us or not.
They do not have to tell the story of what happened.
Counselling is about understanding and managing feelings, and learning ways to feel better and more in control.
They can bring someone into the counselling room with them if they want to, it is up to them.
If they are not sure they can visit WWILD first, to meet us before they make up their mind.
Call to make an appointment or referral. Counselling at WWILD is free.
About our counsellors
Jill Olver has worked as a counsellor and trainer at WWILD in the Sexual Violence Prevention Service since 2008. The focus of her work is building the existing strengths of people with intellectual disability to decrease their vulnerability and/or deal with the effects of trauma and sexual assault in their lives. Jill takes an eclectic approach that covers psychology, Narrative Therapy, Sand-tray, Art and other Expressive Therapies. Prior to working at WWILD, Jill worked counselling across rural and regional Queensland, in the Sexual Assault Service in Canberra, Indigenous communities and in refugee camps in Zimbabwe. Jill has university qualifications in Psychology and Counselling.
Victoria Tucker has worked as a social worker in the disability sector for a number of years before moving into the counsellor role at WWILD’s Sexual Violence Prevention service in 2019. Her focus is to support people to work through their traumatic experiences, building their own strengths, capacity and supportive relationships, and decreasing vulnerability. Victoria utilises a strengths-based, trauma informed and person-centred approach, utilising an eclectic range of modalities including CBT knowledge, narrative practice, mindfulness, somatic practice, play and art therapy, sand tray, alongside other creative and expressive modalities, according to the wishes and needs of the client. Victoria has worked on and off for WWILD since 2010, as one the Victim of crime workers and Acting Manager at WWILD. Previously Victoria has also worked as a social work/community worker and various other roles with people with intellectual disabilities at the Community Living Association. Victoria has a Bachelor of Social Work (Hon.) and Masters in Social Work in the streams of counselling, social policy and community development.
Hannah Sanson began working at WWILD in 2020 as a victim of crime worker and has since transitioned into the counsellor and group worker role. Hannah’s goal is to support people with intellectual disability to respond to and recover from the impacts of trauma in a way that builds upon their existing strengths and capacities in a collaborative way. She works from a person-centred, strength-based framework and takes a narrative approach to counselling that also incorporates art and expressive therapies. Hannah has a Masters of Social Work (Distinction) and has experience in domestic violence, crisis, and grief counselling in both hospital and out-of-home care settings.
Victoria Reid has worked as a counsellor at WWILD in the Disability Royal Commission and Sexual Violence Prevention Service since 2021. Victoria has a Master of Counselling and is a passionate trauma informed practitioner. Prior to working at WWILD Victoria has worked in sexual abuse counselling and advocacy for children and adolescents within the child protection space, private consultancy around complex behaviours within the child protection space, sexual abuse counselling for male survivors, and National Redress counselling for First Nations survivors of institutionalised sexual abuse. Victoria is a person-centred strength-based counsellor who applies a wholistic approach to wellbeing for her clients. Victoria tailors her support to each person and utilises a range of modalities including narrative therapy, sand-tray, play-therapy, art therapy and trauma focused CBT.