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Palliative Care NSW presents Accidental Counsellor training for palliative care volunteers and others working in end of life care.

Finding out you have a terminal illness or having a loved one diagnosed with one is never what you want to hear. The struggle to come to terms with this and any ongoing care needs often opens up floods of emotions from anger and sadness to grief and regret.

Palliative Care volunteers are often present in the lives of people who are struggling to cope with the onset of their loved ones end-of-life. As such they may find themselves placed in a ‘counselling role by accident’.

Are you a palliative care volunteer or volunteer manager?

Do you work closely with people coming to their end of life, their families and carers?

Accidental Counsellor training is a practical mental health training workshop that teaches basic counselling skills and principles to people who are not trained counsellors but often find themselves in a ‘counselling role by accident’ to support a friend, child, colleague, client or in times of meltdowns.

This workshop aims to provide non-counsellors with a range of skills to work effectively with people who may be distressed, agitated or in crisis. It gives participants a practical framework for managing these issues whilst achieving a sense of structure and confidence in their work.

Learn skills on how to communicate, reflective listening and qualities of effective counsellors, limit setting and boundaries, dealing with crisis, debriefing and self care. Be confident in responding to the expressed emotions and needs of clients and move them to a referral point or practical solution.

Palliative Care NSW is pleased to be able to offer this training free of charge to palliative care volunteers and managers of volunteers.

The workshop is being facilitated by Mirna Tarabay who brings with her a wealth of experience in psychotherapy, counselling and training.