It might come a surprise to many grrls out there but one in five of ACON’s counselling clients are now women...

Last year, accomplished artist Maree Azzopardi was the victim of same-sex domestic violence and was left so traumatised by the experience she knew she needed to see a counsellor.

However, the first organisation she turned to for help had trouble understanding the nature of her issue.

“When I began talking about it being a domestic violence issue, they assumed I was talking about a man,” Maree says.

“All I wanted was somewhere I could be open about my sexuality and not be judged.”

A friend then suggested seeing a counsellor at ACON but Maree was stunned by the suggestion.

“As I’m not a gay man or HIV-positive, I assumed that excluded me from any ACON services,” Maree says.

“My response to my friend was, ‘I’m a woman. How could ACON possibly help me? As it turns out, the team at ACON proved to be my guardian angels.”

Maree attended weekly counselling sessions and such was the success of her therapy, she turned the process into an art project, I Walk The Line, which was recently shown at the Smith & Hall Gallery in Redfern.

“It turned out to be a fantastic opportunity for healing.  ACON made me feel included in the community again.”

ACON has been offering counselling support services for over 15 years with eight counsellors currently providing daytime and after hours sessions.
Counselling is available to people with HIV as well as people from the GLBT community with women making up at least 20 per cent of the clients seen by the service in 2008.

Ross Jacobs is one of ACON’s counsellors and he says there’s a marked difference in the issues of the male and female clients who utilise the service.

“Women talk to us mainly about relationships, addictions and mental health, whereas men talk more about isolation, sexuality and drug and alcohol problems,” Ross says.
ACON now has a specialised drug and alcohol counsellor available, as well as a range of therapeutic groups exploring such issues as depression, anger and intimacy.

Ross says the more counselling support services ACON offers to the community the more clients they have lining up to use them.

However due to a lack of resources, there are times when clients have to be put on waiting lists – never an ideal situation when people are in critical need.

“We’re constantly seeing an increase in the demand for counselling and it’s across the board in all age groups,” Ross says.

“But that’s a good thing because it shows that attitudes towards mental health are changing.

“In the past, if you admitted you needed counselling, people would often think there was something seriously wrong with you.

“These days you’re seen as one of the strong ones who is actually doing something to improve your life.”

Make a difference

We’d like to offer counselling to more people in our community but we haven’t got enough resources. You can help out by making a donation. Visit www.acon.org.au/donate to find out how.

More info

Contact: ACON Intake and Assessment Officer

Tel: (02) 9206 2000
Free Call: 1800 063 060
Hearing Impaired: (02) 9283 2088

Email: ahcp@acon.org.au

Web: Access to counselling services