The "How"

Confucius says:

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

How many of us have asked: Who am I? What is my purpose? Why do I react that way?

This program is about bringing awareness to who we really are, without the “armoury”, which leads us to discovering who we want to be in the company of anyone – even those who trigger us, and finding our unique gifts that each of us have to share with the world… because anything is possible. Let’s know that path and follow it with presence!

This program is about finding a way to bring accountability, vulnerability, ownership and options in moving forward .. to say what is really going on for us…. THE ART OF COMMUNICATING!!

It’s all about finding and developing the essence in communicating with ourselves first and foremost, with the ripple effect being with others.

This program is about getting our own “wheels back in tracktion”!

This program uses circle time, talking and listening, and hands-on activities to develop awareness of:

  1. The language of behaviour
  2. Building trust
  3. Connection to country
  4. The roles we play out to be of worth, to fit in and to be loved
  5. Finding belief in being worthy of love and belonging
  6. Masculine and feminine in all of us (includes healthy leadership)
  7. Looking at how we use blame as a tool to discharge pain and discomfort
  8. Presence – the art of “listening to hear” and “talking to say”
  9. Empathy versus sympathy
  10. The power of owning our “shit”
  11. Cultivating gratitude, joy, intuition, creativity, laughter, play and rest
  12. Feelings and being comfortable to feel
  13. How and why we numb
  14. The power of finding options
  15. Explore the beliefs we have about ourselves and the impact they have on what we attract
  16. Considering    … how other’s behaviour affects you    … how our behaviour affects others

Who are the participants ?

BeyondtheBranches is a tailored discovery program created in Gippsland, for all residents, including people identifying as Gunaikurnai.

It is offered to young people between the ages of 10-25 (with the intention to be open age within 5 years), who may need support in connecting with themselves. They may identify with the following signs…

  • use disruptive / harmful behaviour to express what they cannot  say,
  • high achievers in schools and sporting fields,
  • have a less than 50% attendance at school,
  • have self-harmed or attempted suicide,
  • been bullied or are seen as a bully,
  • are overactive in sexual liaisons,
  • quiet and compliant behaviour,
  • those who struggle to belong,
  • those who have experienced death in their family or separation of parents

… and are invited to join our program for the length of time each person needs (in collaboration with our team).

This program will use levels for the participants to work through.

Each youth worker will have an APP on their phone which feeds back to a central system on a computer. 2 items will be recorded, every session, every day ….

  1. attendance or not
  2. level of participation (eg. a score from 1-10)

The aim for each participant is to attain full attendance 10 days in a row and engage in participation (a score of 8 or higher) for the same length of time. Reaching this milestone, enables each person to advance into more responsibilities and hence, “qualifications”.

  1. moving from loading cut firewood into a trailer, to splitting the wood, to using a chainsaw and getting your ticket to do so. This is a means of tracking movement of each person and the “MASTERY” element. And being able to check in with those who are stagnant and what is going on for them.

The young people of BeyondtheBranches will experience farm and station life from a working perspective each week, in preparation (with the skills and mindset) to venture into communities when needed… eg. assist with rebuilding fencing after a bushfire. This is the “GENEROSITY” element.

The “INDEPENDENCE” element evolves 2 pathways.

  1. through understanding behaviours, owning them, knowing there are chooses and taking consideration in making a decision
  2. moving through the program expanding on skills and an attitude that brings trust to step up into leadership positions within BinT.

“BELONGING” is experienced through participating, showing up and knowing that you are safe to be you. Building on trust that no matter what you look like, how you are feeling, there is a place here for you. Every person has the ability to make their own choices. The young people attending the program set the “agreements”. There are no rules. Everyone must have input into the “agreements”. There is an understanding of the benefits of each Agreement. Nobody can get “kicked out” of BeyondtheBranches.

Participants attend “Classroom” 1-2 days each week, with a focus on learning what they need relevant to what they want to do for work when they leave BeyondtheBranches or when they return to school.

For example, a 15 year old may join us to improve his reading skills so he can read the manual to get his driver’s license for becoming a truck driver.

Another example, a 16 year old who aspires to being a farmer. The classroom work for her maybe around researching and becoming familiar with different cattle or sheep breeds – looking at climates and areas where different breeds thrive.

A 10yo girl may come to our program for 3 weeks to develop her self-esteem, then return to her school. The classroom work will be relevant to this.

All those participating in the program who are school age, will continue to be enrolled at their local school. Each Friday, BeyondtheBranches will send through the attendance of the students for the week.

At the end of each term, a short review of each student will be sent to the school from BeyondtheBranches.

Communication lines remain open between family, school and BeyondtheBranches the entire time their student is attending our program.

All participants have the freedom to return to their school when they feel they are ready. This will be done in collaboration with BeyondtheBranches staff, the said school, and parents/guardians.

How do we gauge the impact this program has had?

Measuring the success of participants in our program comes through the daily transformation of every person.

As people move through this program, what may be noticed is…

* every person holds a strong love for themselves

* the using of a language to communicate what is going on for each person that is clearly understood

* using sentences like “I” statements rather than “you” in working through issues with others

* people sharing how they are feeling and what “need” they are asking to be met

* connection comes from a disagreement, rather than a disconnection

* behaviour begins to show up differently because people are tuning into themselves rather than being reactive.

* behaviours once used to communicate, no longer needing to be.

* respectful, empathic relationships begin to form in families

* a reduction in punishment used in families, schools, police stations, court systems

* local crime rate decreases

* suicide rates decrease

* mental health, of not only young people, but their families and communities, improves

* medication of behaviour decreases as young people begin to understand themselves and what their behaviour has been meaning

* coming together of cultures where generations bridge gaps in understanding and appreciating each other

Why this program?

The increase in crime rates and suicide statistics, misunderstanding of disruptive/non-conforming/overly compliant behaviour, the disconnection between young people and their elders/community, medicating of students in both primary and secondary schools, high divorce rates and ending up in family courts, addiction with alcohol/drugs/screens/etc, verbal & physical fighting and passive-aggressive actions in families, abusive behaviours, destruction of our environment … means BeyondtheBranches has a place in creating change to all this, and more.

Change within oneself, equals change in how families function, how communities work together, how we treat our planet and the energy that encompasses earth.

In the Gippsland region, there are few programs still running where young people can go to “find themselves”. Our research found Berry Street, an Australia wide organisation, and Blackwood Centre for Adolescent Development, in Hallora.

Both of these organisations offer support for young people. However, there is a limited amount of time that a young person can remain in their programs.

Through the outdoor education realm, there is Wollangarra, near Licola, which provides a step to a healthier environment, stronger communities, and happier young people. Wollangarra’s programs are available to schools and community groups.

There are a couple of programs in the Gippsland region which have been found by word of mouth, which are utilised by a small number of urban secondary schools. eg. Mosquito Creek Youth Program, near Loch, is one such program. It is a 2 week program.

There are Outdoor Education organisations, such as Sailing On, which enable young people to experience the great outdoors on the Gippsland Lakes, as a means for them to find themselves. Unfortunately, these programs are for a short period of time.

There are no programs running where young people determine when they are ready to leave the program.