You can learn more about a person in an
hour of play than in a year of conversation
– Plato
From the establishment and development of Australia’s first clinical day-patient treatment program at the Austin Hospital in 1992, Dr Simon Crisp and his team have developed, run and evaluated scores of programs of young people, families and professionals in schools, youth agencies and public mental health services. This includes innovative research and development programs for youth at risk of substance abuse, victims of violence and sexual abuse, students with anger management difficulties, families with poor child-parent attachment, young women with poor body image, indigenous students at risk of educational disengagement, and so on. Simon and his team have developed comprehensive and innovative programs aimed at increasing marginalised students’ engagement in education with the Victorian Government’s Victorian Schools Innovation Commission.
Group based programs have been found to be an especially effective way of learning key interpersonal and self-management skills. We provide programs for all ages and needs, but specialise in group programs for young people. We have substantial expertise in running innovative group programs in schools for a wide range of issues including communication skills, coping skills, emotional management, cognitive behavioural group therapy, student engagement, etcetera. Neo is able to run group programs as an adjunct or alternative to conventional counselling, in schools, mental health services and youth organisations. Simon is available as a trainer or supervisor to staff of group programs.