Question 1

Where is Ready to Yarn based?

Accepted Answer

Jonathan McClelland works predominantly in Mount Isa with some short trips to other areas of the Gulf and North West Queensland.

Question 2

Does Ready to Yarn provide services under Medicare? Is there a ‘Gap’ fee?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Jonathan McClelland is a fully Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with medicare provider number for each location he operates from. He is happy to discuss specific details with GPs and potential clients, and yes there is generally a Gap fee in addition to Medicare rebates.

Question 3

Does Ready to Yarn provide services under NDIS, and if so, which services are available?

Accepted Answer

Ready to Yarn is able to provide services if you are Plan Managed or Self-Managed. Services may also be provided potentially if you are NDIA (agency) managed, this would just take a little additional organising. As a Mental Health Accredited Social Worker, Jonathan is able to provide both Social Work Services and Counselling services, as well as Early Childhood Services (Social Work).

Question 4

Does Ready to Yarn also provide services for children, or families?

Accepted Answer

Yes, certainly. As well as his other experience, Jonathan worked for a number of years with the ‘Evolve’ program in Townsville and headspace in a number of locations, working with children as young as 5, with teenagers, including youth affected by complex trauma, or in the care of Child Safety. Working with families is also possible (for example with NDIS funding). Feel free to discuss any request with us.

Question 5

How can I make a referral to Ready to Yarn?

Accepted Answer

Self Referrals and Agency Referrals can both be made by email or phone call. Click here (https://www.readytoyarn.com.au/make-an-appointment)for further details and to download our NDIS referral and confidentiality forms.

Question 6

Is Ready to Yarn able to provide services under Work Cover or Victims of Crime funding?

Accepted Answer

Yes Jonathan provides these services – please contact us for details.

Question 7

What is Jonathan’s experience of working in remote settings and with Aboriginal community members?

Accepted Answer

Jonathan has worked for years in remote settings, including Palm Island near Townsville, with remote communities in central Northern Territory and more recently with the RFDS in Burketown, Boulia, Gregory (Bidunggu), Dajarra and Camooweal. This experience has led to a strongly relationship based engagement approach, in which ‘Yarning’ is first and foremost about opening up and building trust so that counselling will be effective and relevant.

Question 8

What is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

The initial 1-3 sessions of EMDR treatment involve assessment, ensuring the best fit between the client and therapy approach. When EMDR treatment itself begins, it involves the use of a light bar, which creates eye movements that help the client process traumatic experiences that are often otherwise stuck in a ‘loop’ leading to a sense of being stuck and unable to move forward.

Question 9

Does Ready to Yarn counselling include CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, CBT is a basic context for most of the counselling provided by Jonathan, particularly when looking at issues such as depression or anxiety. However this approach is tailored carefully to fit the individual’s needs and ensure a ‘partnership’ approach to all counselling. In many cases CBT is paired with other therapies such as Narrative Therapy or trauma informed therapies to ensure a good fit with individual needs.

Question 10

What is Narrative Therapy about?

Accepted Answer

Narrative Therapy is a ‘yarning’ based therapy approach which acknowledges that mental health problems are often connected to stories that blame or create negative stories about who we are, making it difficult for us to create change effectively. When we begin yarning about the alternative stories – our hopes and dreams and our unspoken values – we can find things begin to change, as we discover new paths. This approach to therapy is often very effective when working with people in the outback – who are used to taking challenges on their own shoulders and don’t want just a simple ‘do this’ type answer in counselling. Instead, I find these people prefer to instead find and ‘co-create’ their own paths to overcoming difficulty, and Narrative therapy is a guide to this.

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