"Life-changing" mental health support

Flying Doctor Wellbeing has “completely changed” Sandy’s life.

Sandy lives in the northern Victorian town of Wedderburn, with her husband and five children.

While incredibly fond of the close-knit community, she is well-aware of the barriers residents face looking to access mental health support.

“It’s an hour’s drive minimum to get to the nearest regional city [Bendigo]. You have psychologists and psychiatrists there, but you’re limited – and have long wait times as well,” she says.

“You’ve got to travel an hour one way. It’s not like ‘well I can do that in my lunch break!’ you know.”

Sandy also acknowledges the additional barrier this distance places on those who don’t have their own means of transport, adding “If you’re heavily reliant on public transport it would be a lot harder to access those services.”

When Sandy came across a brochure for Flying Doctor Wellbeing at a local sporting club, she first thought that the service might be helpful for her husband. He had recently had a breakdown and was looking for a new counsellor to talk to. The local nature of the service was also encouraging, saving the family the two-hour round trip to Bendigo. David, our Flying Doctor Wellbeing clinician, was only half-an-hour up the road at Boort District Health (our local partner clinic) and could do phone consultations too.

Having seen firsthand the difference David had made to her husband’s life, Sandy soon found herself opening up to the idea of talking to him too.

“I was going through a bit of stuff and David just happened to call,” she says. “We could talk through it and move forward.”

Living in a small community, Sandy found it comforting that she was able to talk to someone who understood the area, but also lived outside it. 

“They’re external. You’re not going to bump into them down the street while you’re shopping!”

Sandy is incredibly grateful to the people who make services like this possible for Victorian communities, saying “Thank you, it changes people’s lives.”

Nothing underlines this more than her own journey. Sandy is now studying to become a counsellor herself, and looks forward to providing the same comfort and understanding to others that Flying Doctor Wellbeing brought to her.

Pictured: Sandy with her family