The role of the Diversional Therapist is incredibly diverse, and duties and requests seem to escalate towards the end of the year. By now you are probably all back at work and wondering if you had a break at all! Coping with workplaces stressors, as well as the many other impacts on our lives, can be difficult.
The majority of DTA members are women; interestingly The Australian Psychology Society reported in National Psychology Week (November 2014) the results of their Stress and Wellbeing in Australia 2014 survey. The findings, for the first time, found that men have significantly higher levels of wellbeing than women. Perhaps our male members might enlighten us on how they have managed to turn the findings around!
Click here to read the report
The report notes signs of stress and tips for managing stress. As your President, I would ask each of you to seriously review these identifiers and tips, and consider if 2015 is the year you take a little more control in some areas of your life which will support a greater sense of wellbeing.
On a completely different note ….. There is some exciting news afoot around membership! The Board have been aware that the current levels of membership have not fully recognised all qualification levels. Qualifications are hard won, expensive, and represent a significant commitment of time and effort, and deserve recognition. This week, the Board spent considerable time discussing this member concern, and have responded. The good news is that each membership (apart from affiliate memberships such as student, retired and international members) will be titled full members of Diversional Therapy Australia.
Click here to see the changes.
Over the next few months, documents will be released to industry and stakeholders. These information based documents will help to clarify the changes and also to outline to industry the scope of practice of the various membership titles.
This month the Board welcomed Darren Robinson as the Tasmanian representative. Darren’s bio is worth reading. He has been personally responsible for some amazing projects involving the entire residential aged care facility, which he is going to share through the newsletter. Welcome Darren! He will be throwing out the gauntlet for someone to match these works of art!