Better Life Courses

Courses

Better Life provides a number of courses to meet the needs of families, children, youth and adults.

Triple P
Positive Parenting Program
(For Parents of 1 to 12 year olds or 11 – 16 year olds)

RAP
Resourceful Adolescent Program
(For Teenagers 12-16yrs old)

Stress Busters
(For teenagers 12-16yrs old)

FRIENDS
A Program FOR ANXIOUS CHILDREN 5 – 12yrs old

Are you HUNGRY TO BE HAPPY
A Life Coaching Program FOR adults AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Cutting Edge Courses
Career Development
for teenagers and young adults

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THESE COURSES PLEASE EMAIL choice@betterlife.com.au

TRIPLE P

WHAT IS TRIPLE P - Many parents are looking for effective, practical solutions to common child behaviour difficulties that they can use in everyday situations.

The Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) is a comprehensive approach to parenting support offering a wide range of informative materials in print and visual media, group programs and one to one consultations.

Printed material (see our Products) from tip sheets to books and videos (see our Products) from Survival Guides to specific parenting challenges, Triple P is a parenting and family support strategy to assist parents of young children to promote a positive, caring relationship with their children and to effectively manage a variety of common behaviour problems and developmental concerns.

Triple P aims to prevent serious behvioural or adjustment problems in children by working closely with parents when children are young. Being a parent can be rewarding yet exhausting, joyful yet frustrating. The Triple P system offers strategies to help parents manage those common, and not so common, difficulties in raising children in todays society.

Backed by more than 20yrs of scientifically validated research and developed by Professor Matt Sanders of the University of Queensland, Triple P is available as a 'SELF-HELP' PROGRAM, GROUP PROGRAM or through INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS.

Triple P is world renowned with interest throughout Australia, New Zealand, Germany, SouthEast Asia, United Kingdom and the USA - the evidence is there!

Triple P’s age appropriate programs include the original version for 1 to 12 year olds and the latest version for teens (11 to 16year olds).

Professors Matt Sanders and Alan Ralph are collaborating on developing this next phase of Triple P. With successful trials of the materials already complete in rural and urban centres in Queensland, we'll look forward to being able to offer this program to interested parents in the near future!

For more information about Adolescent Triple P contact Better Life Psychology ..

RESOURCEFUL ADOLESCENT PROGRAM (RAP) has been university developed and tested to assist pre-teens, teens and their parents develop attitudes, skills and abilities in balancing the increasing demands of a competative modern society, innoculating them against the 21st century dis-eases of anxiety and depression.

The challenges of raising teenagers today makes RAP an essential course for teens and their parentss. RAP-A for adolescents and RAP-P for parents, focus on developing individual strengths, managing their thinking, staying calm, problem solving effectively and developing support netwiorks.

The eleven weekly sessions for RAP-A and six sessions for RAP-P are complimented by individual sessions where appropriate.

STRESS BUSTERS The only person who can change your stress level is YOU .. But when you can't see the woods for the trees this program can HELP!

Stress is a natural part of everyday lives. Stress is your body's natural and necessary reaction to everyday events - it's your body in a state of readiness to take action. Different people react to stress in different ways. When stress starts to interfere with your life it's time to look at managing it rather than it managing you.

You can learn to master stress and the problems it causes you. We know that stress is related to our general wellbeing. Stress interferes with many aspects of our lives. Stress increases the chances of developing illness, interferes with work productivity, leadds to relationship and interpersonal problems and reduces the sense of joy in our lives.

This program is based on decades of university research into stress, it's causes and effective treatments. The step by step program will help you to identify the causes of your stress, teach you to relax, and show you how to think realistically about your situation so you can stay calm and in control.

For further information please E-mail us now: choice@betterlife.com.au

CUTTING EDGE COURSES - "Things have changed so much since I was at school! I can see my child struggling to decide what to do with their life and I just don't know if what I'm saying is helping."

This is an all too common experience voiced by parents who talk to Santo Russo & Ralph Hunter from Cutting Edge Courses. Parents today are the most influential source of support for teenage career decision-making, yet between 15 and 30 years of major employment market changes have occurred since they themselves were in the same situation facing the same decisions as a young adult.

Twenty years ago young Australians had multiple career options in a bullish economy. Tertiary education was free. Training was widely available. Today, career options are rapidly changing. It is anticipated that today's youth will change careers, on average, five times in their life. There will be jobs that haven't even been thought of yet.

Tertiary qualifications may cost up to a hundred thousand dollars. It IS difficult for families to balance these differences in order to make appropriate career decisions. While parents bring the wisdom of experience, youth focus on the energy of possibilities - how do the two come together?

Santo Russo, from Better Life Psychology suggests, "When families have an understanding of the development of careers, the knowledge of career opportunities and the ability to communicate appropriately, they not only make better decisions but have more satisfying family time going about it."

Today, more than ever, families need support to wade through the exploding range of options for youth. 94% of students that applied for tertiary places received an offer of a place in one of Queensland's tertiary institutions. However, an average of 30% drop out of university in their first year, leaving the family with expensive Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) liability as well as being out of pocket for text books, etc.

In 1995 the introduction of the Australian Qualification Framework and the continued deregulation of higher education and training means that a large number of courses are marketed to young adults. Even Degree courses, once the sole domain of Commonwealth funded Universities, are under pressure from private, fee charging, training providers.

How do you as a consumer judge the value of the courses offered at both the traditional institutions and the new providers in the market?

There are ways, according to Ralph Hunter, from In Work. With the expansion of the New Apprenticeship system and traineeship options families can be overwhelmed with information. Ralph points out that innovations, like the Cutting Edge Workshop "Planning your working life - getting started", can assist families avoid a parent vs youth approach to one of the most profound decisions in a person's life.

Are you and your teenager coping well while trying to make those vital decisions about future career/job options?

'Cutting Edge Courses' offers a program to help teenagers and parents
· gain a better understanding of career choices
· develop planning skills for working together for better career outcomes
· gain an understanding of behaviour, pressures, influences and expectations around career decision making
· improve ability to communicate regarding career decision making

Endorsements from 'CUTTING EDGE COURSES':

"This has allowed me to see that everyone isn't perfect, and when I put myself down it is a negative and I'm just being hard on myself. I can change it if I choose. It was a great course and I would do it again." Kristy - Year 11 - St. Paul's School

"Gathering information and knowing yourself plus employment gaining and retaining". Kim - Year 10 - St Patrick's College

"All of the requirements of getting a job were covered magnificently. Nothing is blurry now, it's clear as crystal". Brad - Year 12 - Wavell State High School

"This course has shown me very effective ways of getting and keeping jobs. It has shown me that you're the only one who can effect your future". Sarah - Year 10 - Mt Alvernia College

"It has opened more choice for me and helped me accept myself and yeah it really was great, enjoyed myself while I was here".
Melissa - Year 12 - Mt Alvernia College.

The above testimonies were taken from some of the last course evaluation forms. They are printed here with participants permission and without editing. They speak for themselves!

Are you HUNGRY TO BE HAPPY?

Obesity is the plague of our time, an epidemic sweeping the Western world too rapidly to be due to biological factors alone (WHO, 1998). Obesity kills - with research showing an increase in all causes of mortality in obese people. But it can also be a ‘slow death’ through the assault on self-esteem, the attack on social functioning, and the destruction of a sense of wellness. Along with significant health and weight benefits this is a time for significant emotional, social and psychological change. Let BetterLife Psychology help you succeed through life’s challenges … choose a better life.

Initial PROGRAM

The aim of the Better Living Better Lives Program in the initial phase of weight management is to increase the outcomes by providing timely information; professional substantiation of change characteristics; and strengthening behavioural compliance to the protocols for change within a cost effective and supportive environment..

The program is based on the dictum
" knowledge is power".

Psychological characteristics of an individual influence the knowledge that would lead to a more effective adherence to protocols. It is essential to understand the behavioural consequences of change.

Lap-band surgery is a 'kick start' to weight loss for obese individuals. Without adherence to recovery protocols individuals run the risk of complications, procedural failure, or other negative experiences(such as depression or relationship issues). We know how easy it is to put on weight but with such an important step as lap-banding why do people experience procedural failure or negative outcomes in some aspects of their lives (eg: divorce). Is it lack of knowledge; timing of information; personal issues?