About

I’m Mary Drake and I’m the Principal of Living Well Social Work.  I’m an Accredited Social Worker with the Australian Association of Social Workers.

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I am a registered Provider with the NDIS for Therapeutic Supports. I’ve been working in Counselling for over 25 years (and I’ve been saying that for a while now!). I’m a highly trained and experienced counsellor. I’m also very experienced in assisting people to navigate the various government systems that can help them.

I am also in the process of registering to provide services through the NDIS as a Support Coordinator.  I have many years of casework management experience working with people with complex and long term issues.  I have also spent many years using my experience to mentor and train others to provide person centred services.  I have high hopes of a service such as the NDIS where the main objective is to provide choice and control to the participants.

My work can be summed up with Michael White’s immortal quote: “The person is not the problem.  The problem is the problem.”  And finding innovative and often playful ways to minimise problems and help people live well is what my work is all about.

I have specialised in working with adolescents in particular but also children and their families. This includes parents, siblings, grandparents – adults of all ages. I provided trauma counselling in a range of areas but particularly in sexual assault. I worked in Domestic Violence, Child Protection and with the Out of Home Care sector.

Working with people who are struggling with depression, anxiety, loss and grief, bullying, trauma, relationship issues and many other problems that are impacting on their abilities to fully enjoy their lives, gives me fulfillment.

I have been providing Clinical and Managerial Supervision and debriefing services to staff in the helping sectors since the 1990s. I have specialised in Vicarious Trauma for workers in the helping sector and have provided services in this area since 1997. I continue to provide successful training and consultation services to organisations.