A relationships program tailored to meet the needs of students in years 11 and 12

Developing Healthy Relationships…that’s what we do; but we are so much more than that! The Centacare Developing Healthy Relationships Team can present a range of sessions to students to assist in building healthy relationships with self, family, others and community. This is done in a dynamic, relevant, interactive and fun way. We pride ourselves on making a connection with the students that is both encouraging and personal.

Our Developing Healthy Relationships program is individually designed for each school. This is achieved by each DHR program being based on the information gained from meeting with a representative group of students several weeks prior to the workshop session. This meeting with students is critical as it informs the presenters about what the students believe will be most helpful to them and their peers. Topics may include managing stress, seeking balance in day to day living, family connections, relationship with self and exploring how to build positive relationships and also behaviours that can pull relationships apart.

The heading ‘relationships’ can cover such a broad range of topics. However, the basis of our program is built on research by Dr. John Gottman. Over many years he has investigated the development of strong friendships which underpin great relationships We have adapted his groundbreaking study to be relevant for the students, but it is information that they can take with them on their journey through life and constantly refer to.

The Developing Healthy Relationships program can be part of your seminar schedule for the year; used  as a Reflection Day or timetabled double sessions. The minimum time is 1½ hours but we love the full day sessions, where a great connection can be made with the students as well as an intense focus on those important relationship issues.

We strongly encourage staff participation with the students and regardless of the length of the session we ensure that it is a valuable time for all involved. The Centacare team love to walk away feeling  inspired and uplifted by the participation of the students and all staff involved.

Who is on the Team and why do we do it?
We all do it because we are passionate about positive relationships.

• We have a desire for young people to have positive outcomes in their lives.
• We want the students to know and believe that they all deserve GREAT relationships.
• Our goal is to encourage, inspire, educate and promote great relationships.
• We want to give students the tools to be aware of dangerous patterns that can damage relationships and tools to build healthy relationships throughout all stages of life.
• We draw a lot of energy and inspiration from working with VCE students in all their diversity.

Mary Brown
Mary is the co ordinator of the Developing Healthy Relationships Program for Centacare. She has a teaching background and has worked in the Centacare Marriage and Relationship Education Unit for 20 years. She is married to John with 3 children and believes that everyone deserves to have great relationships. She really enjoys working with the wonderful energy and aliveness of Yr 11 and 12 students.

Amanda McMahon
Mandy is married with two sons. She has degrees in Psychology, International Politics and Human Resource Management. She spent 15 years working in Human Resources both in Australia and overseas and has seen firsthand how healthy relationships can help individuals find their potential in the workplace and in managing their own lives.
She finds working with young men and women incredibly rewarding and challenging. As the students are about to embark on the next exciting phase of their lives, she believes strongly that the strategies introduced in the program will help them meet and embrace their potential.

Kate Selimanovic
Kate is married to a Bosnian refugee and has two young boys with plans of having at least another half dozen! Kate started working with Centacare in 2007 after eight years in hospitality management, and a brief run in with a psychology degree. With many years experience in theatre as well, she loves the performance aspect of the program. Delivering life changing information in a fun, relevant way to students is why she loves this job. Kate loves working with young people and truly believes in their potential. She is continually surprised and inspired by the input of the students she works with.

Glenn Manton is often a special guest presenter.
Glenn Manton is a philanthropist-activist-performer-athlete-journalist. Glenn’s life reflects both a divergent mind and skills base. He played AFL football for 12 years - representing both Essendon and Carlton where he became a life member and played in a Premiership in 1995. Glenn is also a member of the AFL’S 200 Club. In 1999 he co-founded a not-for-profit organisation, WHITELION whose work with disadvantaged youth is highly regarded within the Juvenile Justice system and beyond. Glenn travels extensively throughout Australia working within Indigenous Communities to enhance family and community structure and help diminish domestic violence. A regular media personality over many years Glenn has appeared on numerous programs from the ‘Glass House’ to ‘The Footy Show’ whilst writing for various publications and doing odd radio spots. Glenn has also written a number of books including the bestseller ‘Dead Bolt’ and raced a bobsleigh for Australia on the World Cup circuit. 2008 once again saw Glenn perform his award winning Impro’ show ‘The Spray’ as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

The Sessions
The following is a taste of what a session can be about. Remember a session is any length of time from 1.5 hours to all day. It will give you an idea of the variety of our program... but it doesn’t stop here!

Empowering Young Women
We believe that it is important that young men and women have a sense of who they are who they want to be. This session focussed particularly on young women explores with them who they are now and the influences on their lives. In helping to bring clarity around positive and negative impacts on their sense of self, particularly from the media a consciousness of choice for themselves is encouraged.  Students are encouraged to reflect on women and men who inspire them to be the kind of women they wish to be. This creates great discussion!

Stress and Balance
Maintaining positive relationships reduces stress We are aware that relationships can become quite strained especially with parents in the final years of school. We ask students to take stock of  the relationships around them that can be used as a resource to help with reducing  this stress. Relaxation, goal setting, meditation, and self talk are some of the other aspects around relieving stress that we also explore.

Connection with Self and Family
In almost all sessions we ask the participants to brainstorm who they wish to have healthy relationships with. We also ask about the qualities that they value in those relationships?  Frequently, the last person to be  mentioned is self. Using different strategies and activities the students have the opportunity to look at their connectedness with self. Do they respect themselves? Are they honest with themselves? Do they trust their own judgement? Do they accept and appreciate themselves? These exercises give them a chance to take time out to reflect on themselves and their relationships. Students can also be challenged to think about the impact of neglecting important relationships, including self. 

For enquiries and bookings please contact Mary Brown:
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 92875512

[ Click here to download a brochure (PDF) ]

Click here to download an an article written by Mary Brown and published in Threshold: A magazine about marriage education, No. 93: July 2008 (reproduced with permission).