What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 4pm Tuesday 9am - 4pm Wednesday 9am - 4pm Friday 9am - 12pm

http://linktr.ee/balancecentreformentalhealth

Balance Centre for Mental Health, 6/34 Baynes Street, Margate (2025)

13/09/2025

Disruptions in interoception can happen in two main ways:

1. Low Interoceptive Awareness (Under-Responsive)
Some people struggle to detect internal cues altogether. They may not notice they’re hungry until they feel faint. They may not realise they’re anxious until they’re in a full panic. These signals are there—but the brain doesn’t register them clearly or early enough.

This can lead to:
🛑 Difficulty naming emotions
🛑 Delayed responses to stress or pain
🛑 A sense of “numbness” or detachment
🛑 Challenges with self-care (e.g. eating, resting, toileting)

2. High Interoceptive Sensitivity (Over-Responsive)
Others may experience internal signals too intensely. A slightly elevated heart rate might feel like a medical emergency. A small emotional shift may trigger a full-body alarm response.

This can lead to:
🛑 Emotional flooding
🛑 Panic attacks
🛑 Chronic worry about health or safety
🛑 Avoidance of body-focused practices (like breathwork or mindfulness)

In both cases, the person might appear “overreactive” or “out of touch” to others, but what’s really happening is a mismatch between body signals and brain processing.

🧠 Whether your body feels too quiet to read or too loud to bear, interoception could be the missing piece. At Balance Centre, we support clients to gently rebuild the connection between brain and body without pressure, without overwhelm, and always at your pace.

You don’t need to “push through.”
We’re here to help you understand what your nervous system is really trying to say.

11/09/2025

At Balance Centre for Mental Health, we often hear clients say, “I know I should be calm, but I can’t get my body to follow.”

This experience isn’t a personal failure. It often has a physiological explanation and interoception is a big part of it.

What Is Interoception?
Interoception is the ability to notice and interpret internal signals from your body.

These include sensations like:
💙 Heartbeat
💨 Breathing
🍏 Hunger or thirst
💪 Muscle tension
🥶 Temperature
💧 The urge to go to the toilet
😣 Emotional signals like anxiety, grief, or excitement

Think of it as your brain’s internal dashboard—tracking how your body is doing and using that information to guide your behaviour.

For most people, interoception works in the background. You notice you're cold and put on a jumper. You feel hungry and reach for food. You sense tension and take a deep breath. But for others, especially those with trauma histories or neurodivergent wiring, this system can be disrupted.

📖 Read the new blog on our website to understand how disrupted interoception impacts emotional regulation, trauma recovery, and neurodivergent experiences—plus what can help.

We’re here when you’re ready to reconnect with your body.

28/08/2025

Preparing for a Functional Capacity Assessment can feel overwhelming—but it doesn’t have to be.

We’ve created a FREE FCA Prep Pack to help you feel clear, confident, and ready. Whether you're navigating your first NDIS application or a plan review, this downloadable guide is packed with tools to help you:

✔ Understand what to expect
✔ Reflect on your daily life and support needs
✔ Involve support people effectively
✔ Prepare for better outcomes

Created by trauma-informed mental health professionals, this resource is especially supportive for people with psychosocial disability, neurodivergence, or chronic mental health conditions.

🧠 Practical. Empowering. Grounded in real life.
📥 Download now via our website
https://www.balancecentreformentalhealth.com.au/downloadable-resources

25/08/2025

There’s still a lot of confusion out there about who can offer therapy.

Here’s what to know about Accredited Mental Health Social Workers (AMHSWs):
✅ They are university-trained, clinically experienced, and formally accredited by the AASW
✅ Their mental health training includes trauma, systems theory, child development, grief, identity, and complex needs
✅ They’re recognised by Medicare, NDIS, and Open Arms as qualified providers
✅ They offer therapy, assessments, and holistic support tailored to real life

Accredited Mental Health Social Workers are particularly skilled in working with people whose needs don’t fit into neat diagnostic boxes—those navigating trauma, neurodivergence, chronic stress, complex mental health, and systemic challenges.

If that’s you: we see you.
And we’d be honoured to support you.

🌿 Not sure if an AMHSW is the right fit? Let’s have a no-pressure conversation.

21/08/2025

Therapy with an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker isn’t one-size-fits-all. Your support is tailored to your goals, your pace, and your needs.

Depending on the person, your Accredited Mental Health Social Worker might use tools such as:
➡ CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for anxiety or negative thought patterns
➡ EMDR for trauma recovery and nervous system regulation
➡ Narrative Therapy to explore the stories we tell about ourselves
➡ ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) for values-based living
➡ Psychoeducation to help you understand what’s happening in your brain and body
➡ Motivational Interviewing to support change on your terms

Plus grounding techniques, emotion regulation strategies, parenting support, and more.

What matters is not the modality—it’s the match between support and your life.

🎯 Want a practitioner who brings both evidence and empathy? Our Accredited Mental Health Social Workers are trained, accredited, and here to help.

18/08/2025

Accredited Mental Health Social Workers are trained in therapy. But unlike many other mental health professionals, we don’t focus on “fixing” symptoms in isolation.
Instead, we ask deeper questions:
➡ How has your past shaped the way you experience the present?
➡ How do systems, structures, and relationships influence your mental health?
➡ What supports already exist in your world—and what’s missing?

This broader lens is often called a biopsychosocial approach—meaning we consider how biological, psychological, and social factors interact.

The result?
Therapy that explores you—your story, your identity, your values. Not just your diagnosis.

At Balance Centre, our Accredited Mental Health Social Workers support people of all ages with concerns like:
➡ Anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and identity exploration
➡ Childhood development and neurodivergent experiences
➡ Family and relationship challenges

We bring practical tools, therapeutic knowledge, and a deep respect for your lived experience.

💬 Curious if this kind of therapy might be right for you? Reach out—we’d love to talk it through.

14/08/2025

If you’ve ever wondered, “Should I see a psychologist, a counsellor, or a social worker?”—you’re not alone.

One of the most common questions we get is: What’s the difference between a social worker and an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker?

Here’s the short version:
🔹 AMHSWs are university-qualified social workers
🔹 They complete a minimum of two years of supervised mental health practice
🔹 They undergo formal accreditation through the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)
🔹 They’re approved to deliver therapy under Medicare (with a GP Mental Health Care Plan), NDIS, Open Arms, and more

But credentials are only part of the picture.

What sets Accredited Mental Health Social Workers apart is their understanding of the whole person—not just the diagnosis. They consider your environment, trauma history, relationships, cultural identity, and lived experience as vital to your mental health story.

✨ You don’t have to figure out which professional is the “right” one alone. We can help you understand your options.

11/08/2025

There’s a common myth out there that only Occupational Therapists can complete Functional Capacity Assessments.

Here’s the truth:
✅ Under NDIS guidelines, social workers, psychologists, OTs, and developmental educators can all complete FCAs.

At Balance Centre, our social workers are accredited, experienced, and trained in functional assessments, particularly for psychosocial disabilities, autism, FASD, and intellectual disabilities.

Why choose a social worker?

Because we don’t just assess tasks—we understand stories. We look at the intersection of trauma, disability, mental health, and life circumstances.

Our training covers:
✔️ Holistic, person-in-environment frameworks
✔️ Neurodivergent-affirming practice
✔️ Trauma-informed and strengths-based care
✔️ Advocacy and system navigation

We don’t just ask “Can you shower alone?”
We ask “What supports make that possible?” and “What else is happening in your world?”

✨ Want an assessor who sees you—not just a checklist? That’s what we do.

07/08/2025

We get this question a lot: What’s the Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) process with a Social Worker actually like?

Here’s a quick overview of what happens when you work with a social worker at Balance Centre for Mental Health:

➡ Warm First Session
We start with a gentle chat—in person or via telehealth—to get to know you, your goals, and your context.

➡ Deep Dive Into Daily Life
We might ask about communication, mobility, sensory needs, self-care, learning, emotional regulation, relationships, and more. This helps us build a full picture of what support looks like in your life.

➡ Home or Community Visit
Understanding how you function in real-life environments matters. We observe and discuss how you move through your spaces—physically, emotionally, and socially.

➡ Supporting Documentation
We include prior assessments or relevant documents to support our recommendations.

➡ Detailed Report
You’ll receive a comprehensive report that follows NDIS guidelines, outlines your strengths and areas of need, and makes specific recommendations for support.

Throughout it all, our goal is to listen, support, and advocate for you. And we’ll never submit a report you haven’t had a chance to read and reflect on.

💡 Curious about whether now is the right time for an FCA? You don’t need to figure it out alone—reach out for a free chat.

04/08/2025

At its core, an FCA is a functional assessment—which means we look at what you can do (and what you find hard), not just what you’ve been diagnosed with.

This model is based on the ICF framework—the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health—developed by the World Health Organization. Instead of separating “physical” and “mental” health, the ICF acknowledges that disability exists in the interaction between a person and their environment.

That’s why we consider:
Q. How your body and mind work together
Q. How your environment (social, cultural, physical) supports or hinders you
Q. How your daily life is impacted, including work, education, relationships, and routines

This biopsychosocial approach gives the NDIS a much clearer picture of the supports you actually need to participate fully in life.

📖 Want to learn more about how the ICF model underpins NDIS assessments—and how we apply it? Our team is always happy to talk through the process with you.

01/08/2025

Navigating support systems like the NDIS can be overwhelming, especially when you're already carrying the weight of a disability, chronic illness, or mental health challenge. That’s where a Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) can make a meaningful difference.

An FCA is more than a bureaucratic checkbox—it’s a structured way to tell the story of how your disability impacts your day-to-day life. It gives the NDIS the evidence it needs to fund the right supports for you.

But here's the kicker: it’s not about a diagnosis. It’s about function.
That means we assess your capacity to do things like:
- Communicate your needs
- Regulate emotions and maintain relationships
- Manage tasks like cooking, hygiene, or transport
- Participate in learning, employment, or social connection

And we do that in the real context of your life. That includes your environment, your informal supports, your mental health, and any co-occurring conditions.

Done well, an FCA isn’t just paperwork. It’s a tool of advocacy.

💬 Thinking about whether an FCA might help clarify your needs or support your NDIS application? Send us a message—we’re happy to walk you through it.

We have a new blog that might help answer your questions too! It's live on our website.

+ our FCA prep pack is available for free from our website in the resources library:
https://www.balancecentreformentalhealth.com.au/downloadable-resources

30/07/2025

New free resource just dropped! Journals that get you sitting with yourself and reflecting on your feelings are a classic for good reason.

This self reflection journal is designed to support nervous system healing through practical, trauma-informed prompts and body-based awareness exercises. It helps you recognise how trauma may still be affecting your daily life—emotionally, physically, and behaviourally—and offers a structured way to track patterns, build internal safety, and reconnect with your body.

You can download your copy in our resource library at
https://www.balancecentreformentalhealth.com.au/product-page/is-trauma-still-living-in-my-body-self-reflection-journal-for-trauma-awareness

Let me know what you think of it!

Balance Centre for Mental Health

13/09/2025

11/09/2025

28/08/2025

25/08/2025

21/08/2025

18/08/2025

14/08/2025

11/08/2025

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30/07/2025

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Monday	9am - 4pm
Tuesday	9am - 4pm
Wednesday	9am - 4pm
Friday	9am - 12pm