atWork Australia

jobactive | Disability Employment Services | NDIS | atWork Australia

Thanks to Positivum, Brian is able to leave his house and socialise again.

Brian, now 30, has recently moved to Shepparton to be closer to his family and a safe distance away from Melbourne. He lives with severe anxiety, depression and PTSD.

A few years ago, Brian was attacked at a night out in Melbourne which severely injured his left hand and left him with no strength in it.

Brian is a truck driver by trade but due to the attack, he has been confined to his home and suffers severe anxiety when leaving the house, which manifests as clammy hands, sweating, hyperventilating and not being able to catch his breath. When he relives the moment of the attack, he gets a feeling of helplessness through reliving the trauma, and not being able to change the outcome.

Brian knew that he needed support to get his life back on track and contacted atWork Australia.

His Job Coach Brad realised that there was a long journey ahead for Brian and it was important to work on his health and wellbeing prior to start looking for sustainable employment.

Brad discussed the Positivum program with Brian, especially its benefits such as positive thinking, beliefs about health, thoughts about working, and the ability to get a job as well as coping and learning stress management skills.

Brad encouraged Brian to participate and said that the program may be beneficial to him – learning about himself as well as Brad learning about the best way to work with Brian.

Brian said that the Positivum Program was straight forward and easy to understand.

Since completing the Positivum Program in April 2021, Brian has been able to leave the house more often and understand better what triggers his anxiety. If he experiences onsets of anxiety, he can counteract by using strategies that he learnt from Positivum such as counting backwards, pacing techniques, stress management and coping skills such as stopping and thinking about what he can see, something he can touch and something he can smell. Brian said this helps to centre him and prevent him from reliving his trauma.

Positivum has really helped Brian to manage and cope with his anxiety and moved him one step forward to being himself again. Since starting the Positivum course, he has only suffered from two anxiety attacks.

Brian says: “Positivum at first sounded silly, but it works and has helped me tremendously. I’m able to leave the house again and starting to get my social life back. I had no social life before Positivum. I’m starting to find me again.”

Brad is proud that Brian successfully completed Positivum. Over the next few months, Brad will focus on rebuilding Brian’s confidence and getting him job-ready.

Contact atWork Australia today to find out more about our health and wellbeing coaching program, Positivum, and how it can support you on your journey to finding good work.

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