Our Approach and Philosophy

Amity Community Services (Amity) supports the view that health is more than just the absence of disease, but rather is a complete state of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.

Amity accords with the World Health Organization description of Health as a resource for life and a product of lifestyles and living conditions. At Amity it is recognized that lifestyles contain different patterns of human behaviour which have both benefits and costs to the individual and to the community.

Amity believes that these patterns of behaviour are best considered from a holistic perspective, that is, within the context of the activity, the individual and the environment. We believe that people learn patterns of behaviour and maintain them because of the benefits they derive but such patterns may, at some stages in life, have negative consequences.

Amity Community Services is an incorporated non-government community organization providing a range of services pertaining to behaviours of habit.

Amity's multi-disciplinary team of professional staff provide services aim to:

• minimize the risk of negative consequences occurring, and
• reduce existing negative consequences.

Current research findings and best practice inform Amity's service delivery which is:

• pragmatic rather than ideological,
• geared towards concrete results rather than labelling and reinterpreting the client's experience,
• holistic rather than focussing exclusively on a specific behaviour.

Amity's client group consists of people experiencing problems relating to their own or someone else's lifestyle, and those at risk of developing problems.

The emphasis is on self responsibility and self management using a cognitive behavioural approach. We recognize that many clients are ambivalent about change as the short term rewards associated with a pattern of behaviour can outweigh the longer term costs. Accordingly, we use motivational techniques designed to assist the client to shift the decisional balance, and collaborate to set realistic goals and strategies for change.

Increasing the repertoire of coping skills is widely acknowledged as an effective intervention strategy. Indeed clients themselves often identify the need to learn a new skill, or to further develop an existing one, to achieve their desired behavioural change. Mental health issues are frequently associated with problematic behaviours. A recent survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that one in four Australians who have a drug problem also have a least one other mental health issue. Similarly intervention at Amity invariably involves mental health counselling and coping skills training. Some examples of the latter are stress and anger management, assertion training, conflict resolution and effective communication.