ABRASSO Mind
 

ABRASSO Mind is a not-for-profit project that aims to provide professional, ethical, and confidential mental health care to the Latin and Portuguese-speaking community in Queensland at an affordable price.

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The project was inspired by the successful experience of the BRACCA Mind program (www.bracca.org/braccamind) currently underway in NSW, which was developed due to the observed high incidence of mental health issues in the population of young immigrants and international students living in Australia.

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Thus, due to the great success of BRACCA Mind, with the collaboration of the creators of the aforementioned project, ABRASSO (Australia Brazil Association of Queensland) developed ABRASSO Mind.

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At ABRASSO Mind, psychological services are provided for adolescents, adults, and elderly - with Portuguese and Spanish-speaking psychologists registered in Australia (general or provisional registration).

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The services cover the most varied demands of everyday life, psychopathologies, cognitive, developmental, and learning issues, in addition to psychological and psychodiagnostics assessments with validated and recognised tools within the Australian health system.

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The issues covered include, but are not limited to:

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• Self-knowledge, personal growth, and development;

• Personal planning/goals/organisation;

• Anxiety;

• Depression;

• Homesickness (missing home/family/friends/culture);

• Cultural adaptation issues;

• Cultural "limbo" – no longer identifying with the culture of the home country, but also not feeling fully part of the local culture;

• Professional frustration or doubts in the professional area;

• Frustration with the direction of life or feeling of being aimless;

• Anguish with decisions to be made;

•  Feeling of loneliness;

• Difficulties in relationships (love relationships, friends, family, co-workers);

•  Domestic violence;

•  Anguish about the future;

•  Distress over visa situation in Australia;

•  ‎Pride/fear of not reaching expectations (generated by oneself or by others);

• Cognitive limitations/disabilities;

• Learning issues;

• Memory, attention, or concentration issues;

• Addictions or compulsive behaviours (food, alcohol, drugs, gambling or others);

• Trauma;

• Grief;

• Challenges of motherhood or fatherhood;

• Challenges of aging;

• Marital challenges;

• Eating disorders (binge eating, anorexia, bulimia...);

• Phobias;

• Suicidal thoughts;

• Dealing with anger, explosive and/or aggressive behaviours;

• Difficulty expressing or speaking in public;

• Difficulties at work;

• Body acceptance, self-image or self-esteem;

• Dealing with prejudices/discrimination;

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According to particular needs, individual, group, couple, and family appointments can be provided. 

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The professionals involved in the project are volunteers at ABRASSO, regularly registered (general or provisional registration) with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - AHPRA, committed to confidentiality, ethics (under the Australian Psychological Society - APS code of ethics), and the professional application of psychological assessment, diagnosis and treatment based on scientific evidence and officially recognised in Australia.

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The project also seeks to disseminate knowledge to support and raise awareness in the community on relevant topics on mental health.​

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If you are interested or want more information about the project or services, fill out the form below and we will contact you.

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NOTE: Please note that due to a shortage of psychologists available for this project, individuals interested in participating as patients must undergo triage based on priority assessments by a psychologist before scheduling a session.​​