Family Coping Toolkit - CatholicCare NT

Family Coping has evolved over the last thirty years, into an alternative Indigenous model of working with families to help them to find their own solutions to the difficulties in their lives. After many years of working with families around the Top End of Australia, Larrakia women, Caroline Busch and Milly Hardy developed The Family Coping Toolkit.

The Family Coping Toolkit is underpinned by the Family Coping model. It is Indigenous specific, evidence based and family focused. It is able to incorporate spiritual components which are compatible with traditional cultural practices and beliefs.

There are well-established cultural healing and reconciliation practices among ordinary members of communities and the Family Coping Toolkit supports people to reflect and talk about their worries such as social and emotional well-being, substance misuse, family violence, housing and finances.

The Family Coping Toolkit

The Family Coping Toolkit includes the Family Coping Story Mat, Images, Flipchart, DVD and worksheets.  It uses community based pictures that are familiar to participants, supporting them to make ongoing changes and to access the many sources of strength in their lives.

‘There were lots of different resources that were relevant to what we were trying to do. But we were not happy. We wanted to develop the Mat our own way. The resources had too many words. We wanted to sit down with our people and find a way to work with them in a way they would understand’.

Caroline Busch, Developer of the Family Coping Toolkit

The resources in the Family Coping Toolkit enable and encourage people and families to:

Share their stories with others – by doing this families get to hear they are not alone.

Talk about how they feel.

Look at the barriers.

Know there is support.

Identify better ways to live.

For further information on the Family Coping Toolkit contact Caroline Busch, Cultural Development Coordinator

via email caroline.busch@catholiccarent.org.au or phone 08 8944 2000