Seeing Change in Helensburgh
- deansimpson7
- May 7
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Reactions and behaviours that become ingrained over time can be hard to change, even if they are detrimental to a person’s wellbeing.
In Helensburgh (NSW), a course developed by the Salvation Army is helping community members tackle the change process.
Called ‘See Change’, the six-week course was developed by The Salvation Army’s First Floor Program, based in the Illawarra, and the University of Wollongong’s psychology unit. It was designed to assist families impacted by loved ones with challenging behaviours.
2508 Salvos in Helensburgh (part of Shire Salvos) began offering the course in 2022. Participants meet once a week for six weeks to learn about the process of change, strategies to reclaim a healthy, safe and functioning life and ways to enhance personal and family wellbeing.
“That first course was so powerful,” 2508 Salvos Mission Leader Lauren Martin said. “We knew right then that See Change was something special. A space where people could be totally authentic and vulnerable about the struggles they were having in implementing positive changes they so desperately wanted to see in their lives.”
Lauren and her 2508 Salvos volunteers have now facilitated five See Change courses.
“We have had people attend who struggle with anger, who have chronic health issues, who have unhealthy stress-coping mechanisms in play in their lives,” said Lauren. “But one of the key consistencies that we have seen in people attending the See Change course is what I call a ‘self-worth deficit’.
“If we can empower people to truly see their worth and value, through the See Change exercises and tools that they start to implement in their lives, they see some powerful changes start to take place.”
One woman gave feedback after the course that “the invitation to See Change probably saved my life!” Another said that the course helped to “increase her self-awareness” and assisted her to “re-focus on what’s important to me and ‘cement’ it into my general living.”
Every single person who completed the See Change course with 2508 Salvos noticed an increase in self-worth.
In 2025, The Salvation Army in Helensburgh, working in conjunction with the First Floor Program, introduced an extension to the See Change course – the Family Empowerment Program. This 12-month course supports families and individuals with information, support and resources to move forward and build the kind of future they want – even when difficulties within the family still exist.
Participants meet once a month and have access to a mentor, with whom they meet between the monthly sessions.
“Supporting people long-term as they work to make positive changes in their lives and in the lives of their families is incredibly rewarding,” said Lauren. “We see people start to introduce healthy boundaries, envisage and work towards goals and put in place strategies to deal with stressful circumstances.”
This long-term support for people complements the emergency and short-term assistance The Salvation Army gives to people in the 2508 area through food and financial assistance and referrals for case work and specialist support.
“We want to see individuals and families in 2508 thrive,” said Lauren. “It’s about wholistic support for as long as it’s needed.”
