Dr Andrew Bickerdike (pictured) from Relationships Australia Victoria and Andrew King from MensLine were joined by John Legg from Helpful Partners to launch this handbook at the recent FRSA conference in Sydney.

The handbook uses a theme of home renovation and provides a set of proven tools that are effective in helping men improve their relationships with their partners. It will be widely available through Relationships Australia and MensLine offices.

You can see an online copy here at Relationships Australia Victoria and download it if you wish.

I’m off to the second FRSA conference this week in Sydney with an armful of our latest flyers. Looking forward to catching up with Andrew King from Mensline Australia and Andrew Bickerdike from Relationships Australia who we have worked with on various projects. The three of us are launching  Renovate your relationship (PDF 190K) together on the Thursday.

We’ve targetted men very specifically in this booklet in the attempt to engage them around improving intimate couple relationships in a way that is punchy and engaging. As writers this booklet was challenging, deciding what to include and what to leave out from the huge amount of input from the contributors. We worked hard to find a voice that talks directly to men in a way that is direct and friendly without trying to be too politically correct.

The Andrews were keen to use the theme of renovation as something that many men can relate to so we’ve come up with design that complements this. We think it’s pretty funky. We must have done something right because Good News Week latched on to it and gave it a send-up! (Men don’t need tools…men are tools!). Any publicity is good publicity I reckon.

Leave a comment. We’d appreciate your feedback.

Right now we’re excited about working with Relationships Australia Victoria on an ambitious online project that will assist people connect up with professional expertise and to support each other at any time of day or night.

• People supporting people, 24 hours a day.
• An online community of practitioners and clients.

This innovative online community will integrate the traditional mechanisms of teaching, training and counselling with innovative web and social networking technologies. In this way communities of clients can be supported and support one another at any time of the day or night.

How will it work?

Clients visit ‘Houses’ in an online environment. Click on the thumbnails below to see what this might look like.

Each House is a virtual space created for a special interest group e.g. the House of Separation and Divorce, the Men’s House or the House of Parenting. In any of these houses people can:

• access expertise provided by professionals from Relationships Australia Victoria and other Collaborating Agencies
• discuss issues of common interest and concern with others in similar situations to themselves in real time or in forums
• access a range of resources; text, podcasts, video
• attend ‘meetings’ on topics of interest, run by professionals and experts.

With learning and ongoing connections 24 hours a day, in a safe online environment, isolation will be reduced and mental health outcomes improved.

Both Relationships Australia Victoria and approved collaborating agencies will run Houses or Rooms on topics as diverse as relationship education and repartnering, mens’ issues, domestic violence or financial counselling. Other services will emerge depending on the interests of other agencies, whether it be CALD issues, quitting smoking or fear of flying.

New ‘Houses’ can also be rolled out rapidly in response to traumatic events like bushfire or cyclone as required.