Help-seeking among indigenous Australian adolescents: Exploring attitudes, behaviours and barriers

What prevents Indigenous young people from seeking professional help for emotional and/or psychological problems, and how can counselling support services, such as Australia's youth counselling service, Kids Helpline, assist in overcoming these barriers? To explore these questions this paper draws on qualitative feedback from group discussions with 60 Indigenous young people (aged 10-24 years) living in rural, regional and metropolitan Australia. Findings reveal many barriers, including shame, fear, intergenerational stigma and limited awareness. The paper suggests that addressing cultural competency in services, hosting school-based education sessions and embracing offline and online contact points are helpful steps youth services can take to encourage formal help-seeking among Indigenous young people.

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