David Moles

Background

About David Moles

I started work in Gorman House, Sydney in 1998 as an Addictions Counsellor. I had just completed an Advanced Certificate in Drug and Alcohol from Ultimo TAFE in This qualification gave me the theory behind alcohol and drug use and strategies to assist people who seek treatment. At Gorman House, we assessed people for short term detoxification, assisted them to have medical needs attended to at The Haymarket Foundation. Worked close with Misson Australia to provide transport for clients entering and exiting the service. Other things learned were understanding withdrawal states, working closely with other homeless shelters like Campbell House and drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres in Sydney and state wide. In the last 6 months of working there, I stepped up in the Team Leader position. Here I looked after rosters, sick leave and general running of the facility. This was a 24 hour 7 day a week service run under the watchful eye of Dr Alex Wodak. After being accepted to Parkes Community Health Centre, I said goodbye to Gorman House. Here I worked in the community as a drug and alcohol worker. This position provided me with the ongoing education of outpatient care. Building on the base of my current qualification, I completed a Diploma of Community Services (Drug and Alcohol) at Bathurst TAFE in 2004. This provided me with further knowledge and experience in applying counselling skills like Cognitive Behaviour Skills, Motivational Interviewing and basic Narrative Therapy. This gave me confidence in applying theory to practice. This led to further study and I completed by B. Soc Science Psychology through CSU in 2010. This added to my existing education and was able to apply these to my service delivery. During the last year of University, I completed a Grad Cert D&A and Mental Health Practice through Bathurst TAFE. This course recognised and matched my current service delivery methods to be appropriate to the work I was already doing with referred clients. This was reassuring to me which bolstered my self-confidence and performance in my job. Further study was completed in 2018 with a Grad dip in Counselling through University of New England. This has further assisted me in consolidating my counselling theory to practice. It has given me the ability to determine fit for purpose when helping clients negotiate their treatment. The theories of counselling are well established and research drives future changes to the way in which these theories are demonstrated in the clinical setting.