Youth counselling · educational engagement
Helping young people get unstuck.
Youth counselling and specialist educational engagement support for children, teenagers and young adults.
Whether a young person is struggling with their mental health, navigating neurodivergence, feeling unsure about what comes next, or finding school increasingly difficult to access, Unstuck Youth provides practical, individualised support to help them move forward.
Youth Counselling: Ages 12–25 School Engagement & Re-engagement Support: Ages 6–25
Face-to-face support in Frankston and Cranbourne, with online appointments available across Victoria.
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Sometimes young people get stuck.
They might feel overwhelmed, anxious, disconnected, misunderstood or unsure how to move forward.
Sometimes that shows up at school.
Sometimes it shows up at home, in friendships, in motivation, confidence or mental health.
And sometimes everything looks okay from the outside, while the young person is having a much harder time underneath.
Unstuck Youth provides a supportive space to understand what is getting in the way and work out what might actually help.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Support is built around the individual young person, their strengths, their circumstances and what matters to them.
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How Unstuck Youth Can Help
Youth Counselling & Support
For young people aged 12–25
Counselling and practical support for young people experiencing challenges with their emotional wellbeing, mental health, neurodivergence, friendships, family relationships, trauma, confidence, identity, motivation or life transitions.
Young people do not need to be experiencing school difficulties to access counselling at Unstuck Youth.
Support can also include mentoring and guidance for older teenagers and young adults navigating study, employment, pathways, independence and the transition into adulthood.
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School Engagement & Re-engagement
For children and young people aged 6–25
Specialist support for young people who are finding it difficult to attend, access, participate in or feel successful at school.
This may include school can't or school refusal, declining attendance, disengagement, neurodivergent overwhelm, anxiety around school, difficulty returning after an extended absence, unmet support needs or uncertainty about educational pathways.
The focus is not simply on getting a young person through the school gate.
It is about understanding what is making school difficult and identifying what needs to change for meaningful engagement to become possible.
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Year 6–7 Transition Support
A little more support for a very big transition.
Starting secondary school can be exciting, but for some children the transition from primary school brings significant anxiety, uncertainty or overwhelm.
Individualised Year 6–7 Transition Support is available for children who may benefit from additional preparation, confidence-building, practical strategies and support navigating their new school environment.
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Support that looks beyond the behaviour
A young person who is refusing school may be overwhelmed.
A teenager who seems unmotivated may have stopped believing they can succeed.
A young person withdrawing from friends may be struggling with anxiety.
A neurodivergent child who appears oppositional may be communicating that the demands around them have become too much.
At Unstuck Youth, the starting question is not:
“How do we make this young person comply?”
It is:
“What is getting in the way, and what does this young person need to move forward?”
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A practical, young-person-centred approach
Relationship first
Young people are more likely to engage when they feel safe, respected and genuinely heard.
Building trust comes before expecting change.
Individualised support
Two young people experiencing the same problem may need completely different approaches.
Support is tailored to the individual rather than expecting the young person to fit a program.
Neurodiversity affirming
Differences in communication, sensory processing, executive functioning, emotional regulation and learning are considered when understanding what may be happening for a young person.
Practical as well as therapeutic
Sometimes talking helps.
Sometimes the young person needs practical strategies, problem-solving, advocacy, planning or help navigating a system that feels overwhelming.
Often they need a combination.
Family and systems aware
Young people do not exist in isolation.
Where appropriate, support can involve parents, carers, schools and other professionals already involved in the young person's life.
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Meet Rachael
Unstuck Youth was founded by Rachael Menz, Youth Counsellor and Educational Engagement Specialist.
Rachael's professional experience spans youth work, school wellbeing, alternative education, specialist education and educational re-engagement.
Her work — and her own experience of taking a less traditional path through education — have shaped the belief at the centre of Unstuck Youth:
Struggling with school now does not determine what a young person will be capable of later.
About Rachael & Unstuck Youth08
Not sure what kind of support you need?
You do not need to work that out before getting in touch.
Tell me a little about what has been happening and we can discuss whether Unstuck Youth may be the right fit.
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