About Us - The Full Story
One Red Tree Resource Centre Inc, founded in January 2022, is a not-for-profit charity organisation providing high-quality mental health services and training in Ararat, Stawell and surrounding areas.
Our community-oriented, grassroots organisation is a collaboration led by experienced mental health and education practitioners, Federation University Australia and the Ararat Rural City Council. In 2024, One Red Tree has begun to develop partnerships with Monash University, La Trobe University, and the Australian Catholic University.
Our Vision
Our vision is to be a relational centre of excellence delivering compassionate and inclusive training and mental health services to our rural communities.
One Red Tree Resource Centre is the culmination of years of planning, consulting and engaging in the community by two local professionals, our founders, Clinical Psychologist Carly McKinnis and Educational Leader Tammie Meehan.
Carly and Tammie grew up in Ararat and attended local schools. After completing tertiary qualifications and spending time gaining professional experience elsewhere, they returned to Ararat to raise their families.
They both have a strong commitment to the health, wellbeing and education of their local community. This has been demonstrated through engagement with local services and participating in numerous community groups. Underpinning their motivation is years of ongoing professional development in evidence-based interventions.
Training and Workforce Development
Regional and rural communities face critical shortages in mental health services and trained mental health professionals. Through our unique Relational Workforce and Training Development Model, we provide placement and employment opportunities to provisionally registered and early-career psychologists through Federation University and other universities who are just beginning to come on board. There are important benefits to both organisations. One Red Tree Resource Centre and our community is guaranteed a sustainable, skilled workforce and the universities are guaranteed access to high-quality clinical placements. With more skilled professionals working with our organisation, we can provide an increased access to our high-quality mental health service. Our aim is to attract and retain psychologists in our community through our career pathways.
Community Need
Community is at the heart of our organisation. We recognise that to help individuals live well in their community, we must support the psychological health of our families, schools, and community systems.
One Red Tree Resource Centre strives to work with our community to provide the following:
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High-quality supervision by qualified, AHPRA endorsed, clinical psychologists for 5th and 6th year Master of Clinical Psychology/Professional Psychology students on placement
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Provide placements in local primary, secondary and specialist schools
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Opportunities for local community organisations to gain sustainable support in mental health through supervision and Employee Assistance Programs
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Supporting schools to be gateways for accessing services
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Supporting schools with needs-based intervention programs, to assist them with mental health issues as they arise, including: staff professional development sessions and family sessions
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High-quality Clinical Psychology Registrar program- a 2-year program for 6th year trained psychologists with a Master of Clinical Psychology wanting to gain their clinical endorsement
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Operate our clinic to provide a mental health service for our wider community.
Local Community Partnerships
One Red Tree Resource Centre has partnered with Ararat Rural City Council, which has incorporated our organisation into the Ararat Rural City Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2021-2025, as one of their Key Project Partners.
East Grampians Health Service has been a huge support since the inception of our organisation. In 2023, we partnered with EGHS and the Grampians Region Palliative Care Consortium to develop our unique Collaborative Care Conversations Aged Care Residential Program and employ provisional psychology interns to implement the program in the EGHS aged care residential facilities: Lowe St, Garden View Court and Willaura. We also provide supervision to EGHS social work staff and the Palliative Care team.
As we continue to grow, we intend to develop strong and sustainable partnerships with additional community organisations, services and agencies.
Our aim is to reduce stigma as a barrier to seeking support for mental health and through this support, better enable early intervention.
Major Local Community Sponsors
One Red Tree Resource Centre has been extremely fortunate to have gained financial support from the following community organisations since founding in 2022.
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ACE Radio and the Handbury Foundation
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Ararat Charitable Trust (formerly Ararat Apex)
Let’s Work Together
Get in touch so we can start working together.