A BRiTA future for Logan's migrants

MIGRANTS and refugees who need support settling into the Logan community will soon be able to access a new program to help them cope.

Starting next month, the Building Resilience in Transcultural Australian's (BRiTA) Futures for Adults and Parents program will kick start in Logan.

It will help newly arrived families build confidence to better cope with the stresses related to migration and adapting to a new country.

At the official launch last week at the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre in Logan Central, manager Rita Prasad-lldes said the program would teach the skills needed to understand any physiological processes they may encounter in their new lives.

"We know from other agencies work with migrants and refugees that this sort of program was really needed," she said.

"A lot of people, when they move to Australia, are taught practical things like how to find accommodation, how to catch a bus and things like that.

"But no-one has focused on the psychology of migration and dealing with the move more emotionally.

"Things can be tough for a migrant because there is lots of unemployment and things may not be what they expect them to be.

"So this program is really about coping with diversity."

Ms Prasad-lldes said the program was an add-on from an already existing project for children of migrant families.

"We have been running this program for children since 2004, but now we have developed an adult component," she said.

"That program came about from the feedback we received from the kids, who said their parents needed a program like this as well."

For more information about the BRiTA Futures for Adults and Parents Program, phone the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre on 3167 8333.