Becoming a mysa mentor: meet Ali

How did you get into Mysa mentoring?

“Originally I started off as a bazaar mentor. Going into volunteering at Open Door in the first place I guess my mindset was ‘I’m doing psychology, I want to go down that career path into clinical psychology, so I needed the experience’. This was before I had an Assistant Psychologist job.
So I saw what Open Door was doing, it seemed like a really supportive environment, so I started at Bazaar and then after doing that for a few months Mysa started up and I thought it was an opportunity for me to expand my skill set and work with a client group that sort of falls through the gaps a lot of the time. You have people with eating disorders who might not reach the level where they can access mainstream services but they’re still struggling. So being in an environment where you are able to guide them through that and learn those skills I thought was a great opportunity so that’s why I went for Mysa, which also helps me for my career moving forward.”

So you’ve been volunteering with Mysa for a while now, what are your takeaways/highlights?
“I think for me one of the things, aside from actually sitting in the room (shed) and being a sounding board for the members, is also just the debriefs with staff afterwards because it helps me think through what I’ve been doing in the sessions, what I need to work on, whether there’s any areas I need to improve. So being able to have that time to debrief and speak to the staff who are available has been a great opportunity for me, you get to have your own sounding board and it’s a really supportive environment.

What would you say to somebody who is a bit nervous about signing up to be a Mysa mentor?
“I don’t think there’s anything to be that nervous about, I get where their nervousness comes from- when people hear ‘eating disorders’ they think ‘okay that’s a big deal, there’s a lot to deal with’. But the way it’s structured in Mysa means that the course itself supports you in being able to help the other person. You’re not there to give advice, you’re not there to be an expert, you’re just there (same as Bazaar) to be a sounding board for the other person. So you both look at the course together and see how it applies to that person’s life. You’re not necessarily trying not go deep into their issues, nothing complicated, and if there is any risk the staff are there to support you.”

–           Ali Abdul Khalique, Mysa Mentor

Head to our website to sign up to become a Mysa mentor today.