Tanya

Position: The Right Track Therapist

At Off Centre since: 2011

What do you like the most at Off Centre?

The friendly, welcoming atmosphere is what I like most about Off Centre. The Off Centre team really look out for each other and that makes this such a great place to work. I think that the good vibes also mean that we can better support the young people we work for too.

Name one quality (trait of character) you think is the most important for your job - why?

An ability to listen is really important in this job, to be able to listen to clients and also to yourself means that you can go to greater depths in supporting young people to deal with current events and difficult life experiences. Sometimes we might be listening to things that a young person has not voiced before, being able to share that with someone who is listening with empathy is vitally important.

What do you do to relax when you feel stress?

I find that swimming, running and yoga are really great ways to help me de-stress. By keeping my mind active and in the present moment it has a break from my worrying thoughts and I always feel better afterwards. Having a good laugh with friends is also a great tonic to stress less.

What’s your most treasured object?

I don’t place a big value on material objects but if there’s one object out there I do value it is the Sun! What an amazing object it is, we wouldn’t be here without it and I treasure the moments when I watch it set, or get to lie in its rays and sunbath in a park or at the beach. Working on the HYPOD Gardening project I see how important it is in making our vegetable’s ripe and sweetening our fruit.

What’s your favourite word?

Ever since a school spelling test I’ve always been fond of ‘floxinoxinihilipilification’. It’s longest non science term in the dictionary and it means the act of determining something as being worthless. It has the opposite meaning to the work that the Off Centre team do and I’m yet to ever use it in a sentence!