Thirroul trauma-informed clinic opens

On November 28, politicians, business leaders and healthcare workers attended the official opening of Ramsay Clinic Thirroul, Australia’s first all-women, trauma-informed mental health facility. The speech of the day came from Bianca, one of the clinic’s first patients, a sexual assault survivor who suffers from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The 28-year-old shared a courageous and confronting account of her 10-year hunt for help and the many injustices she faced along the way, from the emergency ward that denied her requests for a woman doctor to psychologists who dismissed her fears and doctors who misdiagnosed her and prescribed the wrong medication.

“These non-trauma trained professionals tried to band-aid my mental health that was caused from being raped,” Bianca said.

After years of self-blame, Bianca described her relief at meeting psychiatrist Dr Karen Williams, who leads the team at the 43-bed clinic on Phillip Street. “She listened to my story. She heard what happened to me and, for the first time in 10 years, she told me there was nothing wrong with me.

“My thoughts were normal … I was not too sensitive or crazy or needing more medication.

“This hospital is going to change the lives of so many women.”

Australian women are almost twice as likely as men to suffer from PTSD, according to 2007 ABS figures provided by Ramsay, which is one of the world’s biggest private healthcare companies. “I believe the clinic will be the single most significant change to the way we look at trauma-related mental illness in women,” Dr Williams said.