SUPP supports more Whanganui teens amid rising mental health, substance issues

Whanganui's SUPP team (from left) Michele Edwards, Helen Hagan, Samantha Penney and Paul Curran assists teenagers with substance abuse and mental health problems.

• Whanganui youth support service SUPP worked with a record number of teenagers in 2024.
• SUPP saw a 19% increase in referrals, dealing with issues like trauma, anger, and substance use.
• The service offers informal therapy, focusing on individual needs without requiring parental consent for those aged 13 and older.

Whanganui youth support service SUPP worked with a record number of teenagers dealing with substance use and mental health issues in 2024.

SUPP, a service funded by Health NZ, works with young people aged 12-19.

It was formed in 2015 to address the disconnect between young people and the accessibility of similar services.

Helen Hagan is a registered clinician for Drug and Alcohol Practitioners’ Association Aotearoa New Zealand Alcohol and Other Drugs.

“We’ve worked really, really hard to build that connection between the community and mental health and addiction services and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it,” Hagan said.

There had been a “vast increase year on year” in the number of teenagers they worked with. In 2024 there were 214 individual referrals, a 19% increase on 2021.

The team tended to be busiest during the end-of-year period.

“It’s exam time, it’s stressful times for young people - their anxiety spikes and there’s expectations around the Christmas period,” Hagan said.

“People’s mental health and substance use definitely peaks.”

SUPP social worker Paul Curran said winter was another busy period for the team.

However, clinical nurse manager Liz Turner said there was never a relaxing time for the team.

“There isn’t really a time where it flattens off,” Turner said.

“Because [the team] has been going for quite some time, they’re really a victim of their own success. Referrals come through all the time, it doesn’t stop.”

SUPP's work is targeted to the individual's needs.

SUPP dealt with a variety of mental health issues - trauma, anger and aggression were “big ones” for Whanganui teenagers.

“[There’s] a lot of young people that have family violence and trauma,” Curran said.

“Those that are coming out of a lot of abuse fall into depression.”

With substance use, vaping was common for those in the 12-15 age bracket, while marijuana and alcohol addiction was more common for 15-19-year-olds.

SUPP offers education and information for young people struggling with substance use, as well as change plans which help the individual to progress without SUPP’s guidance.

Curran said their work was “quite individualised” and there was much more under the surface behind the addictions and poor mental wellbeing.

“There’s lots of wider issues that we’re working on beyond the mental wellbeing and addiction stuff and that’s down to what the individual needs,” Curran said.

Work-life, relationships, friendships, environment, culture, spirituality and diet were all considered.

The service aimed to offer informal, conversational therapy - reflected in the name SUPP (“What’s up?”).

“We are doing different kinds of therapy but we are working predominantly with people that might not be completely comfortable with the idea of that,” Curran said.

“We’re presenting quite complex therapeutic interventions but doing them in an informal way that is much more accessible and easier to take.

“The fact that we’re all clinicians and have 20-plus years experience, we know exactly what we’re doing in terms of the models we’re using but we can present them in a less formal way.”

Most referrals came from schools, but young people could also be referred from the courts, youth justice, their parents or self-referred.

SUPP's referral numbers have increased by 19% in the past three years.

Clients could leave whenever they wanted.

“It’s about them seeing that it’s a success to where they want to be,” Hagan said.

“Some say, ‘I want to work alongside you until I’m completely drug-free' but sometimes they go, ‘I thought I wanted to be there, but I don’t want to be there - I’m happy where I am now’.

“The door is always open - we always let every young person know that it doesn’t close and even though we work up to age 19, we support them after and guide them to the right service.”

If an individual was referred against their will and did not wish to use the service, SUPP was understanding of that, Hagan said.

“Some just aren’t ready and it’s not their time so they do push back because it’s too difficult and what they’re doing is working right now with their substance use,” she said.

“Until they get to a point in their world where their substance use is too big, they are going to push back.”

SUPP tried to offer other services that may be better suited to the individual.

“If they give us the chance, we can explain the other services they can use - something else might fit alongside them,” registered nurse Sam Penney said.

The group wanted to continue to make itself known and be accessible to vulnerable youth in the region.

Curran said SUPP’s team got a sense of satisfaction knowing they were there for youth who needed help.

“With a lot of young people, we are a consistent thing in their lives,” he said.

“Some of their lives are so chaotic that there aren’t a lot of people they can trust.

“I like when people come back. You might see them at 12 then 14 then 17 - it’s not that you’re making them feel better, it’s that you’re a consistent thing in their world that long-term might lead to better outcomes.”

SUPP had been able to break barriers by not needing parental consent to see youths aged 13 and older.

“As long as we can deem them as competent [it’s allowed],” Hagan said.

“That is breaking down the barriers because some wouldn’t access the service if we had to notify parents.”

Under-13s required parental or guardian consent to use the service.

SUPP said involving whānau was usually its goal for better outcomes all-round.

Curran said there were likely more young people who were struggling but hesitant to seek help.

“You are not alone - there are many people struggling with the same things you are and there is lots of help around,” he said.

“The services are a lot more friendly than you might expect them to be. They [youths] might think they’ll be judged, but they absolutely won’t be.

“There will be someone out there that will click with you and help you get to where you want to get to.”

He said the team was as motivated as ever to continue to make a difference in the community.

“We’ve all been in this exact job on this exact team for a long time and we all love working with teenagers, none of us have lost our enthusiasm or passion for it, none of us want to move on.

“Teenagers of Whanganui are great.”

Contact the SUPP team via its Facebook page, (06) 348 1901, 027 444 5827 or supp@wdhb.org.nz.