Sumi Hebbes-Hurst‘s pilates and massage clients needed more support during black summer, so she upskilled at ACAP University College.
Sumi Hebbes-Hurst has always known she wanted to help people in her professional life. After recently graduating Dux of her cohort from the ACAP University College Diploma of Counselling Skills, she’s doing that in Regional NSW.
Sumi started out as a sports and remedial massage therapist in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs before moving into clinical Pilates instruction and ultimately moving herself and her professional practice to the Blue Mountains on the outskirts of Sydney.
She said a seed was planted to pursue psychology or counselling early on in her massage work, as she noticed clients opening up to her in the safe space of her studio.
“The nature of relationships with long-term clients created a level of comfort in vulnerability for clients, and there were often personal disclosures, quite unrelated to having a massage,” she explains.
“So, for quite a long time I’d been seeing the need to side skill to learn how to professionally have conversations with clients about difficult emotional life experiences they were having.”
meeting needs
Everything was kicked up a gear when Sumi, like so many Australians, experienced first-hand the devastation of the Black Summer bushfires in 2019, quickly followed by the isolation of the COVID pandemic and lockdowns.
“Living in the upper Blue Mountains during the 2019 bushfires, I noticed traumatic responses among my clients, the community, my friends and even myself,” she said.
“On top of that, there was the panic and fear from all the unknowns in the early months of the COVID pandemic. It became clear that it was essential for me to engage in professional development that would give me the confidence to work safely with clients.”
A CHANGE THROUGH ACAP
Sumi enrolled in the Diploma of Counselling Skills with ACAP as a minor to her undergraduate Psychology degree at CSU.
“As soon as I started with ACAP I felt like I was finally engaged in the subjects I’d been searching for when first thinking about side skilling from massage therapy,” she said.
“The development of my communication skills, awareness and reflexivity through my ACAP course has been really impactful toward my university achievements and day-to-day life.”
What stood out for Sumi was the practical, industry-focused nature of the teaching.
"Having teachers who are very much engaged in the counselling profession, either in private practice or being involved with other organisations, they brought so much knowledge to class that you could not possibly learn in a textbook" - Sumi Hebbes-Hurst
For Sumi, the ability to study flexibly, and largely online through ACAP, allowed her to stay within her regional communities. Initially in the Blue Mountains and now in the Central West of NSW, Sumi is contributing to mental health support through various roles at Red Nose Australia and Griefline, while also teaching Mindfulness and Meditation in her local community.
The National Mental Health Workforce strategy published in 2022 describes a shortfall of mental health professionals in regional and rural areas of Australia.
“Being able to study online has opened doors not just for people living in regional areas but for people who cannot commit to a traditional study timetable to be able to participate in continuing education,” Sumi said.
Encouraging connection
Sumi is already exploring postgraduate counselling study options to further her skillset when she finishes her undergraduate degree, spurred on by her desire to continue supporting some of the country’s most vulnerable communities.
In the meantime, she has launched an initiative for people grieving a loss following the loss of her own mother in 2018.
Wear Your Grief is a social initiative that enhances connection after loss, by providing a way for grief to be seen. It hopes to challenge beliefs that grief unfolds in a linear way, instead respecting the non-linear, and often ‘forever’ grief that people live with.
By providing flexible, high-quality education options, ACAP empowers professionals like Sumi to make a lasting impact in their communities, ensuring that vital mental health services reach every corner of the country.
For updates on Sumi’s initiative follow on IG @wearyourgrief_
Interested in studying counselling? Learn more at https://www.acap.edu.au/campaign/counselling/
