Positive Behaviour Support in Richmond, Victoria | Meet Nicole Sardana
Looking for Positive Behaviour Support in Richmond, Victoria? Get started by making a referral on our website.
Making Positive Behaviour Support easy to access is important to us and we’re grateful to be supporting participants in Melbourne. We support NDIS participants throughout Melbourne, including Richmond, South Yarra, Toorak, Cremorne, St Kilda, Hawthorn, Doncaster, Mount Waverley, Chadstone, Dandenong, Fitzroy, Camberwell and more. Continue reading to learn more about your local behaviour support practitioner in Richmond, Nicole Sardana.
Meet Nicole Sardana, Behaviour Support Practitioner in Richmond, Victoria
Nicole, we’re excited to have you join our team in Melbourne. Tell us about you!
Greetings! My name is Nicole and I am originally from Tasmania. I live with my husband and our quirky whippet, Felix. I am always looking for new experiences and I started travelling early, with a number of school exchanges and overseas volunteering trips that have allowed me to experience 39 different countries (more to come!).
I am motivated to do extraordinary things by the thrill of adventure and the pleasure of health. I find long-distance running truly rewarding — my event record so far is 100kms. Running reminds me how much our physical body can be tuned to almost anything once we have good mental control. I love diving, mountain climbing, desert trails and all the amazing wildlife that comes with both.
I consider myself to be a natural speaker and am comfortable talking to people from different places, cultures, and industries, in big or small groups and I am currently learning Hindi to make that group even broader.
You have degrees and qualifications in psychology, behavioural science and coaching — how do these influence your work as a behaviour support practitioner?
Yes, and I believe this combination is the framework that guides a perspective that is “above and beyond” for every individual I work with. My knowledge in psychology gives me foundations and theories with a key focus on understanding mental processes, brain functions and how they contribute to human behaviour.
Behavioural science allows me to understand the cognitive processes, neural interactions and physical responses that drive the behaviour. My training in coaching allows me to see a third different element, where adjusting critical thinking, the decision making processes and finding the capacity to create the future helps me plan for my client’s best possible quality of life.
You have a particular interest in coaching and neuroplasticity — tell us about neuroplasticity and how it relates to Positive Behaviour Support.
Neuroplasticity is all about how our brain can build new neural connections over time and even reorganise old ones. We wouldn’t have Positive Behaviour Support if our brains weren’t capable of change.
I enjoy learning about plasticity to find new ways to support learning and memory, developing skills, habits and routines that serve my clients well. Neuroplasticity theories are essential for anyone recovering from a brain injury because not only can a client rebuild connections in their brain, non-damaged areas of the brain can also learn the behaviour affected by the damage. Almost everything we do in Positive Behaviour Support is influenced by neuroplasticity (emotional, sensory, social, motor tasks etc.) and how better to reduce restrictive practices then to train a brain with the capacity it needs to take over?
How does your experience in counselling influence your approach to supporting clients?
Counselling is a unique process that has taught me skills for the best ways to gain client trust, be supportive, non-judgemental and think more about their well-being and the issues they feel are most important. It is a critical part of what I do because it reminds me that whilst we might have a clear idea about behaviours to focus on, it also might be completely different to the client. If a practitioner doesn’t spend time on active listening, they can never expect to get the best results from their behaviour support plan.
About Positive Behaviour Support and its impact
Can you tell us about a time you’ve seen Positive Behaviour Support in action and how it can impact on someone’s life?
I worked with a client who had a hoarding behaviour that was starting to cause domestic arguments between her and her whole family. They claimed she needed to “just throw things out and get over it”.
With a Positive Behaviour Support Plan (PBSP) we were able to look into many elements of where, why, how and what she expected the benefit of keeping all these items to be. Once her family understood all the contributing factors they became keen to help work on improving the things that were preceding the hoarding behaviour. Over a period of 12 months, hoarding behaviour was reduced by nearly 80% and her family eliminated their accusatory comments.
What are examples of Positive Behaviour Support strategies that might be included in a person’s behaviour support plan (PBSP)?
A person’s behaviour support plan will usually have a combination of proactive elements that are ways we can help the client actively manage the underlying causes of their behaviour. Examples include new activities they can try, learning new skills, education around their circumstances, new methods to communicate and even rewards systems.
A plan will usually also include reactive strategies, for when a behaviour of concern has occurred or is escalating. Examples of this include ways to calm or re-direct the person, offer breaks or space, the opportunity to provide their input and of course ways to keep both the client and their team safe.
Your work has had a strong focus on brain injury and disability — how can Positive Behaviour Support improve quality of life when a person has experienced a brain injury?
Brain injury is a very challenging and confusing experience for anyone who has experienced it or known another person who has. When someone is experiencing brain injury they can struggle with things people often take for granted like life memories, daily tasks, emotional regulation, communication and decisions based on logic.
Very frequently I hear patients describe this as not knowing who they are anymore, feeling “useless” or even “totally cut off from their previous life”. These feelings equate to a very low quality of life, but with Positive Behaviour Support we can focus on tailoring their needs.
Options can include functional communication training or even selecting an alternate method of communication to suit their injury and needs. We focus on skills development and self-perception. These things help the client understand their situation, control it better, re-join the community and express themselves again, all boosting their quality of life.
Positive Behaviour Support is especially powerful because we also consider their environment, safety and the potential to build independence again. PBS builds and fosters goals by showing this is possible and I can say from personal experience that goals after a brain injury are the first step to a better quality of life.
Find a behaviour support practitioner near you in in Richmond, Victoria
Where do you provide Positive Behaviour Support in Melbourne?
I work in and around Melbourne, focusing on the areas within one hour of the city. Mostly, Richmond, CBD, South Yarra, Hawthorn, Kew, Fitzroy, Essendon, Camberwell, Glen Waverley, St Kilda and more but I am happy to discuss other possibilities or support clients via telePBS.
Do you support clients in a specific demographic?
I work across all demographics, including age, gender, diagnosis, behaviours, lifestyles and special needs. I have significant experience working with clients who are affected by schizophrenia, hallucinations, illicit substance abuse, intellectual disabilities and aggressive behaviours. I am always interested in complex situations, where a client may have a number of diagnoses and are presenting a number of challenging behaviours. I also consider my understanding and support for clients experiencing acquired brain injuries to be especially strong because I have a personal experience.
How to access Positive Behaviour Support in Richmond, Victoria
How can NDIS participants in Melbourne get started with Positive Behaviour Support?
The first step is to make a referral for Positive Behaviour Support on our website. You can do this anytime and you can make your own referral, or a member of your support team can make a referral on your behalf.
If you have any questions about Positive Behaviour Support, please feel welcome to call our team on 1300 694 625 or send a message using our contact form.
Thanks for your time today Nicole! Before we go, can you tell us your favourite accessible tourist attractions in Melbourne?
Certainly! My favourite is always SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium. I love the animals, I’ve never seen anyone not smiling there and there are lots of accessibility options.
After that I would visit Southbank for an open, flat area with awesome food, drinks and a waterfront view. We also have great sporting venues in Melbourne, with the main ones (MCG, Rod Laver Arena and Marvel) all having accessible seating, hearing loops and companion card programs. Overall, there is always something to enjoy.
About Ability Consultants
Ability Consultants is a registered NDIS provider, creating freedom and social connection through easy access to Positive Behaviour Support. We’re a team of over 130 behaviour support practitioners and psychologists located throughout Australia.
You might be interested in learning more about:
- Ability Consultants and our team
- Behaviour support practitioner jobs and careers
- The NDIS PBS Capability Framework
- Free Positive Behaviour Support training
About Positive Behaviour Support
Here are useful links about Positive Behaviour Support:
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