Wellbeing Services
The AFL Players' Association's Wellbeing Services, overseen by Wellbeing Services Manager Matti Clements, is a national support service of eight qualified psychologists, providing education, confidential one-on-one counselling support for personal player issues and a referral service for anyone in the industry who has wellbeing-related concerns for a player.
People such as club Personal Development Managers, Accredited Agents, parents and partners all refer players to this service.
Over the years, club PDMs especially have learnt to rely upon this service to inform them of the best approach when confronting internal club and player issues relating to the wellbeing of their team.

The Association conducts a wide range of courses and seminars for players on mental health and behavioural issues.
Its services also provide counselling for players in all areas, making use of an Australia-wide network of psychology associates to provide support for AFL players across a range of off-field issues.

As part of the AFL Players' Association Wellbeing Program, a number of mandated psychology workshops were held in 2010.
These included:

Gambling Education workshop
All clubs participated in a 45-minute education session, with personalised stories delivered by recovering problem gamblers via video footage, that outlined:
• What problem gambling is.
• The tell-tale signs of a problem gambler.
• How and where to get help.

Mental Health Education
Non-Victorian clubs participated in hour-long education sessions, developed by depression initiative Beyondblue, which used video footage, with personalised stories by athletes who have experienced depression.
The sessions outlined:
• The underlying causes of mental health.
• Symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• Identification of risk factors and protective factors.
• How and where to get help.

Responsible Use of Alcohol
All clubs participated in the hour-long session, co-facilitated by players, to identify strategies and player-owned guidelines for drinking in the off-season.
The sessions:
• Identified situations of vulnerability.
• Helped the playing group develop agreed-upon strategies to minimise risk.

Sleep management workshop
The interactive workshop takes approx 45 minutes to run and was offered as a response to a growing understanding of the importance of healthy sleep to the wellbeing and performance of elite athletes.
It also armed players with a broader knowledge around the effects and use of sleep medication.
Broad themes in the workshop include:
• Benefits of a healthy sleep.
• Reasons for poor sleep and the effects of it on you.
• Psychological and behavioural strategies to aid sleep.

Addressing club specific issues
Upon request by the leadership group at a club, the Psychology Service manager facilitated a closed session with the playing group to address an issue believed to be of potential concern to the culture of their club. This represented a new approach from the AFL Players' Association in encouraging players to 'own' issues within their clubs by identifying problems themselves and proactively seeking solutions to those problems.

Drug Education Pilot
This is an interactive three-session program that addresses the topics of:
• Identification of legal and illegal drugs, including caffeine and alcohol.
• Education of the effects of short and long term drug usage.
• Implications of the use of drugs on physical and mental wellbeing.

Counselling Referrals
In 2010,101 AFL players saw a member of the Association's network of nationwide counsellors for a range of reasons.
The kinds of problems commonly experienced by people in the broader community - stress, relationship problems and anxiety-were also encountered by AFL players.
The number of AFL players presenting for wellbeing support by their status and age indicates that younger AFL players require significantly more support to cope with the demands of being a professional footballer.

Wellbeing Services Staff:

Matti Clements
Psychology Services Manager