Sue Koningen is an author, motivational speaker and educationalist. Sue has the lived experience of being a Carer and in 1995 established the first family & Friends support group on the Gold Coast. Since that time Sue has facilitated support groups through two of Gold Coasts major Drug Rehabilitation Centres and successfully co-ordinated a program for people in recovery from dual diagnosis conditions to help them become job ready to re-enter the workforce. Sue has been the Team Leader of a Domestic Violence Refuge for women and their children, spoken at series of seminars throughout Queensland for Mental Health Qld., participated in two Hansard Enquiries into Families and Carer issues and more recently works closely with Commonwealth Respite & Carelink Centre delivering workshops to their Carer Group.

Her book ‘Empowering Families to break down the barriers’ has been a revelation to many families coping with drug addiction, dual diagnosis conditions and the dysfunction caused by the stress of modern living. The success of the book prompted Sue to formulate this series of educational ‘life-skills’ and ‘strategies’ programs for families, Carers and Care Support Workers.

A special message from Sue:

Hello, 

Providing long term care is not the same as caring for someone with a cold or the mumps and yet many believe that those same ‘skill sets’ will work for us in providing long term care. Sadly it doesn’t. What it can lead to is relationship breakdown, frustration, anger and guilt, resulting in many parents becoming so exhausted that they themselves become unwell and our children homeless. 

I am a Carer myself, and I’ve worked in the family support field for the past 20 years. The outcomes I have been able to achieve through my group work in reuniting families, have been well documented.   

Why is my work important? 

As our health care system transitions towards greater ‘Person Focused Care’ and inclusion of Families, my Program is designed to support this new framework and provide those same skills training to Parents. This knowledge of new skills and strategies provides the framework for Parents to feel more empowered to provide long term care as partners, in this paradigm shift. 

The Empowering Families Program is evidence based and designed to be delivered as a peer to peer psycho-educational support program. It works because it’s reality based. We laugh; we cry and grow stronger together, as we build our skills and strategies base to find balance in our own lives and a greater understanding of the lives of the people so precious to us. It brings ‘value’, ‘respect’ and ‘hope’ to Parents, and a place to belong, as we discover a more empowered model of care.