Industry expert in the Mental Health field, Dante D’amelio looks back on how his career took off with a Bachelor of Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs at Chisholm and what motivated him to return full circle to Chisholm as a teacher

“It all started here at Chisholm for me as a student where I started my Certificate IV and then from there progressed to the Diploma and carried on to the Bachelor of Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs, all the while working in the industry as well, which was really good”

Dante secured industry placements via Chisholm while he studied for his diploma and soon he was working permanently. But he soon became conscious that he could push further and take his career to another level if he pursued a degree qualification.

“One of the big deciders for me to do the Bachelor of Community Mental Health, AOD was a personal thing, been there for a long time that I never got to go to University. Just the fear of it, it was daunting for me to do”

“But then going through the process at Chisholm through the Certificate IV and Diploma of Mental Health, I thought yeah the timings right, I’m going to do this and do something I should have done a long time ago and get my Bachelor, so the process was awesome”

Almost immediately Dante noticed the impact this degree had on his career. The Bachelor of Community Mental Health, AOD was highly recognized and significantly elevated his profile in the workplace.

“Having the Bachelor just made a huge, huge difference in my career. When you say to them you’ve got a Bachelor of Mental Health, AOD, they take you a lot more serious and you get involved and invited to a lot more of the clinical reviews”

Dante’s love for coaching and mentoring has now brought him back to Chisholm in an effort to mould future Mental Health Social Workers. As an industry expert turned teacher, he’s always happy to answer their questions about how to become a Mental Health Worker and what it is like to work in the Mental Health field.

“I guess one of the big reasons I got into teaching is because it’s great in the field working with people and helping them but then I realised there’s more to it. I want to make sure that the people coming through are equipped as best as they can to be the best workers they can be out there”