This week’s speaker was Sabra Moore, Operations Manager for Mirror Services (Mirror Counselling Service Whakaata Tohu Tohu). They are based in Community House, Dunedin. Sabra has been in the job 5 years. Mirror has been operating for 35 years and has a staff of 43. Their services deliver counselling and treatment programmes for children, young people and their whānau in the Otago/Southland region.
The key programmes are:
MCS – Mirror Counselling Service for all of the service ages
HQ – Youth addiction services
MYPD-Mirror Youth Day Programme, a therapeutic day programme for young people ages of 13 and 18 years who have significant drug and alcohol issues.
Mirror services have 8 subsections largely involving whanau in tackling drugs, vaping and alcohol. This service covers schools also.
Sabra told us that there are 27 agencies acting in this area in Dunedin and Mirror are looking to rationalise these into a coordinated service.
One of the new innovations Sabra is excited about is a cafe that will open in 2027 at the New Hospital Outpatients building . It is a collaborative venture with Mirror Services, Otago Polytechnic and a local Dunedin coffee roaster, Common Ground Espresso. The programme will be designed to train youth and provide work experience in hospitality, food service and barista skills.
