A succession of four hospitalisations in early 2024 and crippling social anxiety had plagued Logan in the past, restricting activities he enjoyed such as the gym – but a referral from a social worker to the Capstone program has assisted Logan on his recovery journey.

Logan is 23 and lives with schizophrenia and has found working with RFQ support staff as part of the Capstone program on the Gold Coast to be extremely rewarding.

Logan said being able to take his time and work at his own pace has been really important to him.

“I call the shots and I get to go along with how I feel it fits best for me and there is no pressure and I get to just chill.”

Logan found working on himself to be one of the most challenging parts of the program.

“I feel like Mervin gets me; Mervin’s made it easier because he gets where I’m coming from. He’s open to any conversations and topics and certain difficulties I might have so he just kind of talks me through it,” Logan said.

Looking forward, Logan hopes to get a job in carpentry, buy a car (a V8 is high on the list) and work on building relationships for the future.

Mum Caroline said that since starting the Capstone program she has been blown away by his progress.

“Logan has grown, like, exponentially since he started, particularly with building his confidence,” she said.

“He used to get crippling social anxiety, he is nowhere near as paranoid and anxious around people or crowds anymore. He can comfortably go to the gym every day on his own without feeling afraid,” Caroline said.

“His body language is different, the way he holds himself and his maturity, it’s all really improved. Logan’s always been a wise old soul and that’s just deepened through being around another beautiful soul like Mervin,” she said.

Mervin Romain, Recovery Support Worker (Advanced) said when Logan joined the Capstone program from a community referral, he was very reluctant to participate in the group sessions.

“Logan would stand at the back and wouldn’t say anything, and we worked actively on ways in which to make him feel comfortable to join in at his own pace,” Mervin said.

Mervin has watched Logan develop his emotional intelligence and build upon awareness, empathy and social skills by going for walks, having tea and talks and working on his social anxiety alongside strategies provided by RFQ support staff.

Caroline said the opportunity to talk, feel safe, participate in group activities and build upon existing skills and learn new ones like fishing, have all boosted Logan’s confidence.

“The growth is phenomenal, I have never seen him like this and seen him so well – it’s been really profound.”