What is a Canteen Connect Webchat? 

- Connect webchat is space where young people aged 12-25 who are impacted by cancer, across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, can have a conversation with a trained counsellor, without having to make a booking. Whether you are a cancer patient-survivor, sibling, have a parent/carer with cancer, or are bereaved of an immediate family member – this service is for you. And it’s free! 

- Usually a webchat counselling session would last 30-45 minutes – but we’ll give you an expectation of how much time is available when you say hi. 

- To access webchat, you need to be signed up (and signed in) to Canteen Connect, either on app or desktop. 

What can a trained counsellor help you with? 

It can be challenging to navigate your life throughout different stages of your cancer journey, and you might have questions, problems, worries and/or concerns you need want to talk about. Talking with someone ‘outside’ the situation, who is aware of the many pressures a cancer experience can bring, can be really useful to some people. 

There’s a lot of ways that we can help you. For example: 

- Helping you brainstorm ideas to solve a problem you are experiencing

- Linking you to support in the community, or at Canteen 

- Giving you the opportunity to share your story, and talk about any worries or concerns that you might have  

- Discussing the impact of cancer on work, school and home. 

Confidentiality matters: it’s important to know that anything you tell us will stay confidential – it’s a safe space, just for you. However, if you let a counsellor know that you or someone else may be at risk of getting hurt, we may need to take steps to ensure everyone is safe – that’s part of our role. That could include working with other services, chatting with a parent, or linking you to ongoing support. 

Not sure where to start? Just say hello – we’ll ask your name, and what’s on your mind, and go from there. 

What are Canteen Connect Webchat opening hours? 

- Our counsellors are available between 10am-8pm (Monday - Thursday), and 10am-5pm (Friday - Saturday), all Sydney (AEDT) time. Not sure how to convert that to your timezone? Convert to your timezone here

- If the team are busy, you can leave your details or questions in the chat, and we'll get back to you when we can. 

- If you need urgent support outside of those hours or a counsellor isn’t available, you can find a list of other services (many which are 24/7, and have webchat) here (select your country at the top of this page) 

- You can also look at the resources available here at Canteen, which might help answer your questions if a counsellor isn’t available. 

Tom B, Online Counsellor