To Hide our Identity can Harm our Mental Health
When we have to hide our identity it can harm our mental well-being. Our identity is a vital part of who we are and how we interact with the world around us. A report in today’s Guardian looks at Māori Moko facial tattoos and their revival as a new generation rediscover a part of their culture that was suppressed to differing degrees over the last … Continue reading To Hide our Identity can Harm our Mental Health
Young People’s Mental Health affecting Grandparents sleep
A third of grandparents say that mental health is their biggest fear for their grandchildren and half of parents surveyed by Mind said that they fear that their children’s mental health has worsened through the Covid-19 pandemic. Mental health is one of the primary concerns of parents and grandparents with only one in five grandparents believing the UK government is doing enough to support young … Continue reading Young People’s Mental Health affecting Grandparents sleep
Understanding Emotions
Understanding our emotions can be a challenge in terms of both articulating what we feel and also identifying the differences and similarities between our subjective experiences; i.e. the feeling that I identify as anger, you may identify as frustration. There are a large number of tools available to help us understand and articulate our emotions including the emotions wheel. It can be very challenging for … Continue reading Understanding Emotions
New Beginnings and Old Endings
New beginnings can be scary, exciting, and emotionally charged times in our lives and naturally occur at transitions such as new relationships, the loss of someone close to us, job or house moves, or similar changes. As we experience something new in our lives, we often have to end something first and it can be these transitions that cause us increased anxiety and fear about … Continue reading New Beginnings and Old Endings
Mental Health Definition
Is there a definition of mental health? How can we define what mental health is and what it isn’t? When mental health can be experienced so differently and there are still some people who don’t believe in mental health, how can we come up with a single definition? If we turn first to the dictionary then we find that the definition is of mental health … Continue reading Mental Health Definition
Ladder of Intervention
The Ladder of Intervention is a Public Health approach to changing public behaviour through a combination of education, nudge behaviour, empowering change, and ultimately reducing autonomy. To assist in thinking about the acceptability and justification of different policy initiatives to improve public health, The Nuffield Council on Bioethics devised what they call the ‘intervention ladder’ within their report ‘Public Health: ethical issues‘. The ladder of … Continue reading Ladder of Intervention
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is an independent body that examines and reports on ethical issues in biology and medicine. It was established by the Trustees of the Nuffield Foundation in 1991, and since 1994 it has been funded jointly by the Foundation, Wellcome and the Medical Research Council. For more information see https://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/ Continue reading The Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Effective Goal Setting
Effective goal setting is a vital tool in solution-focused brief therapy along with many other forms of mental health therapeutic approaches, helping us to focus on a future better; on a time beyond now where some level of recovery or resolution will have taken place. Goal setting helps us to understand in what direction we are headed so that we can take steps in the … Continue reading Effective Goal Setting
Check-in with yourself: checklist
We’ve developed a checklist to answer the question of how to check in with yourself. Checking in with yourself is a really useful tool to give yourself a ‘once-over’ and to consider the status of your own mental and physical health in a mindful way. Take me to the checklist The first stage is to really remove yourself from distractions and give yourself the best … Continue reading Check-in with yourself: checklist
Square Breathing / Box Breathing
Square breathing (also known as box breathing) is a process for controlling your breathing that can help reduce the feeling of anxiety, panic, or that can help you move into a more relaxed state such as at the beginning of meditation. The process is quite simple. The idea is that you breathe in for the count of 4, hold for the count of 4, breathe … Continue reading Square Breathing / Box Breathing