Some food for thought… maybe our minds should come first?
In recent years there has been an increased level of awareness and discussion in Ireland around the importance of providing young people with information and skills on how to look after their mental health and well being.
In our time working as psychotherapists with young people it has to be said that we have noticed a rather worrying lack of person centered counselling services being made readily available to second and third level students, although most schools do provide excellent quality Career and Guidance counselling.
Based on this observation we decided to develop a program and workshop for secondary school students presenting and explaining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques and how applying these in their daily lives can help alter and reverse negative thoughts and attitudes. We also introduced into the workshop a section dealing with grounded and healthy Mindfulness, working to dismiss any pre-conceived ideas and prejudices that Mindfulness may evoke and the idea that mental health is ‘only for others’. The workshop helps to relax and focus students, encouraging them to further develop compassion and empathy for others and how to reduce and manage anxiety and stress.
The workshops are designed for small groups of between ten to fifteen students and this is one aspect we feel is an important factor to the program’s success. Because the groups are small it creates an intimate and secure environment for the students to speak, and as importantly, to be heard. The workshops are fun and engaging with a range of CBT, Mindfulness and Coping Skill techniques presented, along with an expression of the positive and affirming aspects of their own personalities that make them who they are, a reminder that they are important and that “they matter”. We work to help students understand that life, though rarely perfect, can be positive, that happiness is a choice and a frame of mind and that they are the ones who can be responsible for implementing positive change.
We explore and discuss topics prevalent in young people’s lives today; social media, television, interactive media, peer pressure, family, education and how in this modern and ever-changing world we are continuously bombarded and sometimes overwhelmed by external influences so much so we often forget to appreciate our own surroundings, people, and ourselves. We work to empower our students, enabling them to understand that they themselves have the ability to filter the negative and potentially unhealthy influences and information they are exposed to, as well as the positive.
The students we have worked with to date have been truly amazing! Their honesty, intelligence, integrity and genuine desire to improve their own well being and emotional health are a testament to their generation. We are so happy that the workshops have received such an encouraging response and positive feedback from students, parents and teachers.
BUT THERE IS STILL A LOT TO DO!
We are often surprised at how some schools are slow to take advantage of workshops such as ours. We know there can be varying and understandable reasons for this of course; funding, timetables, staffing pressures – and that is why we decided to offer FREE lunchtime talks where we visit a school at lunchtime to talk informally with students about CBT and Mindfulness, introduce them to aspects of the program and give them tips on how to cope with stress and anxiety. We find that the students enjoy this informal approach, and it gives them the information they need to make up their own minds, and we’re very pleased that so many have expressed a genuine interest and desire to discuss and develop their mental well-being and coping skills further.
We value your feedback… if you are a student, parent or teacher reading this article and you would like to discuss any of the issues raised we would love to hear from you.
For more information visit: dublincounsellors.com
You can email us at: info@dublincounsellors.com
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