OUR TOPICS
Tackle any topic/s using any combination of the services you find on the HOW WE DO IT page
1 in 3 mental health problems in adulthood are directly connected to adverse childhood experiences
[ACE]
There's a difference between mental health maintenance and the management of mental health conditions. That difference is often lost in today’s conversations.
Today as a society, we're not that much more equipped to tackle challenging mental health than we were 10 years ago, when I first began this work. Whilst we are encouraged to talk we're not taught how to listen. We've learnt that stigma is probelmatic but have only de-stigmatised some mental health challenges. The majority remain stigmatised, as does medication. We're told that going for a
run, taking a bubble bath or meditating are as good as anti-depressants and whilst they might provide momentary relief or act as good practice for mind maintenance but they're not going to solve a mental illness.
The work we offer on this topic focusses on helping young people understand their version of normal; explore the broad range of therapy that exists and how to access it; understand the difference and importance of both psychology and psychiatry and learn how to be an ally – creating an environment conducive to good mental health.
This is how we equip people to maintain good mental health
and create support for mental illness.
After delivering workshops in UK schools since 2013, we know that, broadly, schools are not yet anti-racist spaces. Whilst the majority of teachers want every child to be educated in safety, without persecution and in an environment where they feel seen and understood, our culture remains one that wrestles racism. Schools are a microcosm of our society. So, if there's a problem that requires work to generate change 'out there', we will need to do focussed work in schools too.
We hope that, by creating more anti-racist spaces we will have a positive impact on the mental health of non-white students. Statistically people of colour in the uk are more likely to develop a serious mental health issue compared with their white counterparts. Drs suggest this is because growing up in the UK is a 'profoundly traumatic experience' for people of colour. We hope to ensure that schools don't contribute to that trauma.
This work focusses on UK centric history, how to properly define and identify racism, frameworks to asses with and work to, defining what an anti-racist school looks like and offering/co-creating a path to anti-racist allyship.
*People of colour are 4x as likely to struggle with their mental health than their white counterparts [.GOV research 2017]
*Children with neurodivergence are 2x as likely to struggle with their mental health than their counterparts [CBT Today 2022]
ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia and the plethora of other labels used to describe the ways people 'think differently' are often discussed as if they are mental health conditions. They're not.
The mental health challenges that neurodivergent people face are largely caused by their feelings of failure, the lack of a sense of belonging and the day to day exhaustion that comes with trying to function like 'everybody else', not to mention the late diagnosis experienced by so many – particularly women and girls.
This work clearly defines the difference, the intersections and develops understanding to give context for decision making. With all that in mind, classes focus on how to show up if you're neurodivergent or if you spend time around or educate those who are... which you almost certainly do!