News Archives - Page 2 of 25 - Wellspring Therapy & Training

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The Big Sponsored Sleepover

February 5, 2021 By wellspring

Join in the Big Sponsored Sleepover this March and help us to provide vital mental health support services to children and young people!

With daylight saving time just around the corner, March is National Sleep Awareness Month. It’s a great reminder of the importance of sleep, especially when it comes to looking after our mental health. To mark this month, we’re asking you to join in with our Big Sponsored Sleepover!

You could organise a virtual Pyjama Party, you could make it your aim to stay awake all night long with a group of friends, or have an online evening pamper session to get you relaxed before bedtime. This is a sponsored challenge for all ages! So get creative, invite your friends to join in, and set up your sponsored page at Virgin Money Giving. Or simply ask your friends, family, and colleagues to donate straight to the Wellspring page: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/finalCharityHomepage.action?charityId=1014496

We’re suggesting the 5th March, but it’s totally up to you to decide upon a date that suits you. We will also be sending out an E-certificate to say thank you to anyone who raises over £30.

Simply email communications@wellspringtherapy.co.uk to register for the event!

We’re aiming to raise a total of £1000! Can you help us change lives as we provide therapy and mental health support groups for children and young people?

Children’s Mental Health Week – Express yourself

February 3, 2021 By wellspring

This year’s theme for Children’s Mental Health week (1st-7th Feb) is ‘Express Yourself’.

Place2Be launched Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. To help us think further about 2021’s theme, ‘Express Yourself’, we spoke to one our children’s counsellors to find out more about how children can learn to express their thoughts and feelings, particularly through art.

Lots of us will have heard the term ‘Art Therapy’, but what actually is it? And how can it help?

Art therapy works at an unconscious level, tapping into feelings and emotions that are otherwise difficult to put into words. An emotion that is felt in the body can evoke a colour or a shape which can be given form on the page. Using these colours and shapes, an image is formed, and, together with the art therapist, this can be examined, (interrogated if you like), and in the process, the thoughts and feelings can then be put into words. Anyone who has overwhelming feelings that they are finding difficult to understand or get under control may find that art therapy provides a way in to exploring those feelings and ultimately making sense of them.

Can you give us an example of an activity that can help children express their feelings?

The first thing that comes to mind is using colours to help a child to express their mood. The great advantage of using colours for this is that there doesn’t actually have to be an explanation of what the colour means- each colour can have a unique meaning for each person ! A child could say I feel yellow today, which could mean they feel sunny, safe, jealous or something else! Only they can say what it means for them.

The colour could be just the start of a conversation. “Oh, I see you have used yellow ….(substitute for the appropriate colour”). I wonder what yellow might mean? …..What things do you know that are yellow? …..Do you like yellow? …..What comes to mind when you think about yellow?….”

Any of these discussion starter sentences can be used to draw out more information or simply to enter into a curious mindset to engage with your child e.g. ‘I wonder what colour/shape you might use next? Simply choosing and using colours with a child can be a shared activity that brings you closer together. It is possible to work together on a level playing-field in which there doesn’t have to be an expert. And then you have something which you have created together at the end of it too!

In what other ways can creative activities be beneficial for a child’s mental health?

When a child has an overactive mind or suffers from anxiety, which might intrude on enjoyment or stops the child from being playful, the use of a simple colouring sheet can help to focus the mind, and become an absorbing activity, taking away other feelings of responsibility. This can in turn help intrusive thoughts to recede and reduce decision making to that of what colour or shape to be used next. It can be very freeing, calming and relaxing, suspending anxiety for a few precious minutes.

You can find more Children’s Mental Health resources here:

Interview with Shirley Hooper BEd(Hons), MA(Art Therapy)
HCPC Registered Art Therapist

What kind of fundraiser are you? Take the quiz!

February 1, 2021 By wellspring

Take our quiz to find out what kind of fundraiser you are! Answer the questions on the flowchart and follow the arrows to see if you’re the Inspiring Hero, the Tireless Team-Player, the Everyday Philanthropist, the Fun-Loving Friend, or the Creative Change-Maker. Then read your fundraising profile here to learn more about how you can make a difference in your community…

Read your profile

Comfort and the bleak mid-winter

January 27, 2021 By wellspring

It’s cold and dark at the moment and can feel even more difficult to motivate ourselves in the midst of winter. It’s feels like it’s time to hibernate and withdraw, and literally lock down.

If you feel like this, the chances are you are responding to the natural world around you, and also to the fact that your freedom is curtailed during a national lockdown. The chances are your stress levels are raised more than usual, for a whole variety of reasons. This can wreak havoc with our levels of anxiety and depression.

So if we can’t change the season, or the reality around us, what can we do to make ourselves feel better?

Well, it turns out, quite a lot. We can complete our stress cycle, rather than stopping in the middle of it. What does this mean? When we feel anxious, cortisol and adrenaline course through our bloodstream which stimulates our flight, fight or freeze response. We have little control over this prehistoric biological system designed to save us from peril. But we do have control over whether we stay there or not. We can complete the cycle to return to a rest, relax and digest state where cortisol and adrenaline dissipate.

And these are some of the ways to do this;

Run or move in any way. The fastest way to release tension having been primed to run away from the woolly mammoth.
Laugh. It’s a release!
Cry. Ditto. If you have trouble accessing these emotions, use music, films, tv to help.
Sleep. It literally regulates your emotional state.
Affection. Maybe difficult for some now, but if you are able to (within the guidelines), a 20 second hug is the prescription.
Breathe. Look on the internet for breathing exercises, you can do them anywhere and no one will know!
Visualise and imagine a better outcome. Your brain does not know the difference, even if you do… proven on brain scans.
Positive social interaction. Even zoom and phone calls work.

The good news is you do not have to do all of these to complete the stress cycle. If you struggle with sleep for example, don’t worry, pick a different strategy. Experiment, be curious around what works best for you.

If you want to learn more, try reading Burnout: The secret to solving the stress cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

Written by Alex Brook-Dobson

See our Resources page for more support and links.

Our building is currently closed for face-to-face counselling until further notice. But we are still offering sessions over the phone or through Zoom. Please note that we have a reduced capacity at the moment. We are therefore only able to offer counselling to people based in Yorkshire, including those working online. If you would like to refer yourself for counselling, please use the link at the bottom of our Therapy page.

Brew Monday – ‘I’ll put the kettle on’

January 18, 2021 By wellspring

“I’ll put the kettle on..”

How often have we received that response having asked for some help? How often have we put the kettle on for someone in our lives when they have been struggling, ‘a bit down,’ in crisis?

Culturally we love tea, teatime, tea and biscuits, and of course, coffee. There are increasing numbers of gourmet teas and skilled baristas that take our hot drink consumption to a new level, and yes, the hot drink itself can be a comfort.

But what is the real comfort here? It is being listened to, being heard, taking time to sit with your problem whilst being supported to do so. And it is the meaning and purpose it gives us to help another person we see struggling. It is such a basic human instinct, to ask “what’s wrong?” and to make time to listen to the answer. No one needs professional training to spend time listening and helping. We could argue putting the kettle on gives us a distraction and a reason to spend a little time with another person, connecting properly.

Today has become known to some as ‘Blue Monday’ as it can be seen as the most depressing day of the year, and particularly this year we don’t need to spell out why. The Samaritans have launched an idea for ‘Brew Monday’ to change this story and encourage people to meet up virtually. It doesn’t have to be tea, or indeed Monday, but maybe we can all reach out to ‘put the kettle on’ for someone we know.

https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/campaign/brew-monday/

Written by Alex Brook-Dobson

See our Resources page for more support and links.

Our building is currently closed for face-to-face counselling until further notice. But we are still offering sessions over the phone or through Zoom. Please note that we have a reduced capacity at the moment. We are therefore only able to offer counselling to people based in Yorkshire, including those working online. If you would like to refer yourself for counselling, please use the link at the bottom of our Therapy page.

Simply email communications@wellspringtherapy.co.uk to register for the event!

This year’s theme for Children’s Mental Health week (1st-7th Feb) is ‘Express Yourself’.

Lots of us will have heard the term ‘Art Therapy’, but what actually is it? And how can it help?

Can you give us an example of an activity that can help children express their feelings?

In what other ways can creative activities be beneficial for a child’s mental health?

You can find more Children’s Mental Health resources here:

Interview with Shirley Hooper BEd(Hons), MA(Art Therapy) HCPC Registered Art Therapist

It’s cold and dark at the moment and can feel even more difficult to motivate ourselves in the midst of winter. It’s feels like it’s time to hibernate and withdraw, and literally lock down.

So if we can’t change the season, or the reality around us, what can we do to make ourselves feel better?

And these are some of the ways to do this;

Written by Alex Brook-Dobson

See our Resources page for more support and links.

Written by Alex Brook-Dobson

See our Resources page for more support and links.

Interview with Shirley Hooper BEd(Hons), MA(Art Therapy)
HCPC Registered Art Therapist