1. Resilience and Mental Wellbeing Workshop Part 2
Wednesday 24th February 2016

2. Our aims for the session
A better understanding of the importance of resilience in preventing mental health issues
Strategies to develop resilience for adults and children
Welcome
Thanks to PTA for refreshments
Mobile phones
Toilets
Interactive session for all to participate

3. Let’s start with a recap
Nationally mental health is fast becoming a concern, particularly in young people
Developing resilience can help prevent mental health disorders such as high anxiety and helplessness
Our children live in an extremely protected world
Our children are becoming less resilient despite our attempts to protect them even more
A picture of the current challenges and findings ~ what we need to prepare our children to experience and cope with
We are talking about mental health disorders not mental illness

4. The 2 most important ingredients for resilience
Emotional regulation ~ ability to modulate and manage emotions, helps us to stay calm under pressure
Impulse control ~ it’s the ability to stop, think through options and find a constructive path, the ability to delay gratification, prioritise and reach goals
Can anyone remember?
We should still acknowledge emotions but in an appropriate way

5. The 7 key ingredients to building resilience
Emotional regulation
Impulse control
Flexible thinking
Realistic optimism
Empathy
Self-efficacy
Reaching out

6. Flexible Thinking How we think about a situation affects our feelings
Glass ½ empty versus glass ½ full
Overly pessimistic leaves people feeling anxious and helpless
Step back and look at the bigger picture and then start to look for solutions
Help identify the facts and the actual problem
Challenge initial reactions
Remember when other problems weren’t as bad as initially thought
Keep talking don’t get stuck in mind-set
The morning group didn’t get this far!
Important to be hopeful and not be helpless
Drill down into the facts don’t go by ‘Daily Mail’ headlines

7. Realistic Optimism Expect a good outcome ~ self fulfilling prophecy
Having an exploratory mind set
Making the best of a situation
Optimism is a set of skills which can be learnt
It takes effort to work towards a positive outcome
Make sure you model this to your child when you encounter failure and setbacks
Talk about failure as an opportunity to learn what can be done
With person next to you talk about a time when something went wrong but it turned out to be a ‘blessing in disguise’

8. Empathy This is the key to maintaining relationships
Emotional intelligence ~ seeing things through others’ eyes and tailoring your approach and response as a result
Responding to others emotional needs with care and understanding
Listening carefully and closely
Validate feelings ~ helps to understand why others have reacted in a particular way and stops it from feeling so threatening
Use play opportunities to develop empathy
Verbally reinforce empathetic behaviour ~ ‘I wonder if …’
Empathy is now used through Restorative Justice approaches to help people understand the consequences of their behaviour/actions

9. Self Efficacy
Helping people to feel that they are effective in the world
Resilient people believe that they can make a difference and can change things
Self efficacy can help prevent Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
It gives people the confidence to tackle difficulties
It fuels hope, self belief and optimism
Help your child by giving them choices ~ allow them to make decisions, DON’T do everything for them, allow them to struggle sometimes ~ we do!
Problem solve together ~ build a sense of mastery
Keep reflecting on the small successes so far based on their decisions and actions
Share with person next to them or within the group the latest difficulty they had to face ~ did they need to have self confidence to do this? Where did it come from.

10. Reaching Out Taking risks ~ mix it up! Try something new
See mistakes as opportunities for learning
Model learning from mistakes
Model asking for help ~ talk through who can help and that there is always somebody out there to help you
Point out how much has been learnt
Celebrate how well they coped in unexpected situations
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness!
When they are challenged who do they reach out to?

11. Growing resilience It will ebb and flow over time
Resilience is grounded in secure attachments with care givers and caring relationships
Create a resilient rich environment
Modelling is key
Talk with pupils and using opportunities to model it

12. And finally … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CvExk1TVM0
‘Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good.’ ― Elizabeth Edwards
‘The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the turn.’ Unknown
‘The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.’ Napoleon Hill
Watch film clip!!!

13. And the winner is …
Draw names for the restaurant voucher