Clients at Action Mental Health have been gaining an insight to a variety of employment fields thanks to the recent International Job Shadow Day (IJSD).

Run by the Northern Ireland Union of Supported Employment, Job Shadow Day offers clients work placements with a variety of employers, including one of the NIUSE’s main partners and providers, the Northern Ireland Civil Services.

The event highlights the positive contribution people with health conditions and disabilities can make to workforces and the economy.

Action Mental Health’s clients participating in the event avail of the Working It Out Project which is part-funded through the ESF programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy.

Daniel Davey is one such client who participated in the annual event, taking up a day’s job shadowing at Vincent’s Charity Shop in Dunmurry. Daniel, who attends AMH New Horizons Lisburn, had no prior experience was keen to learn about the various facets of the retail business.

Daniel said: “I have been welcomed into Vincent’s (of St Vincent de Paul) and I am looking forward to increasing and developing my skills in retail.”

Vincent’s shop manager, Clare Murray, commented: “’We are very happy to work with AMH and have Daniel in to see what is involved in retail and gain relevant experience’.

Kathryn Charlton was another client who participated in the job shadow day, spending her day’s placement at Downe Travel in Downpatrick, alongside its director, Marie Gallagher.

“I spent the day learning and working alongside a lovely lady called Marie. She showed me the ins and outs of running a successful travel business and guided me though activities with patients and knowledge,” said Kathryn.

“Marie showed me that a lot more goes into planning, organising and documenting than I had first thought. I was taught things from banking to marketing and just how much of an impact the layout of the shop can have on the client. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience into the world of work after this and hope to take all the skills I learned from it into the future to help me in any career down the line,” she added.

Marie commented: “Kathryn enjoyed her day at our Downpatrick store. Initially she was nervous but within minutes she relaxed and embraced all the tasks that we had organised for her.”

“She did express that she would be more comfortable working back of house and with the right encouragement I can see that she would be very employable in the right environment.

We wish her well for the future.”

This week, as part of the #Covid WellbeingNI partnership, Action Mental Health have been looking at stigma and mental health.

Action Mental Health has been chatting to clients who attend our diverse range of services to gauge how stigma almost stopped them from reaching out for help. 

Jackie Booth, 61, was once a high-flying career woman in Switzerland but in later life she experienced issues like OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Things got so bad for her she felt like ending it all.

But after rediscovering her better self with the help of  Action Mental Health, she is calling on others to seek out and ask for help if they need it – when they need it.

“There’s so much shame and embarrassment attached to mental health and I didn’t seek help early enough so I was a wreck when I arrived at AMH New Horizons,” she admits.

“But everyone, must seek help. Help is out there. There are so many fantastic resources out there to help people and going to AMH New Horizons is a great first step in accessing help in the community.”

“Don’t suffer in silence like me,” urges client Helen from AMH New Horizons Downpatrick, while another client, who availed of the support of AMH New Life Counselling revealed: “The hardest part is picking up your telephone. It took me one month between the time my GP gave me the phone number, after I’d asked for help, and the day I gathered up the courage to ring the number. It is so important to talk.”

Another client who sought and gained help from Action Mental Health’s specialist eating disorder service, AMH everyBODY, said: “I never expected to receive the help I did from my support worker. I have never felt so safe telling a complete stranger my darkest secrets. I finally feel free.”

Another common sentiment shared by the vast majority, if not all, clients of Action Mental Health, is expressed by one man who overcame stigma to take the brave step of reaching out to Action Mental Health to aid their recovery. “Have to say, this place is great: the staff, everything; they are very helpful. People who are there, help everyone, that’s why I go there. We are all treated equally. Respect to all the staff and clients,” he said.

The final word goes to Olympic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan, from Newtownards. Northern Ireland’s most successful gymnast, Rhys, a loyal ambassador for AMH, said: “Bottling things up in your head will not help things at all.”

The Commonwealth and European champion gymnast speaks of the often difficult task of “opening up to someone and talking”. “Bottling things up in your head will not help things at all,” he says, but let’s hear it from Rhys himself…

Northern Ireland’s children face the second of three AQE tests this Saturday, as they prepare for the next phase of their school journey – the post primary transition.

Friend of Action Mental Health, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Phil Anderson has offered helpful information on helping our young people to deal with the stress of the pivotal exams.

Consultant in Child, Adolescent and Forensic Psychiatry with the Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for Northern Ireland, in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, Dr Phil said: “In any part of life, the key to managing a problem is truly understanding what the nature of the problem is in the first place. This is no different to young people facing the problem of stress. Stress is widely understood as ‘bad’ and ‘something to be avoided’ but stretching ourselves beyond comfortable limits, whether playing sport or sitting an exam, will not always feel nice, but our development as a person and our abilities cannot happen any other way,” he says.

“Avoiding stress does not really work and in the end is not really possible. Similar to how a vaccine helps our immune systems to prevent us becoming ill from harmful pathogens, stress is known to have an inoculating effect. Research shows that young persons who manage to overcome life’s challenges will develop higher levels of resilience.

“We need to properly understand the benefits of day-to-day stress ourselves and be careful about how we communicate this to young people. How they understand stress has been shown to have important effects. Young persons with a positive view on stress have been demonstrated to outperform those with a more negative view.

“Mindfulness can be an effective way of gaining better understanding and control of our stress.  It is the process of bringing focused attention to experiences occurring in the present moment. A large volume of research has demonstrated the benefits of mindfulness in developing our emotional resilience.

“Children can learn to pay focused attention and help regulate difficult emotions even in the most difficult challenges life can throw our way. There are a variety of ways of exploring this with young people, with many methods to be found online.”

Find out more here: https://www.amh.org.uk/news/understanding-stress-dr-phil-anderson/ 

This week, as part of the #CovidWellbeingNI partnership, we have been looking at the stigma that often surrounds mental health.

Education and awareness lie at the heart of normalising mental ill-health and combating the stigma experienced by many people. At Action Mental Health we believe that to tackle stigma, we need to start young! A large part of stigma is borne out of ignorance, and education is key to tackling this. Sharing experiences of mental health helps to stop feelings of shame and embarrassment. Promoting and encouraging children and young people to see out support when they need it, helps them on their journey to recovery. We also believe that training those who work or frequently interact with children and young people also helps to quell stigma, by equipping them with the facts around mental health and stigma, and providing them with the knowledge to identify, converse and signpost.

In Northern Ireland, Action Mental Health’s MensSana service is helping to build mental resilience among its children, young people and adults.

Through a variety programmes, children and young people are being taught mental health awareness in schools, plus impactful ways of sidestepping the stigma to ask for help if they need it.

In primary schools, children can learn how to overcome stigma attached to mental health through the Healthy Me series of projects. Little Healthy Me is for p1-p4 and Healthy Me is for p5-p7. We also offer Healthy Me tailored for Staff and parents.

Provoking Thought is our programme for post-primary young people and can be delivered in schools or community settings. One Northern Ireland teacher whose secondary level school has participated in MensSana’s Provoking Thought programme has been engaging with Action Mental Health for a number of years to help stamp out the stigma surrounding the issue of mental health.

The teacher said the course contents has not only helped the school body from feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by mental health issues, it has also been vital in helping to smooth the milestone transition from primary to secondary school level.

“As well-being co-ordinator of a large school, it was sometimes overwhelming to know how to support the young people, as well as the staff. Hugh Roarty, from Action Mental Health’s MensSana team was able to set up zoom session for both pupils and staff, which proved really useful and feedback was excellent,” she said.

“We have used his presentations in person for several years now and the AMH team always provide fabulous “Provoking Thought” workshops. These have helped our new Year 8s with the transition from primary to secondary education, and also helped with the mental health awareness in senior school. We are even having bespoke programmes during our “Well-being Week” at the start of December.”

For more information on the variety of AMH MensSana courses available for Northern Ireland’s children and young people visit here.

The Covid Wellbeing Hub is packed full of useful resources and sources of support. You can visit the hub by clicking here: https://covidwellbeingni.info/index.html.

This week, as part of the #CovidWellbeingNI partnership, we have been looking at the stigma that often surrounds mental health.

For employees, mental health struggles often manifest as lack of productivity. Even if they’re showing up for work, they may be hiding their conditions due to stigma and not seeking treatment.  At a time when people are at their most vulnerable and most in need of help, stigma prevents them from reaching out.

So what can we do about it?

Workplaces can foster an environment where employees and employers speak openly about mental health. It is important to educate your staff and promote a supportive and understanding workplace, free from stigma.

How can we help?

AMH Works – Action Mental Health’s mental health training and consultancy service, work with some of NI’s and the UK’s leading organsations. Our programmes teach the skills needed to support and maintain healthy resilient workplaces for every level of employee. Our programmes have a proven positive impact on health and wellness, reducing sickness absence and helping to make your workplace a place which actively values and supports people on their journey to postive mental health. AMH Works also offer support on identifying training needs, employee wellbeing and stress audits and mental health and wellbeing related policies

AMH Works promote the mindful manager model – a unique and simple tool that can be used to support employees with their mental wellbeing and direct both the individual and their employer to local support should they need it.

The Mindful Manager Model:

• Listen – have increased awareness of mental health
• Ask – have the confidence to discuss mental health with employees
• Signpost – be able to direct the employee to local support should they need it.
• Support – Be able to identify ways to support employees experiencing mental ill health

What can employees do to help combat stigma?

• Find out the facts about mental health and mental ill-health – take part in mental health awareness training
• Have positive conversations about mental health with colleagues.
• Learn how to recognise stigma and challenge it when you see it.
• Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is experiencing stigma; it’s important not to define or judge someone by their health problems but to see them as individuals.

For more information on AMH Works click here.

The Covid Wellbeing Hub is packed full of useful resources and sources of support. You can visit the hub by clicking here: https://covidwellbeingni.info/index.html.

Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade have launched their first ever NI Workplace Health & Wellbeing Conference.  The new event will take place on Tuesday 30^th November 2021 (8am to 12.30pm) at the Canal Court Hotel & Spa, Newry. It will include keynote speakers, case studies and an exhibition space.

The event is supported by principal sponsors Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Action Mental Health.  It is open to organisations of any size from across NI, not just the Greater Newry area.

Emma Mullen, President of Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade said, “Businesses and their employees have experienced an extremely challenging last 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  This has had a negative effect on the physical and mental health of many of our citizens.  We feel now is the right time to help local employers to come together, share best practice and help them develop effective health and wellbeing strategies for their workplaces.

The conference will include expert speakers from specialist organisations and local employers who are leading the way with their programmes.  We are looking forward to keynote addresses from Nicola Connolly Byrne, Founder of I AM Positive Mindset and John Ryan, Founder & CEO Healthy Place to Work, Rachael Power, AMH Works Manager, Action Mental Health and David Babington CEO Action Mental Health. NI Chest Heart & Stroke will present on their Work Well Live Well programme. 

We are extremely grateful to our sponsors Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Action Mental Health. Without their support we could not run this, not to be missed, conference”.

Oonagh Magennis, Vice Chair of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council said, “We are delighted to support Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade with this important initiative.  As a council one of our key objectives is to improve the lives and livelihoods of the people who live and work in this region.  It is important that we work across all three sectors, public, voluntary and private, to share what works best to support employees.  

Rachael Power, AMH Works Manager, Action Mental Health, commented “AMH are delighted to be sponsoring this important conference and to be working with Newry Chamber of Commerce and Newry Mourne and Down Council to support local business. We are thrilled to see employers in the Newry area taking such a proactive approach to the mental health and well-being of employees and we look forward to working with them in the future.” The NI Workplace Health & Wellbeing takes place on Tuesday 30^th November.  To view the event programmme, full speaker line up and to book your FREE place, click HERE.

AMH Works provides workplace mental and emotional well-being consultancy supported by a range of specialised employee programmes, proven to improve workplace well-being across organisations. For more information click here.

This Anti-bullying week we’re focussing on some of the services that help support children in a range of ways, including if they are victims of bullying.

Provoking Thought is one project which helps secondary-age children negotiate their way through the difficult years from 11 to 18 and beyond, until 25 years of age, within community groups.

Provoking Thought looks at aspects like ‘what is bullying’ and questions likes ‘what is friendship’ and what makes up a good friendship. This is designed for young people to look at their relationships and evaluate if their friendship is good for them.

The project looks at the question of why people bully others and the symptoms of bullying and its mental health impact- on both the victim and the bully.

Provoking Thought looks at how bullies can e supported by helping them to identify those around them who they can turn to for help.

It also teaches young people what they can do the help themselves if they find that they are victims of bullying.

Provoking Thought also helps young people reflect on their online and social media behaviour, examining cyberbullying. It encourages young people to think twice before they comment and whether it’s a helpful thought they intend to share publicly.

Provoking Thought places a great emphasis on identifying people who are there to help and also on coping skills, focusing on the principles of the Five Ways to Well-Being to help illustrate ways of coping with bullying they may encounter.

Reflecting on the five ways – Connect, Give, Keep Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning- Provoking Thought encourages pupils to ‘Connect’ with good and trusted friends. It also encourages them to ‘Give’ themselves a detox from social media and to step away from it for a while, especially if they are experiencing cyberbullying.

Provoking Thought workshops are available to 11-25-year-olds and their key contacts and can be delivered in schools, youth clubs and community groups.  (Can be delivered to 25+ also)

The aim of the workshop is to support young people/people and their key contacts in the area of mental and emotional wellbeing through a range of activities that are tailored to suit group needs. The workshops aim to be young people friendly, positive, interactive and informative.  The workshops are designed to explore issues and facilitate discussion around issues of mental and emotional wellbeing.