Tag Archives: mental health

Control freaks have no life!

mental health, psychology, , ,

Many people try to control other people because they think it will help to keep them happy and mentally healthy. But actually the opposite is true.

Mental well-being depends upon a variety of experiences but control-freakery, in so far as it’s successful, limits a person’s experience only to what they already understand and can imagine. Most people find that their lives are enriched by the actions of others – even when those actions are surprising.

The more we control other people, the less we experience variety in life, the more frustrated and resentful we become when we fail and greater the risk we run of developing mental health problems.

Meaningful activity & mental health

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The problem with distraction

Mental health nurses are encouraged to rely heavily upon distraction to help people manage anxiety, depression or the emotional consequences of past trauma. That’s OK so far as it goes but unfortunately it really doesn’t go very far.

Upcoming online seminars

mental health, psychosis, self harm, seminars, Uncategorized, , , , ,

Do you work in mental health or are you keen to know more for another reason? Are you frustrated at not being able to get on group training without travelling miles and paying through the nose? Look no further.

If you have an hour to spare and access to a pc or mobile ‘phone then you can join our 1 hour seminars with an experienced mental health nurse and trainer. For just £12.50 you can have a PDF booklet and access to an online presentation and question and answer session from the comfort of your own home.

Mental health and disorder made easy

Upcoming sessions include…

Thursday February 23rd 2023  The picture on the box

Thursday March 2nd 2023  Psychosis and schizophrenia

Thursday March 9th 2023 Self harm

All sessions begin at 7pm.

Fill in the contact form below to reserve your place on any or all of the sessions listed.

Online video training

Courses, mental health, personality disorder, psychosis, self harm, social care, techniques, training, , , , , , , ,

“Very thorough and high quality…” Abi, Student nurse

Lifetime access for only £30.00

Do you work in mental health services?

Are you a support worker, student nurse or just an interested person who’d like to know how to make more sense of mental health and disorder?

Do you find it hard to see how all the different disorders and peoples’ approaches to them fit together?

Do you have difficulty getting other professionals to see things as you do?

Would you like to be more effective in working with the people you care for?

Then this online video course is for you.

Picture on the box workbook: title page

People learn best when they have questions and they remember best when they have a ‘schema’, a ‘picture on the box’ to help make sense of what they’re taught. That’s what this training is all about. Over two and a half hours of video instruction alongside a range of information and exercises in the accompanying workbook help you to make sense of the seemingly overwhelming field of mental health and disorder.

And all for much less than the cost of a good night out.

Picture on the box workbook: Sample page (psychosis 1)

You can have all this for less than you’d pay for a take-away meal for two. But unlike a take-away, the benefits of this training will last your entire career.

Click the link below to get full access to the course videos and workbook.

https://www.tamtalking.co.uk/p/onlive-video-training-the-picture-on-the-box/

Video training online

mental health, social care, training, , , , ,

Lifetime access for only £30.00

Here’s the introductory video for the first of several video training courses with accompanying PDF workbooks and exercises. This one’s an overview of mental health and disorder for workers and carers called ‘The picture on the box’.

I also plan to develop video courses on…

Anxiety

Depression

Psychosis

Self Harm

Personality disorder

Mental capacity act

Risk appreciation in health and social care

And my own self-help method called ‘The No Surprises method’.

Apart from ‘The picture on the box’, if there’s anything that you (or your wider contacts, come to that) would prefer me to work on sooner rather than later please let me know, even if it’s not listed. I can cover a whole lot more mental health and/or social care topics that I haven’t yet planned out.

Go on, get in touch. You know you want to

Webinar: Mental health recovery

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What’s #recovery really about in #mentalhealth? For many it means so much more than a return to how we were. Join my one hour seminar to learn more.

https://tinyurl.com/recoversemi

Self harm interactive webinar

mental health, psychology, self harm, seminars, social care, training, tutorial, , , , ,

Wednesday March 24th 2021 7pm

Self-harm can be confusing and bewildering for both staff and service-users. Ideas about ‘manipulation’ or a ‘cry for help’ do little or nothing to help prevent future self-harm. This interactive webinar explores some alternative notions and examines ways that support workers can make a difference in a genuinely difficult situation.

Click here to book your place

There is a great deal that support workers and others can do to help people who harm themselves. The trick is to be able to see past the behaviour and to understand the person who cuts themselves, takes overdoses or otherwise injures themselves.

In the past this sort of behaviour has been written off as attention-seeking or as an attempt to manipulate workers and yet most self-harm happens in secret and never comes to the attention of the staff. It’s really not about us. Something else is going on and the tired old notion that it is merely ‘behavioural’ is both meaningless and irrelevant in a modern context of deliberate self-harm.

This interactive webinar covers:

Definitions of self-harm

A cry for help?

Is it all just attention-seeking?

Self-harm and suicide – are they linked?

Pain, the brain and self-soothing behaviours

The emotional purpose of self-harm

Helping people to ‘get past’ self-harm

Managing the risks

Dos and Don’ts

Click here to reserve your place on this interactive webinar

Please note – this is an educational seminar. It is not a group therapy session and we cannot make time for individual or group counselling or other intervention here,

Book short webinars and TamTalking sessions here

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If you’re looking to book training for your staff you’ll need to complete the online contact form below.

However, if you’re interested in joining a short, ‘public access’ webinar as an individual or small group of friends, students etc or to set up a TamTalk please visit the TamTalking.co.uk store here

.Whatever you’re looking for, if it’s mental health or social care related get in touch, even if it’s not listed. You’d be surprised at the bespoke products I can put together.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Stuart Sorensen

Beware the saviour fantasy

mental health, safeguarding, social care, , , , ,

Newcomers to care, especially mental health care often believe that they not only can but actually will ‘save the world’. They genuinely expect that their winning personality, supported only by a nice smile, a cup of tea and a chocolate digestive will solve every psychological problem there is. They’re the saviours and their naivety puts everyone at risk.

Most of us grow out of such expectations early on in our careers. We may have begun wanting to save the world but now we just want the world to go away and leave us alone. We’ve had the naivety of inexperience kicked, beaten or otherwise drummed out of us in no uncertain terms and we’ve learned that we can only do so much in our little corner of the system. We knuckle down, get good at our particular task or set of tasks and keep that original, positive spark of enthusiasm alive with realistic expectations and the ability to take delight in smaller successes.

But some people never grow out of their saviour fantasy. They never overcome the innocence that may well have led them into the job but that also makes them beat themselves up every day because they haven’t yet fixed everything. They may not show it often but these overgrown saviours are racked with guilt because of the impossible task they set themselves. If you’re one of these saviours please read on…

It’s pension day and Mary, a kindly octogenarian toddles out of her local post office clutching a wad of notes in her gloved hand. She never did manage to catch up with all that modern internet banking nonsense and has always been a little suspicious of computers managing her affairs. ‘That’s what cheque books and cash are for’, she reasons. Her handbag hangs nonchalantly from her elbow as she fishes in the apparently inexhaustible, portable cavern for her purse.

Suddenly – two young thugs come dashing toward her. One snatches the cash, knocking Mary to the ground as he does so. The second stamps on her head for good measure, causing bright red blood to stream from her ear onto the pavement.

You run to her, screaming at passers-by to call an ambulance as you cradle the unconscious old lady in your arms. You feel helpless and angry as she breathes her last, still held tight in your embrace. You’re angry but you’re not guilty. You tried to help, after all. You never caused this and at least you had a go, unlike the rest of society who seem only able to cross the road and look the other way.

Mental health care’s like that. We didn’t cause the problems our patients have developed. Often it took them years to become this ill. That’s not your fault and you’re not to blame. At least you’re trying to help!

Beware the saviour fantasy