Running a training day for volunteers working on a new online peer support service for APP I was really pleased to be asked to help out with APP’s new online peer support programme. APP has been funded to provide peer support to women with postpartum psychosis and their partners. They have been running an online…
Author: Clare Foster
Organisational Healthcheck Consultancy for Time to Change
Attending the Time to Change Organisational Healthcheck training and away day I recently attended a training and meet up day for Time To Change Organisational Healthcheck Consultants. As I mentioned when posting about the work I did on an anti stigma campaign for Richmond Borough Mind, there is still a lot of discrimination, misunderstanding and silence…
What exactly IS Mindfulness? Chatting with young people on TheSite.org
Earlier this month I found myself back at YouthNet Towers, this time as an expert for one of their expert chats. The Engagement and Support team at YouthNet oversee the running of a number of types of online chat. These include support chat (I also moderate support chats as a volunteer), general chat, film and…
Articles for ONEinFOUR
I’ve written four articles for lifestyle, health and mental wellbeing magazine ONEinFOUR. Spring-Summer 2013 – managing depression and anxiety in relationships The first was published in the Spring-Summer 2013 issue. It was one of the cover stories and explored managing anxiety and depression in relationships. Autumn-Winter 2013 More recently I’ve written three pieces for the…
Mental health information articles for 16-25 year olds
Information on recent mental health support writing for young people I recently completed two articles for TheSite’s new Anxiety and Depression section. Trouble getting help for mental health and Online Counselling. Writing for young people The aim of The Site.org content is to provide clear, straight talking and supportive information for young people. Articles respond to…
Mental Health Awareness Campaign Support
This summer I provided interim support for the CEO of Richmond Borough Mind in the initial stages of organising a campaign for World Mental Health day in October 2013. Reducing stigma around mental health The campaign was focused on reducing stigma around mental health with an emphasis on encouraging employers to consider mental health and…
Online consultation with Mind’s Elefriends community
I first came across the Elefriends community after attending their online peer support training. I was interested in online peer support for adults and wanted to find out more about the impact of providing community members with peer support training. How does this affect their experience? I wrote about this training here. Online community consultation…
Why ‘Depression Island’?
A 2016 update Hello! Just wanted to pop in and add some notes to this post. It’s 3 years since I wrote it and since then my mental health has fluctuated and changed quite a lot. I still manage depression but trying to come off my antidepressants really increased my anxiety for a while. And a complex combination of…
Five good things a day for World Mental Health Day and beyond..
Happy World Mental Health Day everyone! Looking after your mental health If you don’t have a diagnosed mental health issue then you’d be forgiven for thinking that World Mental Health day isn’t for you. But we all have mental health in the same way we all have physical health – and that mental health needs…
Social media, mental health and mindfulness
Exploring the potential damage that social media can cause; promoting unrealistic representations of daily life and encouraging us all to make unhealthy comparisons with our internal experience. It was only a few years ago that the idea that Facebook and other social networking sites could diminish happiness or affect wellbeing was still a relatively new…
What do we need to get help from our GP for mental health? Reassurance, realistic expectations and a plan.
Helping you get help from your GP “NHS services think that they are a series of entrances – but actually they are a series of barriers“ Yesterday, I went down to Brighton for the launch of Doc Ready – a new digital tool (a website and soon to be app) that helps young people get…
What dogs can teach us about wellbeing and mindfulness
How my dog helps me remember to be mindful through acceptance, curiosity, living in the moment and pure joy. Be more dog? O2’s recently launched ‘Be more dog‘ campaign got me thinking. Their emphasis is on finding excitement and joie de vivre in a world too bored and their aim is to sell their services….
Pills and Pregnancy – when careless journalism damages vulnerable people
Pills panic Sitting down at my desk this morning, I opened Twitter for my usual pre work browse. My eye was caught by this tweet, which linked to an article by the BBC ‘Antidepressants ‘could be risk to unborn babies”. Of course, I clicked straight through. My recurrent depression and uneven support and information from…
Food, fat and flexible thinking – what’s so great about perfect anyway?!
Appearance is one of the main reasons for suicidal thoughts in the UK According to Samaritans research, appearance is one of the main reasons for suicidal thoughts in the UK. APPEARANCE. This makes me very angry. But I can also completely understand why it is up there in the top three along with ‘feelings of…