The essential skills advisors and peer supporters need for giving advice, information or support online These are some of the basic skills that supporters and advisors find useful when working online. The support offered might be one to one (email style), peer or expert support, moderating forums or moderating real time chat. Depending on the…
Author: Clare Foster
Writing my mind – some thoughts about the benefits and impacts of public and private journalling
Childhood diaries I’ve always used writing to know and to guide my mind in one way or another. Usually, this has taken the form of a diary or journal. In thinking about the part that writing has played in managing my mind, I had an interesting evening going through my old diaries and notebooks. The…
Giving help that makes a difference – the subtleties of emotional support online
A question of jealousy Take a look at this relationships question about jealousy: “I’m always worried my boyfriend is going to cheat on me when he’s out with his friends. I’m always texting him when he’s out and it annoys him but I have no confidence that he won’t cheat. We live together and have…
Mind the gap – GPs, antidepressants and mental health support for young people.
“I’m not going to give you another prescription” “What… but I need it.. (panics)” “Don’t worry, I was just testing to see if you really did still need them..and I think you do” GP in Fenham, Newcastle “Just take them when you feel you need to” – to me aged 17. GP in Cumbria “So,…
How can exercise help depression?
Earlier this week, when the ‘exercise no help for depression’ stories were published on the BBC and the Guardian, I quickly pulled together some of my initial thoughts and frustrations with the way the research was reported. Since then, I’ve had a chance to think about it in a bit more depth. The debate on exercise…
My thoughts on exercise and depression
Bad journalism The BBC headline ‘Exercise ‘no help for depression’, research suggests’ (note – the BBC have quietly changed this headline now!) – and indeed Guardian headline ‘Exercise doesn’t help depression, study concludes’ (note – this link has since broken and I can no longer find the article) – really frustrated me today. It’s classic…
Keeping the beast asleep – Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and my experience of how it can help prevent relapse
Recurrent depression I recently found something I wrote a couple of years ago, while trying to make sense of a particularly difficult period of depression; “Recurrent depression is cyclical. It comes and goes in longer periods than just days or weeks. Each low episode can last months, and within that time it can make everything…
Metaphor, mental health and online support.
What is successful online support? There is no foolproof formula for successful online support. Using the written word to ensure someone feels listened to, understood, informed and positive about their next steps is a complex and varied task. As with any inexact science it’s much easier to identify when something is done right. It’s a lot…
The role of stories and writing in support for young people.
True stories online TheSite.org has published editorialised true stories for years. These stories enabled us to give a more personal angle to some of the issues we were addressing in articles, and to cover other more ‘newsy’ issues. The range of stories reflects the range of issues addressed on TheSite.org, from selling sex or coming off heroin to taking part in the student…
If xLy iff yLx is true, then x cannot stop loving y unless y also stops loving x … thoughts on relationships advising and philosophy
Earlier on this week I rediscovered a website called askphilosophers.org. It’s a question and answer service where people post questions which are answered publicly by philosophers. All the sections are pretty interesting (check out the environmental philosophy section) but particularly relevant to us who work on askTheSite was the section on love and emotions. There was…
Overcoming barriers and taking steps to support – why we’re developing services on TheSite.org
The notion of barriers to support is a common one in information, advice and guidance, but the particular way it is informing the new Step Finder project we’re working on grew organically out of our teams work. Personal and practical barriers For example on the discussion boards we’ve seen questions about how to call Samaritans– what…
Radio Lollipop – a different sort of work with young people
On the Wednesday before Christmas, my colleague and friend Laura and I went to help out with the Great Ormond Street and Radio Lollipop‘s Rockin’ Reindeer Christmas parties. Usually we volunteer for Radio Lollipop in Great Ormond Street on a Wednesday evening. We spend two hours after work each week visiting and playing with children on the wards,…
Using the web to provide peer support for emotional health and wellbeing
This is a write up of my thoughts, experience and findings from the In Petto conference ‘Exploring Online Peer to Peer Support’ in Antwerp. I attended this, along with a volunteer peer advisor last November. Structures and systems for providing online peer support. At the conference we were focusing in more depth on peer support and…
Exploring different types of online support
The concept of ‘types of support’ as a way of understanding the services thatTheSite.org offers. I recently had to give a overview of TheSite.org to a group of business leaders. In order to help the delegates understand how young people use our online services I decided to focus on exploring the types of support we offer. I…