Continuing Professional Development: Psychology and Mental Health (Week 5)

For the last few weeks I’ve been posting about a six week course I’ve been taking called Psychology and Mental Health: Beyond Nature and Nurture. Today is the penultimate week and we have been consolidating the last four weeks learning and identifying how these psychological insights can help us and our clients maintain mental health and well-being.  

We looked at a recent UK Government report into well-being and considered how we might be able to incorporate its findings into our professional practice. The report was drafted by a team at the new economics foundation (NEF) and presented evidence for things individuals could do themselves to achieve greater well-being. They concluded that people should follow a well-being equivalent of the ‘five fruit and vegetables a day’ rule. You can view the full report here. In summary, they recommended the following:

Keep active 
When people are physically active they tend to have better mental health. Simple things like going for a walk, mowing the lawn, washing the car are just as effective as going to the gym or running. 

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Maintain relationships 
There are things that people can do every day to maintain their connectivity with other people, and to maintain their relationships. Phone a relative/friend, send a postcard, write a letter, or even use social media. 

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Learn 
It doesn't have to be formal learning at a university or college, it could be as simple as reading a newspaper/book, doing a crossword or going to the library. Things that keep the brain active and engaged are good for our mental health.

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Give 
Research has shown that people who give – time, money and/or energy – tend to have better mental health than those who don’t. 

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Be mindful 
There's a growing body of evidence that an approach called mindfulness is good for our mental health. And that means that every day we can make sure, we can bear in mind, to be aware of the things that we're looking at, the things that we're smelling, the things that we're seeing, our own thoughts, and the functioning of our own bodies, to be aware of and to be engaged with the world rather than just simply passively moving through it.

We also looked at a selection of resources available to help maintain mental health and well-being. I thought you might also be interested as they can be used to inform personal or professional strategies. Here they are...

Catch It, Check It, Change It 

The University of Liverpool has recently developed a smartphone app for iPhone and Android. Designed to introduce key ideas from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), the app allows users to keep a record of their moods, therefore allowing them to reflect on what affects their feelings. It is hoped that this, in turn, will help them to control their moods. It is not proposed that the app could or would ever replace direct therapy; rather the purpose is to provide an understanding of CBT; helping people to gain a little more insight into, and control over, their emotions. 

Activity Scheduling

Activity is an excellent anti-depressant. But when people are depressed, they often find it difficult to motivate themselves to become active. So clinical psychologists often give their clients simple diaries to keep track of their activity. The BBC’s Activity Scheduling guide is a fantastic resource that you could use yourself or incorporate into your practice with clients.

Graded Exposure

Anxiety is a common problem which can be reduced through a well-tested therapeutic approach called graded exposure. The basic aim is to help people gradually build up their confidence in addressing a problem that causes them anxiety; step by step. You might find this graded exposure activity sheet helpful.  

Structured Problem Solving 

Research has found that rumination can be a key problem in maintaining mental health. However, it has also been found to be a protective factor for people if they had well-developed skills in ‘adaptive coping’. One approach to helping people develop these kinds of skills is called ‘structured problem solving’. This really means breaking down problems into their constituent components and generating possible solutions for each element. Again, the BBC has a simple worksheet available which you might like.  

Next week will be the last session and I've been told we will be looking at how we can use what we have learned so far to design and commission better mental health and well-being services. If this is something you'd be interested in reading about please follow me on facebook so that you don't miss it.

Have a great week!

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