Behavioral Activation

Behavioural Activation

Depression is alleviated when people feel more actively in control of events in their lives. Group participants learn to break the cycle of depression by learning about patterns of behaviours, the link between moods and behaviours and learning to engage or re-engage in activities which are personally meaningful to you.

These booklets give a little taster of what Behavioural Activation is all about

Progress through them at your own speed and have a go at the examples. Enjoy!

Kind permission was granted from South London and Maudsley NHS Trust to share them with you.
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Will I have to discuss personal issues and problems?

You may wish to share things that you are comfortable talking about with your group but you are not obliged to share anything you don’t want to.

How long do the groups last?

All our groups are delivered through weekly sessions. To get the most benefit from the group we would encourage you to attend all sessions. Please confirm details of your group when booking.

  Duration  Session time
  7 weeks   2 hours per session

 

Who will be there?

Our groups are delivered in a small group format allowing for comfortable discussion. All those attending will have had an assessment with Primary Mental Health Support Service. All our groups are facilitated by mental health practitioners.

It is natural for people to feel anxious about meeting their group for the first time. However, due to the informal and supportive environment, this usually disappears after the initial session.

How do I book a place?

To ensure these group programmes are as accessible as possible, we will be holding the courses in a range of venues across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan and at a variety of different times of the day and evening to suit individual schedules. To access Living Life to the Full please ensure a referral is made to the Primary Mental Health Support Service for assessment via your GP or Community Mental Health Team in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Living Life to the Full (CBT)

Living Life to the Full (CBT) in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan

What are Living Life to the Full (CBT) based groups?

Our group programmes are based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques used to manage common issues such as Stress, Worry, Anxiety and Depression. CBT is a psychological approach which explores the way we think, feel and act and how these are linked.

The aim of these programmes is to help you to gain more control of your feelings. Sessions are designed to enable you to develop practical ways to increase your well being in small steps. The topics covered are interesting and can be relevant to everyone no matter what their circumstances. You will also be encouraged to put your new skills to use between each session.

Will I have to discuss personal issues and problems?

You may wish to share things that you are comfortable talking about with your group but you are not obliged to share anything you don’t want to.

How long do the groups last?

All our groups are delivered through weekly sessions. To get the most benefit from the group we would encourage you to attend all sessions. Please confirm details of your group when booking.

   Duration     Session time
   7 weeks    2 hours per session

 

Who will be there?

Our groups are delivered in a small group format allowing for comfortable discussion. All those attending will have had an assessment with Primary Mental Health Support Service. All our groups are facilitated by mental health practitioners.

It is natural for people to feel anxious about meeting their group for the first time. However, due to the informal and supportive environment, this usually disappears after the initial session.

How do I book a place?

To ensure these group programmes are as accessible as possible, we will be holding the courses in a range of venues across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan and at a variety of different times of the day and evening to suit individual schedules. To access Living Life to the Full please ensure a referral is made to the Primary Mental Health Support Service for assessment via your GP or Community Mental Health Team in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Children and Young People

Children and Young People

 

The Primary Mental Health Team meet with young people (under 18 years) and their families to help with a range of difficulties including anxiety, low mood, stress, and relationship difficulties, to name a few.

This assessment appointment will be with a member of the team and will last approximately one hour. It is a chance to get to know you better and we welcome anyone who wants to attend and contribute to the conversation.

We will ask you questions about what is currently going on at home, at school, and what other professionals may be involved at the moment, or have been previously.

During this appointment you will have the chance to ask questions and for us to decide together what the next best step is. Sometimes, this assessment appointment is all that is needed. On other occasions, it may be appropriate to think about other services that could support you, or it may be that the Primary Mental Health Team can continue to support you.

Due to the high number of referrals we receive, there may be a wait if you decide that you would like one-to-one support from a member of our team. We aim to see young people and their families as soon as we can and appreciate how frustrating it can be to wait. If concerns are raised that require immediate attention then we will respond to this in a timely manner.

On occasions we may contact you by telephone prior to an appointment to gain a clearer picture of the current circumstances. Please feel free to let us know at the time if this is inconvenient.

We often have students or psychology trainees with us so please let us know if you would prefer them not to sit in on the appointment (no more than one student would be present).  

If you have any concerns or questions please call us on 02920 536795.
Useful resources:

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Meic Cymru

0808 8023456 (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
Free advocacy, information and advice helpline for children and young people

Families First

 EARLY GATEWAY 03000 133133  for Cardiff Families (was Cardiff support 4 families)
 FAMILIES FIRST 0800 0327322 for Vale of Glamorgan families
 Offering advice/help to find the most appropriate service in Cardiff and The Vale of   Glamorgan for children, young people and families. The trained staff for these lines will have   the time to explore challenging issues relating to children and young people and discuss a range of options with you. In some circumstances, more extensive, home based assessments can be arranged.

CGL Logo

Emotional Wellbeing Service - Cardiff and The Vale 

0800 0086879 Supporting young people with mental health, emotional wellbeing and risk taking behaviours

banner stand MindHub

Mind Hub

An information service organised by Cardiff Youth Service

 

Contact us: 02920 536795

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Many of us have struggled with difficult events or relationships throughout our lives. Your childhood may have been very difficult, or more recent problems have had a great deal of impact on you. These experiences can often leave us feeling self critical or shameful about ourselves. Maybe we feel that we ought to recover in a certain way; or find it hard to get past certain hurtful emotions. Sometimes, although we understand in our head that we ought to get past a problem, we find it impossible in our heart to do so.

Understanding Me is not therapy but is an information sharing presentation drawing on the theory that underpins Compassionate Mind Training. The fact is this; we are all human and we all find ourselves here in this world, with a brain and emotions that we have to figure out. Working out how and why our brains work the way they do is a tough task, understanding emotions can be even harder. Much of life’s suffering involves working our way through difficult situations, and we are not to blame for the ways our brains react to significant life events – we were not involved with the development of our brains nor the evolution of our emotions.

If you would like to gain a greater understanding of the brain and the functions of emotions, and have found yourself suffering from self critical thoughts or strong difficult emotions, there is now an opportunity to do this, and to develop compassion for yourself and others in the process.

There is evidence that suggests people who are more self critical and experience strong feelings of shame can struggle more than others, with common mental health difficulties. The Understanding Me course aims to help people who experience these difficulties.

Understanding Me is based on the principles of Compassionate Mind Training, which itself stems from the psychological approach of Compassion Focused Therapy. There is good evidence to suggest that this approach can help us develop a greater sense of compassion for ourselves and others.

In the future we will run Understanding Me in community venues, but due to the COVID-19 crisis we have decided to launch it online. We will also upload handouts with every session so you can practice skills and activities in-between. Come back fortnightly to find the next session when it uploads. There’s a good chance this course may be helpful for you, so why not give it a try?

Understanding Me is a Compassionate Mind Training inspired course for people with mild to moderate common mental health difficulties. It is not therapy and doesn't sit on the clinical pathway for any particular diagnosis. Attendees are not offered follow-up and the facilitators do not assess or manage risk.

Click on the text below for each session of course: