RMH TRAINING
Self-awareness and understanding personal needs
Aims
To support individuals to understand their own identity and personal circumstances which impact on their mental health To be able to support the development of wellbeing plan for an individual
To develop skills including action planning, self-awareness and providing information and guidance
Learning
outcomes
Understanding their needs and helping the individual to
understand them
Developing wellbeing plan
Understanding local support services for individuals
Activities
6. What are in your plate?
7. One page profile
Aims: This activity looks to provide that foundation for understanding that emotional health is just as important as physical health. Verbalising their stressors and visualising the emotions they trigger in their bodies gives youth power over how they react to things in the world. This will aid in the development of other skills, including social skills, life skills, conflict resolution, confidence, purpose, reflection and growth mindset.
Materials: Paper plate (or a sheet) and pens.
Instructions: Discuss the analogy of “having a full plate” to represent one’s responsibilities and commitments. Ask participants to think about what is on their plate i.e., their responsibilities, work or school tasks, self-care, stressors, as well as their hobbies and the things they want to spend time doing.
- Hand out paper plates and markers. Ask participants to decorate the paper plates with symbols/words that represent the obligations, tasks, and interests that are on their plate.
- Give the group plenty of time for this as they will talk and reflect with each other as they draw/write.
- Invite group members to share what some of (or at least one) of the items that are on their plates. They will find many commonalities, and at the same time, learn about some of the unique stressors, responsibilities or interests of their peers. This opens a discussion on how to handle multiple responsibilities and how the group can support each other.
- What do you have to get done each day?
- Do you use your time wisely?
- Do you have a quiet place to do homework/office work?
- What assignments do you put off? Do you work on your favorite subject/task first or last?
- A group discussion on responses and ideas generated from these questions can be an effective way for peers to support each other with ideas and suggestions.
Aims: A one-page profile captures the important information about a person on a single sheet of paper; including what is important to them, what people appreciate about them, and how they want to be supported. If someone is using mental health services a one-page profile can be a powerful way to communicate and maintain their personhood in what can often be a dehumanising, medicalised system. For someone who finds themselves in crisis and is admitted into hospital, a profile can be a very effective way of communicating who they are and what good support looks like at a time when they might not have the capacity or opportunity to do so in any other way. A one-page profile, written by the person when they feel well, with support if needed, can be an effective way to support continuity of understanding about an individual in changing circumstances and fluctuating mental health.
Materials: One page profile sheet (Annex), pen.
Instructions: There are three key sections to a one page profile:
- what other people like and admire about the person
- what makes the person really happy and is most important to them
- how the person likes to be supported.
