Living Life to the Full Life Skills Programme
Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is well and that exams are going smoothly. For this blog I wanted to mirror a post put online by the university which discusses stress and it’s impact on mental health and well-being.
I have been affected by these issues as has many of my friends so it is important to make the most of the courses and resources available to you in case you are going through something similar.
It has been noted that low mood, distress and worry are amongst the major mental health problems of the 21st Century and can affect more than 1 out of 3 of us at some point of our lives. For the most part treatment usually incorporates anti-depressant medication or are psychological therapies (or talking therapies).
Psychological treatments or therapies are quite popular and approaches such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) have been shown to be quite effective, however access to specialist therapy services can be limited or difficult to access.
Therefore, there is a need to develop new and innovative ways of accessing these treatments. The Living Life to the Full course aims to provide easy access to CBT skills; these skills will provide people with an effective means of combatting mental health issues and does so in a way that cuts through jargon.
The core idea of CBT skills is to empower users to understand why they feel as they do, and to learn new ways of improving how they feel; essentially the course aims to provide ready access to key information. The course is based on “Helping people to help themselves”.A crucial element is to inform, educate and teach key life skills. The course is supported by a series of CBT self-help workbooks that can be used between the e-learning sessions. These resources encourage the reader/user to put what they are learning into practice, and to stop, think and reflect on what is being learned.
Self-help materials are increasingly available and popular with the general public and health care practitioners. Any good bookshop is likely to have a significantly sized self-help section. Self-help books are often amongst the top ten best-selling books. In America and Great Britain, a number of self-help materials have been assessed and been shown to be effective.
The Living Life to the Full course uses this popular self-help format, in addition to the CBT model which has a proven effectiveness in helping people develop life skills that help them tackle feelings of low mood, stress and distress”
Swansea University Wellbeing@CampusLife, Student’s Union Advice Centre, Community Liaison Officer and Student Experiences Officers will be delivering eight 90-minute sessions, designed to help attendees tackle the everyday problems that everyone faces from time to time.
Furthermore, it teaches key life skills that can help you feel better, happier and more in control of your life! You’ll also meet new people and have a lot of fun in a non-threatening way.Finally, you won’t be asked or pressured to provide any information you don’t want to. You can get further details and the opportunity to try online ‘taster’ sessions via this link http://www.llttf.com/
How do I book my place?
You can register for your place on the course by contacting the Students’ Union Advice centre by visiting their office in Fulton house, telephoning 01792 295821 or emailing advice@swansea-union.co.uk.
This Living life to the full course is open to all enrolled students at Swansea University and you need to make a commitment to try and attend all eight sessions.
This may be an extremely useful course if you feel as though you are struggling with any of the issues raised in thsi blog. Not only can it help in the short term but you can develop skills to help you cope with stress and other mental health issues throughout the rest of your life particularly in the world of work.
Thanks for reading and I hope this helps.
