Project Connection’s Post

According to recent studies, Arts play an important role in improving Health and Well-being.

Excited to see BBC Sounds launching 'How to Save an Incel,' shedding light on an important yet often overlooked aspect of online culture. The rise of 'incel' communities highlights the urgent need for trauma-informed training in schools. These online spaces often harbour disenfranchised individuals grappling with deep-seated issues, including trauma and social isolation. By equipping educators with the tools to spot and address these underlying challenges, we can help prevent the proliferation of harmful ideologies and foster healthier, more inclusive communities. Looking forward to exploring this insightful series and its implications for our approach to education and mental health support. https://lnkd.in/eF4yusbv

A history of the madhouse. This post is for anyone interested in #mentalhealth. Over the summer I watched a BBC documentary called 'a history of the madhouse' (essentially mental health hospitals). The film is about ten years old and documents the archaic ways in which we have approached mental health over the last 100 years using practices such as electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), insulin injections and lobotomy. In other words, brain surgery. Yes, brain surgery! Interventions evolved over the years particularly with the introduction of medication from the 60s onwards. But there are numerous accounts of people being over medicated. With funding cuts, political forces and greater recognition of human rights these institutions started to close their doors during the 80s and 90s. High Royds in West Yorkshire was the final one to close in 2003. The thing that struck me most is that the last of these Victorian era institutions closed only 20 years ago. So in one sense we have come a long way in our approach to mental health. We have brought mental health out of the shadows (literally) and into the open and are talking with more and more candour about this important topic. Many of the posts I see on LinkedIn are testament to that. But it also makes me realise that there’s still a way to go in reducing the stigma of mental health given its recent history. Some habits die hard and we need time to unravel them. And in some parts of the UK electro-convulsive therapy is still in use... So here's to us continuing to evolve our conversations on mental health. With the challenges we are facing such as cost of living, climate change etc (to name just a few) it’s essential that we do so. Take a watch of the documentary if you are interested. I’d love to hear what you think. #mentalhealth #resilience #wellbeing #wearemadetomove https://lnkd.in/eG7cDwg9  

What is #socialprescribing and how is it humanising #healtcare? Social prescribing is an approach that enables a range of stakeholders, often based in health-care, to connect individuals to non-clinical services that have the potential to improve their #mental #wellbeing. One of the reasons why social prescribing has gained momentum is because traditional primary health services like physicians and family doctors are overburdened. Moreover, statistics indicate that many appointments for family doctors might not be related to a physiological health challenge or medical treatment but have a social or behavioural background, such as #loneliness, symptoms of #stress, #anxiety, or #depression. Our Interreg Baltic Sea Region project's Arts on Prescription in the Baltic Sea Region model is one approach to social prescribing. The project invites participants who suffer from mental health issues to engage in #arts and #creative activities that help them reduce stress, improve self-esteem, develop social connections, and eventually increase their overall well-being. 🔗 Read more: https://shorturl.at/GKQW7

Discover the power of #socialprescribing in humanizing #healthcare! Amidst overburdened primary services, it connects individuals to non-clinical solutions, addressing social and behavioral aspects. Our project, #ArtsOnPrescription, embraces #arts and #creative activities to enhance mental well-being. 🎨💚

I've often heard about the importance of the arts to wellbeing. Many studies show positive correlations between creative expression and improved mental health. The guide, Arts on Prescription, discusses how healthcare providers and social service agencies can prescribe arts, culture, or nature experiences to patients or clients to support their health and well-being. The guide emphasizes: community-centered, collaborative work 4 key questions to drive program creation real-world models

Grayson Perry on how therapy helped him ❇️ 'It was probably the most influential thing on my career, than anything else I have done.' ❇️ Wow. ‘Psychotherapy has an exceptional power to raise our levels of emotional well-being, improve our relationships, redeem the atmosphere in our families and assist us in mining our professional potential.’ Alain de Botton These are bold statements from great thinkers. Here's is a short film from Garyson Perry, and his explanation of how therapy had such a profound effect on him ➡️ https://lnkd.in/etkdn_DX 'I had a fantastic experience of psychotherapy. You have to find the right therapist. Therapy is like someone coming into your shed and cleaning up the tool shed. They leave the tools there, it’s just tidier and easier to get on with the work. Because the things they clear up are all the bad habits, the bad psychological habits you have - that’s what it’s all about. Because you develop habits in your childhood for whatever reason. That worked then because you were in a difficult situation as a kid, and those habits don’t work as adults. So you’ve gotta clear them out.' Grayson Perry, 2022. It’s certainly true that in childhood we develop habits often as a form self preservation, and as protective mechanisms to adverse events. These habits become embedded in unconscious behaviours. Psychotherapy provides the space for a therapist to help us uncover these unconscious tendencies, and identify how they might be inhibiting our progress and impacting our relationships. ‘Therapy is valuable because so many of our problems come down to not having enough insight into how our minds work. What we want, what we fear. Why we act the way we do and why we are overwhelmed by certain feelings. The goal of therapy is self knowledge and coming to deeper insights into the mind you inhabit. It isn’t a sign of disturbance to go to therapy, it is the first sign of sanity and of a proper grown up commitment to mental health. Therapy is for everyone, because it’s entirely ordinary to be rather confused, a bit anxious and sometimes challenged by relationships, family life and the direction of your career, ' Alain de Botton. In essence, therapy can help us live more insightfully and intentionally, and in doing so lead more peaceful, contented and purposeful lives. Keel works with therapists who specialise in a broad range of issues and across multiple modalities from psycho and somatic therapies to psychedelics. This could be the best investment you ever make in self understanding and fulfilment. Fortune favours the brave. If you would like to talk in confidence about finding a therapist that could be a good fit for you, you can reach out to me here ➡️ lucy@keelmentalfitness.com ❇️ Watch Psychotherapy from The School of Life here  https://lnkd.in/eeWB5SUP ❇️ Read 'What is Psychotherapy' here  https://lnkd.in/ekuwPPDN

This research on EMPATHY is fascinating. It confirms what I have been "banging on" about for about a decade now: the unbounded promotion of empathy in therapy does more damage than good. When you watch this you will begin to understand that empathy in therapy can be entirely counter productive. Empathy invites you to take sides. Once you side with the client, this will prevent you from being of true service to them as it prevents you from keeping an overview, spotting patterns, seeing the proverbial wood for the trees. Once you side with the client, you will become blind to the ways in which they undermine themselves, to the ways in which they may be hurting others. But it should be the role of therapy to address all these issues with the client, too- not only the ways in which they are victim but also the ways in which they may be perpetrator. This needs to be done respectfully and supportively, naturally, but what good is the therapy if it doesn't help them overcome these issues. That's why I advocate promoting COMPASSION over empathy. While you'll be acknowledging the client's suffering, compassion will also allow you to take that step back that you must take in order to keep an overview. Compassion means "Leading the session for the highest good of the client ." That's where I position myself and that's what I encourage other therapists to do also. https://lnkd.in/e3gs_a8P

Anxiety can feel like a heavy weight on your chest, making it hard to breathe or think clearly.  Imagine waking up every day with a knot in your stomach, feeling like you're about to face an exam you haven't studied for, even though nothing specific is wrong. It's that constant sense of dread, the racing thoughts that won't let you rest, and the overwhelming urge to escape your own mind. But you don’t have to face it alone.  At Laura Gatien & Associates, we're here to help you navigate through the darkness and find your way back to the light.  Therapy isn’t just about talking; it’s about healing, growing, and finding strength within yourself. It’s about breaking free from the chains of fear and embracing a life filled with hope and resilience.  Together, we can help you reclaim your peace and build a future where you feel empowered and in control. Remember, seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. You deserve to feel better, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. Call or text 506-651-1239 or book online at

Part 1 - Looking in, through looking out and seeing the invisible loyalties in our family systems. The privilege we share in group therapy- Shifting deep-rooted beliefs to healthy beliefs. One of our most valuable groups offered at Oasis is our family constellation. groups. Guiding our clients gently and courageously to position their family when they were most vulnerable as a child. Moving the whole group into self reflection and self compassion as they observe a young child, their friend and peers pain and unmet needs - a mother absent and father turned away, a angry and criticising father, standing tall and loud in a chair. Using the space with each client having the chance to share their own experiences thoughts pain as they see for the first time their own young child. Where they see the way their friend has tried so many ways to meet that need, the pain they have gone through, and they remember their own. The room falls silent as each client connects with their own loneliness, abandonment, absence, their yearning for the love, safety, autonomy they deserved but never had and sharing their stories together. Never forgetting to use breath work to allow the group to learn they can feel so deeply, and allow the feeling to pass.