Mental Health and Well-being Self-care Toolkit.
Ways you can help your own mental health and well-being.
There is no single magic pill, herbal drink, exercise routine, or talking therapy to guard against, prevent or cure mental health and well-being issues.
Getting help with your mental health is a big step.
If you are here because you want help well done, seriously.
You are doing the right thing and are in the right place. Keep going.
Preventing crisis or helping yourself cope with mental health and wellbeing situations can be a step in the right direction.
I have recently had the honour of working with the founder of Withtso, ‘Withstanding the Storm’, Dr Ute Liersch .
Withstanding the storm
Withstanding your storm
Dr Liersch, a chartered psychologist, founded Withsto to support people’s mental well-being and mental health.
Have you got a mental well-being toolkit?
Most of us have a toolkit lying around somewhere.
Lots of us have several tool kits, they might be full of paint brushes or screwdrivers, or sticking plasters and anti-septic cream or needle and thread.
We have these toolkits because we anticipate problems and want to be ready to tackle them.
How many of us have the tools to support our mental health?
So, what’s in your toolkit? How are you guarding you mental health and well-being?
‘Life often gives us lemons.
None of us are immune to the bashes and sour spots life deals to us. Some of us have enduring sour spots. We’re always looking for a bit of honey to temper the bitterness, or at least get a taste of the lyrical bowl of cherries.’
I’m an A
but often feel like a C!
We all take life’s lemons in different ways at different times.
I am unashamedly taking this quote from a recent blog I wrote for Dr Liersch.
A mental health toolkit can help you taste more cherries than lemons.
There are lots of things we can hold in our toolkits. what they are and how we use them varies from person to person.
What is a mental health tool kit?
A mental health toolkit is what you carry inside you, to help you deal with the bashes that life can throw at you. It is strategies and processes. It can help you avoid reaching crisis point. It can help you ‘withstand the storm’.
‘’ Your journey starts here. Overcome personal obstacles, banish unhelpful thoughts and develop a more rounded mindset to withstand the challenges that life throws at you.
Discover our full range of supported self-care courses, direct consultations and blended learning to build your resilient mind.
The WITHSTO team comprises a range of expert psychologists here to help you ‘’
Withsto— WITHSTANDING THE STORM, is a toolkit to help you do just that, Withstand the storms…of life.
Dr Ute Liersch featured in a recent Science Saturday talk, Mind the Mind, hosted by Birkbeck, University of London. Her explanation of what resilience is was enthralling. You can’t help but warm to her humanity, knowledge and experience.
‘You can’t help but warm to her humanity, knowledge and experience.’
I’m writing about this now because I am sad and frustrated with seeing people suffering with their mental health and not knowing where to turn for help.
People are often looking for solutions too late, when they have already reached crisis point.
This can make the journey to mental wellness long and hard.
Many of you, sadly, will already know how difficult it is to get help when you are in mental health crisis.
When you are in crisis you are not in the best position to find the right help.
It is almost impossible to be seen by an NHS mental health practitioner, the system is over-stretched.
So, when things get tough the first thing most people do is Google.
The internet is filled with people offering their services as therapists.
Did you know that there is nothing to stop just about anyone setting up a practice as a mental well-being therapist?
The person that is offering to ‘cure’ you may never have taken any sort of psychology education or training.Nothing…zero…no training.
They could easily have paid for a £$99 course and certificate that was delivered by someone who also has no training or qualifications.
Now they are ‘practicing’ and changing $$$£££
Mental healthcare is in crisis.
How do I know who is qualified to help me with mental well-being and mental health?
Don’t take my word for it!
I have studied psychology for my BSc Hons, but I’m not qualified to tell you who has the experience and qualifications to help you.
These people are qualified—the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
Have a read and see the high standards they have to meet to be on there.
If you still haven’t visited Withso, take a look,
Here are some of what the qualified psychologists can offer you; online, 1:1, blended learning…
Like every toolkit, with this one for mental well-being you can pick and choose the items you need;
Building resilience: Why do you need to be resilient? https://withsto.com/categories/resilience-skills
Because, like a car in a demolition derby, eventually, if you keep taking the bashes, you’ll break.
What has conflict resolution got to do with well-being?
conflict resolution strategies https://withsto.com/categories/conflict-resolution
Because dealing with difficult situations is depleting. Having strategies to help you manage conflicts in your best way can stop the depleting effects on your mental health and well-being.
What else can Withsto help with?
Anxiety https://withsto.com/categories/anxiety
Low mood https://withsto.com/categories/low-mood
Sleep and Relaxation https://withsto.com/categories/sleep-relaxation
Stress management https://withsto.com/categories/stress-management
Mental health is still a difficult subject for people to be open about.
Sometimes acknowledging that there is a problem is the first step to feeling well again.
Sometimes it’s the hardest thing to do because we feel defeated by our illness.
Mental health, despite media coverage to the contrary, is still a taboo subject for many.
Accepting the emotions and feelings as normal is step 1.
Finding ways to handle them is another step.
Withso is a worthwhile, valuable asset in your toolkit.
Take care of yourself.
If you are in crisis please ask for help.
116 123
If you feel that you need help immediately, or fear that you may harm yourself or someone you love please get in touch with Samaritans 24 hours https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan or phone 116 123 There is always someone to listen to you.