School Psychologist (Lauren Dragon)
Staff Wellbeing
Hope you all had a good start to Term 1 of 2023!
As mentioned at the staff development day, whilst the term is yet to kick into full swing and we have just returned from a hopefully energising break, now is the time to establish and maintain healthy wellbeing habits for the year.
Please see the brief summary below from an article from the Mental Health First Aid network for some tips on how to prepare for a mentally healthy year ahead.
Also, a reminder for those of you who were interested in joining the Staff Wellbeing Committee at BSHS for 2023 to please get in contact with me by end of Week 3 this term (17 February 2023).
Hope the term ahead is a positive and productive one.
How to Prepare for a Mentally Healthy Year
A new year can bring with it a sense of optimism and enthusiasm about twelve fresh months and the opportunities that may bring. A time of great promise and motivation, a new year can also bring both internal and external pressure. Our desire to get things right, to set resolutions and accomplish personal goals or break a habit may become a source of comparison or shift the focus from progress that we’ve made. There is a certain appeal in setting new year’s resolutions; a clean slate and a fresh start, but what may feel comforting in theory can become prescriptive and restrictive over time.
It’s OK to make change in an affirming and self-compassionate way.
Here are some ways you can balance a willingness to change habits and make progress in a new year.
- Choose the framework that inspires: recognise that change doesn’t happen overnight and providing yourself a positive replacement for the habit, creates a far less restrictive and potentially punishing self-narrative. It gives you the ability to ground yourself in the change and notice not only the absence or melancholy, but the hope for the future, too.
- Choose to put mental health first: Take up the sport you’ve always wanted to try, ensure your needs are met in relationships, be kinder to yourself by setting fewer and perhaps more realistic goals
- Put intrinsic goals at the centre: We often forget to look at the foundations of our core mental health and our being for guidance. Intrinsic goals inspire us to connect and pursue a life that nourishes and nurtures us through good times and bad. They naturally lend themselves to self-care and compassion. All while teaching us to grow in ourselves, our relationships, career and community.
To read the full article visit this link: