Building Blocks for Wellbeing

The Building Blocks for Wellbeing was an initiative created during the 2020 pandemic and has grown ever since, aiming to support the health and wellbeing of the workers.

Join us for our new 6-part series where we explore a range of topics with influential individuals who are flourishing in their fields with topics covering:

• Trauma informed practice.
• Impact of effective communications
• mindfulness in youth work.
• Mindful approach to technology.
• Compassion and gratitude

In addition to the importance of having a specific focus on men’s mental health.

The aim of the videos is to evoke in you, conversations and ideas that will support you, not only in your professional life but also in your personal life with family and friends.

The videos are approximately 15 minutes long and can be watched anywhere at a time that is convenient and comfortable for you.

 

For more information, please watch this introductory video by our National Youth Health Programme Manager, Rachael Treanor.

Dermot O’Brien is a youth worker and also a fully trained facilitator in the area of Trauma Informed Practice with Trauma Informed Practice Ireland (TIP).  

Within this conversation Dermot will provide you with: 

• An understanding of what trauma is. 
• how trauma can have an impact on the young people you work with.  

Dermot also invites you to explore and think about your own traumas and asks whether you have taken the time to consider if these traumas are impacting how you work with young people and your colleagues.  

If you are interested in finding out more information on trauma informed practice, please get in contact with The National Youth Health Programme by emailing info@nyci.ie. The team will be able to signpost you and your organisation to trainings and supports.

Joanne Sexton is a psychotherapist working in the Community within Dublin City, working with adults experiencing complex needs.

In this conversation, Joanne will explore trauma in the workplace and how you can:

• Identify trauma within yourself.
• Watch out for some common symptoms.
• Advice on what to do if you spot some symptoms.

Joanne also gives some advice on how your team and organisation can facilitate an environment which is mindful of individuals and their traumas.

If you are interested in facilitating an environment in which allows individuals and your organisation to reflect on their practices, you might be interested in the National Youth Health Programmes workshop ‘How is the YOU in Youth Work’. For more information, please contact info@nyci.ie

This really is a fascinating conversation with Niamh Bruce and a real clear, concise and easy to follow insight into what mindfulness is.  

 

Niamh Bruce was the managing director of The Sanctuary and now is a sought-after mindfulness and wellbeing practitioner and consultant working in the field of mindfulness for over 20 years.  

In this conversation, Niamh will explore with us:  

• What mindfulness means.  
• The benefits of practising mindfulness.  
• Tips on how we can bring mindfulness into our lives.  

Niamh also speaks about ‘the torchlight of attention’ and how sometimes we can direct or someone call pull our torchlight away from what we need to be focused on. However, with mindfulness we can train our attention to be in the present by tuning into our breath and our senses.  

If you are interested in mindfulness, the National Youth Health Programme have a 5 days mindfulness training programme in partnership with The Sanctuary called Moment to Moment (M2M). The M2M training is a specially designed training course for youth workers and those who work with young people in the non-formal education setting to explore mindfulness and learn meditative techniques. The training aims to equip youth workers to meditate themselves and to familiarise themselves with techniques for using mindfulness with the young people they work with.  

Please email info@nyci.ie for more information.  

We continue our conversation this week with Niamh Bruce who speaks about the importance of taking a mindful approach to technology.  

 

With a master’s degree in cyber psychology, Niamh has a wonderful insight into technology and explores with us in this interview:  

 

• Is technology good or bad?  
• The importance of Choice and Control.   
• Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) 
• What little things we can do to bring back choice and control into our lives.  

Niamh also highlights the importance of mindfulness in relation to our communication with others. Meaning, the importance of taking a pause before responding or taking a pause after an interaction of conversation with another individual.  

If you are interested in more information in relation to mindfulness and technology, please email info@nyci.ie where we can provide you with details on the Moment to Moment (M2M) training in partnership with The Sanctuary, Dublin.   

Jane Negrych is a compassion-based mindfulness trainer and practitioner working in the field for over 20 years.  

In this conversation, Jane will explore:  

• The difference between gratitude and gratefulness.  
• How do we shift our perspective to be more grateful.  
• Tips on how we can begin to practice gratitude.  

Jane also explores with us the automatic negativity bias we all have as humans and the importance in us trying to shift this negativity to notice those things that are going well for us in the day, rather than focuses on things that are not going well.  

If you are interested in taking a moment in your day to practice gratefulness, why not sign up to the National Youth Health Programmes original email series ‘The Building Block for Wellbeing’ where over 6 weeks, a short mindfulness practice will be sent to your inbox to help you find moments of gratefulness in your day.  

Noel Richardson is the Director of the National Centre for Men’s Mental Health, based in Carlow.  

In this conversation, Noel invites us to talk about Men’s Mental health by highlighting:  

• The statistic’s in relation to mental health difficulties among boys and men. 
• The differences in behaviours of how boys and young men deal with mental health difficulties in comparison to females.  
• Importance of facilitating an environment in which boys and young men feel safe. 

Noel also highlights the importance of simply engaging and keeping young men involved in a service or activity and gradually overtime, as they feel comfortable building on the emotional literacy and mental health promotion work.  

If you are interested in finding out more information on how best to engage young men in your service, please get in contact with The National Youth Health Programme by emailing info@nyci.ie. The team will be able to signpost you and your organisation to trainings and supports.