Viewing entries tagged
values

Mindfulness and Eco-anxiety workshops now booking

Mindfulness and Eco-anxiety workshops now booking

by Bill Sheate

Online workshops now bookable through Eventbrite Collections

Two of my popular and topical workshops are now available for booking (Summer/Autumn 2024) - spaces are limited, so booking well ahead is advised:

Eco-anxiety / eco-distress - an introductory workshop - 8 July 2024

Practical Mindfulness for Everyday Living - 16 September 2024

[Read more]

Eco-anxiety: what's in a name?

Eco-anxiety: what's in a name?

by Bill Sheate

Blog 1/2

In this first of two blogs, I’m looking at the words we use to describe emotional responses to environmental and climate change, and why it might matter what we call it. In the follow-up blog I’ll look at my own approach to treating eco-anxiety.

Eco-anxiety or Eco-distress?

There is now ample evidence for the prevalence of eco-anxiety (often among young people in particular), with vigorous debate among academics as to our understanding of the relationship between observed emotional, behavioural and cognitive responses to the impacts of climate and environmental change more generally.  Discussion ensues over terminology, categorisation and taxonomy of the psychology associated with climate change and what seems often to be a significant focus on ‘grief’……. [Read more] 

Maybe I need to change my job......

Maybe I need to change my job......

by Bill Sheate

Career change - stressful or exciting?

There can be many reasons to make a career change or change your job. Stress and work/life balance may be a strong motivating force. Sometimes, however much you try to manage the stress and anxiety, changing the principle stressor in your life - your job - may be the only real option. That can seem even more scary than the stresses your current job is putting you under. But it need not be. Maybe the stress is exactly the impetus you needed to step back and look anew at what’s really important to you and where your job fits into your wider personal values…….[Read more]

Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD

by Bill Sheate

Why a PhD is different….

As a therapist specialising in stress and anxiety in higher education I get to work with lots of PhD and other postgraduate research students who at times find life tough to navigate. I also run a range of resilience skills training workshops to help build greater self-efficacy among such students.

Doing a PhD is a bit of a weird lifestyle; you get to research something you're interested in for typically 3 to 4 years, writing it up as a thesis to then be awarded the title 'Doctor'. During that time you usually have a degree of freedom to manage your own time and develop personal ownership of your research project, even if it is part of a bigger research programme. But there are several things that can predispose a PhD student to experience difficulties along the way, or find it difficult to respond to these difficulties with sufficient psychological flexibility. Here are just some of those most important key factors…… [Read more]

Coronavirus 6: Keeping a sense of perspective.....

Coronavirus 6: Keeping a sense of perspective.....

by Bill Sheate

……While all around you are not!

I’m reluctant to suggest this might be my last Coronavirus blog on the subject – it is likely to be for 2020 at least! I never anticipated a series when I posted the first one back in March this year [1]. But Covid-19 continues to dominate the headlines – with the recent end of a second lockdown, new tiered levels of restrictions, the start of the first vaccinations, Christmas holidays and maybe a third lockdown after that (seems quite likely!)? How are you supposed to navigate the deluge of information, different restrictions and competing claims? How is this continuing to impact on your own mental health and well-being - as a student or as a member of staff? …..[Read more]

A sense of 'Self' - your own identity

A sense of 'Self' - your own identity

by Bill Sheate

Who am I?

For many at university it's a first real opportunity to explore your own sense of self or identity - who you are as an individual. And away from assumptions and expectations of you by longtime friends and family, or even of yourself in that previous context.

So what is important to you? What are your personal values, approach to work/life balance, hopes and dreams, sexuality; what motivates you - what are you passionate about?……[Read more]

Self-awareness or awareness of 'self'?

Self-awareness or awareness of 'self'?

by Bill Sheate

What do we mean by self-awareness?

Increasingly educational psychology recognises the importance of students developing self-awareness competency - the ability to reflect on one’s own role in society, to be able to evaluate one’s actions and to deal with one’s emotions and desires.

Typically, this involves five key aspects: ……..