FirstSigns

About FirstSigns meet-ups

2009-06-19T15:22:00.004+01:00

First of all, thank you to everyone who has contacted us to confirm they'll be coming to our summer meet-up in Leeds on 11 July. If you haven't already downloaded your invitation, please do so as it contains all the information you need.

Our meet-ups are an important feature of FirstSigns, our members and our community; so for those of you who haven't been to one before, we thought we'd share with you the ways in which you might benefit by joining us in Leeds.

First of all, our meet-ups are fun! We're not there to talk about self-injury – self-injury is only a small part of who we are as people, and our meet-ups are about the rest of us. So it's great finding other things we have in common and chatting about the fun stuff in our lives – the healthy, happy stuff that really makes us who we are.

Also, our meet-ups are a great way to meet with the people you've got to know online, including Wedge and myself, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. But even if you don't really know anyone yet, then they're a perfect opportunity to meet new people and possibly even make new friends – and unlike internet friendships, you get to meet the real people straight away, and in a safe environment.

Of course, attending a meet-up is not easy. I've been to several and I guarantee I'll still be nervous on 11 July, so I know how daunting it can feel – especially if it's your first time. It takes courage to travel, courage to get yourself to a venue and meet a group of people, none of whom you may have met before. But your bravery will be worth it once you settle down with a drink and relax into the experience. And you don't need to come alone – everyone is welcome to bring a friend, partner or family member with them if they wish.

All our meet-ups are different. They're held in different locations and different people attend; but even after a relatively quiet meet-up, people always rave about how good it was to share time, space and ideas with other FirstSigns members.

So if you can be in Leeds on 11 July, then do download an invitation and pop along to join us. If you're on Facebook you can join our Event and see some of the other people attending.

If you're coming along, or if you have any questions or concerns before deciding, then please do email me Jules@FirstSigns.org.uk and I'll do my best to reassure you. Or if you follow our Twitter, then send us an @ or DM.

We look forward to meeting you.

Wedge and Jules

My first training session (Jules)

2009-06-18T09:38:00.004+01:00

I had planned today on blogging about what it's like to attend a FirstSigns meet-up, but that will have to wait until tomorrow now as I'm too excited about my first training session!

For some time now, Wedge and I have been working on our training package, and he's been tutoring me on how to deliver our training. It's something I've been keen to do for some time, as the real life work we do as an organisation is very important to me, and it's great to be out and about meeting people. I've accompanied Wedge on several occasions to both training sessions and conferences, which made it easier as I've been slowly learning all this time. But it also meant I knew I had a great deal of work to do if I was going to be anywhere near as good as Wedge!

Over the last few weeks Wedge has spent a great deal of his time with me, listening to my developing presentation, and guiding me. I don't mind admitting that I was pretty awful to begin with, but Wedge's patience and confidence in me never ceased, and eventually I was ready to face the world; well, Hampshire!

Last night I delivered my first training session to around 40 members of Hampshire Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Being an evening session, I had the whole day to worry about it, and by the time I set off for Southampton I was terrified. But Wedge, despite being out of the country, was on the end of the phone for me, and as I pulled into Southampton station I was beginning to calm down, and part of me was even looking forward to it. I mean, this is what it's all about – raising awareness about self-injury and sharing FirstSigns' seven years experience.

The venue was lovely, and as the audience began taking their seats many of them smiled warmly at me. That really helped me to relax, and as I started to speak the passion I feel for the subject and for FirstSigns overtook all my fears. When it was time for a break, everyone clapped as I made a hasty exit to find a smoking area!

I finished my presentation a little early, but I just laughed and said I hoped there were going to be lots of questions to fill the time, and I wasn't disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed answering the questions and interacting with people, and of course I was delighted with all the lovely comments and praise, not only about me, but about FirstSigns, Wedge, our website, and the handouts I'd provided. In the end, the organisers had to bring the evening to a close as we'd run out of time, but still people were coming up to me and congratulating me, handing me their cards, and asking more questions about self-injury and FirstSigns.

I think the biggest compliment of all came from the committee member who'd actually booked us after hearing Wedge speak at a conference last year. He told me that wherever he goes he always mentions that Wedge is the best speaker / presenter he's ever seen, and now he's going to add me as well! I couldn't have done this without Wedge; to be the best, you need to be trained by the best, and I certainly have been :)

I'd like to thank the lovely members of HACP for their warmth and kindness, the organisers for taking such good care of me, and of course Wedge who made it all possible (I know that sounds a bit like an oscar speech, but hey, I feel as though I've just won one!)

Anyway, I'm now looking forward to my next training session in a couple of weeks, and just as soon as my big head has deflated a little I'll get on with the meet-up blog I've promised :)

Media Request: Female aged 20-35

2009-06-16T14:05:00.001+01:00

A top magazine are currently researching a feature on self-injury in women in their 20s and 30s, and are looking for a woman aged 20-35 who either began self-injuring in that age group, or started younger and returned to self-injury when faced with the stresses of adult life. They are keen to bring the issue of self-injury in adults to their readers' attention , especially those who may be suffering the pressure of the recession.

If you can help, they would interview the volunteer on the phone, and ask them how it started, what form the self-harm took, how it made them feel and how it affected their jobs, social lives, etc. The journalist in question has personal experience of self-injury, so I will treat the issue with the sensitivity required. The deadline is the end of this week, so if you fit the criteria and would like to volunteer, please email Jules@FirstSigns.org.uk as soon as possible.

Many thanks.

Invitation to our Summer Meet-up in Leeds (UK)

2009-06-07T16:40:00.004+01:00

After holding our Meet-ups in London and Birmingham last year, we have decided to travel further north this year in order to keep things fair for our members. Accordingly we will this year be holding our summer meet-up in Leeds on Saturday 11 July 2009 and hope to meet as many of you as possible for a drink and a light-hearted chat.

Our meet-ups have always been popular, giving people the opportunity to meet friends they have made on our message board and also to meet the people who keep our organisation going. Both Jules and I will be there, and hopefully one or two of our moderators as well.

Please download your 'invitation' now – it gives you full details and will help you find us on the day :)

You don’t have to be a member of our message board in order to attend – everyone who is a ‘member’ of FirstSigns in any way, either on the message board, our mailing list, our Facebook Group, Facebook Page, Bebo or MySpace groups, or indeed our Twitter followers, are all welcome to attend*.

If you’d like to attend, please email Jules@FirstSigns.org.uk now to let us know you’ll be there.

We look forward to seeing you and buying you a drink!

Wedge and Jules

FirstSigns is Seven today!

2009-05-25T14:06:00.003+01:00

FirstSigns (aka LifeSIGNS) is 7 years old today!

In 2002, Wedge founded our organisation after discovering that there was no helpful, relevant, UK based information online for people affected by self-injury. Over the last seven years we have been raising awareness about self-injury, and supporting people affected by self-injury in any way, both in the UK and beyond.

Several directors and volunteers have come and gone over the years, and Wedge has worked with some fantastic people who have helped our organisation develop and grow; but it's Wedge himself who has remained the one continuum throughout, and his determination, passion and dedication have ensured we have succeeded where many other would-be organisations have failed.

Back in 2002 we were probably the only UK based, user-led voluntary organisation focusing on self-injury – it was certainly the only UK organisation I could find. Today there are many that have tried to mirror our success, but I'm confident that we remain the best and the most inclusive.

FirstSigns is 'real'. Wedge and I really care about our organisation, and we care about our members. We don't have any hidden agendas or motives – we simply want to do what we do best – and that is providing free, helpful, relevant information to everyone and anyone needs it. And if that means travelling the length of the country to meet with an organisation who wants our help, then that's what we do.

As you already know, Wedge is currently on a well deserved break from the day-to-day running of FirstSigns (although he of course remains our Chair and leader), and I've taken on more responsibility until he returns, but he's never far from my mind and or the minds of the people and organisations I work with. FirstSigns isn't just an online organisation – we love getting out into the real world and interacting with people – and the opportunities I have had to do so over the last few months have been largely as a result of Wedge's work over the last seven years. Nobody cared when we changed our name because it's always 'Wedge' who people remember, and who people ask me about time and time again when I'm out and about representing FirstSigns.

In the last couple of months we've worked closely with schools in North Wales as they develop their Schools Self-injury Policy, and we've also worked closely with the BBC on an exciting project that will be revealed here over the coming weeks. Our ethos and our vision for the future remain consistent with our Mission Statement, and it's exciting to think where we could be in yet another year's time, and in five and ten years. FirstSigns isn't an organisation that will ever give up, either on ourselves or our members, and even through adversity we fight on, becoming stronger and stronger with each year that passes.

I currently miss working so closely with Wedge on a daily basis – it's not easy running our organisation alone - but Wedge has continued to be a great source of support to me and I'm proud to be running his organisation and hopefully maintaining his high standards until he fully returns. We have great plans for the future, and we will be looking for new members of our Management Committee over the coming months to help us implement some of our ideas and maybe even offer some new ones.

I know Wedge will join me in thanking everyone who supports us in any way – our volunteers, the people and organisations who use and circulate our information, and all the members of our thriving community. As I said before, it’s not easy managing a whole organisation, and it’s not even always pleasant, but it’s certainly worthwhile. We are passionate about raising awareness about self-injury, and with your help, we really do make a difference. Thank you.

Happy Birthday FirstSigns, and congratulations to Wedge on another year of fantastic work. To celebrate our Birthday, we are giving away Awareness Wristbands to anyone who leaves us a birthday comment!Please email Jules@FirstSigns.org.uk with your address after leaving your comment.

Thank you, and I look forward to the next year :)

Jules

Avril's first individual DBT session

2009-05-20T09:19:00.003+01:00

I had my first Individual session today, new therapist, who had apparently read my file, not sure she had as for some reason she thought I had chronic back pain, but still, she was very upfront, very forthright, very nice and very pushy.

Somehow I found myself promising to call her every day to try and deal with my phone phobia so that I can participate in "phone coaching' part of the program - if you can't implement one of the new skills they give you on your own, or you have a handy crisis during business hours, you can call the DBT team. MAJOR freak out for me as phone is very scary...but on we go.

Part of DBT is filling in a diary card with behaviours you have done, such as SI, Suicidal thoughts, ODing on meds and how you feel, every day - she said that some people find this confronting - I think I might find it easy - that way she'll know how I've felt without me having to talk for half the session every week about all my crisis and how I tried to stop myself SI-ing and why it didn't work - it all goes on the sheet. Stopping SI is their major, major goal...apparently they will give me other skills to try and that is the first thing that individual therapy deals with, that and OD-ing and suicidal thoughts - anything that will harm you basically - so tha'ts good.

The therapist (can I call her Linda for ease?) also told me that she sees SI as a coping mechanism, and even though I'm SIing so often I'm not bad, or doing anything wrong, I just don't have any other coping skills yet, and if I have them and still SI sometimes that's ok too - So it really seems like they understand it.

But on Thursday I have my first group - I'm going into an already established group (there are 3-4 of us who will be new) which seems a little daunting, and starting with Mindfullness, which apparently will really help me with disassociation and flash backs, so fingers crossed. Its a twelve month commitment too which Linda said scares most people (not me, I actually feel like its doing something properly - although ask me again in 6 months :) I do get 'holidays' of 3 weeks between each unit though). Linda also said that DBT isn't a cure, just skills to make things easier - not sure how I feel about that yet as I was kind of clinging to it as a lifeline - the message board may see me break down quite dramatically later on tonight....

[Avril aka hopefulav]

Thank you Avril.

Avril's DBT blog - introduction

2009-05-13T08:59:00.003+01:00

Over the coming weeks and months, one of Australian our members will be blogging for us about her journey through DBT. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is a relatively modern therapy, and is proving to be beneficial to many people who self-injure, especially those with additional complicated mental health problems such as Borderline Personality Disorder.

Avril (known as hopefulav on our Message Board) has just begun this much sought after therapy, and it's great that she's agreed to share her journey with us. I'll pass you over to Avril now as she tells you a little about herself and describes her very first impressions of DBT:

Me - well I'm 31, I'm an actor, mum, writer, and I'm studying Counselling. I have been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, ED-NOS and Generalized Anxiety disorder - I've been suffering from this for as long as I can remember - as far back as age 8 I remember trying to self-injure with gravel in the playground. So I can never remember a time of being well. Thus DBT is my desperate attempt to get a life - a real life not this horrid self loathing one. 31 years of mental illness is just too much. I also have a Psychiatrist and Outreach Worker for extra support.

First, introductory session:

So, it was only orientation, but it was scary, as all new things are to me, but this feels like my last hope, my life boat and without trying this then I might as well give up.

There were only 5 of us in what was meant to be a much larger group - run by someone much younger than me - which is always scary - when the therapists start getting younger and more accomplished than you!!

The first half of the session was outlining the therapy and what it would involve. Essentially its general goal is to "Learn and Refine skills in changing behavioural patterns associated with problems in living, that is causing misery and distress":

replacing interpersonal chaos with interpersonal effectiveness skills
replacing labile emotions and moods with emotion regulation skills
replacing impulsiveness with distress tolerance skills
and confusion about self with mindfulness. (I really don't understand half of these terms yet)

We then had a session on what Borderline Personality Disorder is - this diagnosis seems to be much more accepted in Australia than elsewhere, such as the UK. I suppose it's because we are so hard to treat - the self-injury aspect and the inability to control such strong emotions must make many therapists feel kind of helpless.

But DBT is meant to help - although as yet we don't talk about SI in group, but in individual sessions. Also, there's no crisis plan, as per usual that is up to 'you and your psych' - so essentially Lifeline or CAT team (public crisis team for mental illness).

One thing that really struck me was the explanation of how BPD develops - the biological aspects - having mood instability in the family, having high emotional levels naturally, then the environmental aspects - trauma in childhood and instability in upbringing plus emotions being invalidated. And oh look I got all of it. all of it. And that hurts and sucks and makes things better and worse....

Hopefully the actual therapy sessions will work for me. I'm hoping that this therapy will give me ways to learn how to deal with what happens in my head (the over the top emotions, black and white thinking etc) before it gets to the point where I SI to make it all stop for a while. This is a huge commitment - 12 months of therapy, plus an extra year if I need it - but if its what will help me then it is worth it.

And after all - the first goal of the program, in particular the individual sessions is to stop behaviours that hurt you - such as SI and Eating problems... as to how they will do this, I'm not sure ( I swear if they offer me ice or a red texta pen I will scream) . But I know that it has worked for others, slowed down and stopped their SI of choice, so I'm just clinging to that small light of hope and holding on.

First session (Individual and group) next week and I'm terrified.....

(A big thank you to Avril for kindly agreeing to share her journey with us. We look forward to posting further guest blogs from Avril as her DBT sessions continue).

FirstSigns Fact Sheets in Flintshire schools

2009-04-24T16:02:00.003+01:00

Last Monday I travelled to Flintshire in North Wales to meet with Gunars Grinvalds from CAMHS Early Intervention Service. Gunars first contacted FirstSigns after trawling the internet for information on self-harm, as he was putting together a presentation on the subject for the teachers of all secondary schools in Flintshire. He happily told me that after days of searching, FirstSigns was the only website he found that contained all the information he needed, presented in a suitable manner.

Gunars was particularly impressed by our Fact Sheets and our 'Creating a school self-injury policy' document. He asked us for permission to have the Fact Sheet for Teachers printed professionally and handed out at all his presentations. We were, of course, only too happy to agree, and I was subsequently invited to attend one of the presentations to see first-hand how our work has been utilised.

Gunars met me from the train, and with a little time to spare we enjoyed a relaxing coffee by the canal in Chester, before heading off to St David's High School in Flintshire. Here I met Ann Jones from Behaviour Support Services who co-presented with Gunars. The presentation was attended by approximately 40 teachers and was of an excellent standard; I realised straight away why FirstSigns had proved so popular with Gunars, as the information he presented was very much in line with our own ethos.

Afterwards there was time for the three of us to have a chat about the presentation and for Gunars and Ann to ask me questions. They have requested permission for the Fact Sheet to be translated into Welsh, and have agreed to let FirstSigns have a copy of the translation for our own website. They have also requested the use of all our other Fact Sheets for handout to students and their families, and they too will eventually be translated into Welsh.

The next stage for Gunars and his team is to set about implementing their School Self-Harm Policy, and for this they will be using our guidance document. The next round of presentations will be to the specific staff from each school who will be responsible for dealing with self-harm.

It was fantastic to meet Gunars and Ann, and to see how beneficial the hard work of FirstSigns has been to them. It's always great to see schools taking an interest and responsibility for self-harm among their students, but to see efforts on such a great scale was truly amazing.

I would like to thank Gunars for taking such good care of me during my visit and I wish him and Ann well as they continue their project. We'll certainly be keeping in touch, and I look forward to seeing how things develop over the coming months.

Spring clean your life

2009-04-09T09:44:00.003+01:00

Already we’re a few weeks into Spring, and the long Easter weekend is upon us. It’s the busiest weekend of the year for DIY and Garden centres, as people find the time and energy to start working on their homes and gardens; some making little improvements, others planning more challenging projects.

You can guarantee that your neighbourhoods will soon be awash with the sounds of lawn mowers and people generally busying themselves around their homes, windows open for all to hear.

But spring cleaning your living environment isn’t only good for your home and garden, it can have a positive effect on your emotional wellbeing too. It’s difficult to free your mind from chaos when you are surrounded by chaos in your house, garden or bedroom.

Tidying, cleaning and moving things around is a daunting task, but once you get going and start noticing the improvements, it will be easier to keep going. Make a list of all those little jobs you’ve been meaning to get around to, and tick them off one by one. It can help to play some upbeat music as you work and promise yourself a reward once you’ve finished.

Sort out your clothes! So many people have mountains of clothes they never wear, preferring to stick to the same few items and leaving the rest to grow old and tired in the back of a cupboard. If you haven’t worn something in the last year, chances are you won’t wear it again, so take it to a charity shop, sell it on an auction site, or if you are feeling creative pile all your old stuff together and see what new creations you can design from them.

It doesn’t all have to be about your living space, but your life in general. It’s so easy to get into a rut and do the same things day after day, but if you are unhappy with your life you have two choices: either change it, or find the positives and accept it.

If you hate your job, either look for a new one (not easy in the current climate) or accept that your work puts food on the table and a roof over your head, and be grateful you have one. It’s a cliché, but it’s true that there’s always someone worse off, and it can serve us well to remember that at times. It’s all too easy to lose sight of what we have when we allow ourselves to focus on the negatives.

If you find yourself sitting around in the evenings, becoming bored eating the same food and watching the same old programmes, try doing something different for a change – there are endless possibilities and you never know what you might discover about yourself or who you might meet.

Changing your life may well seem impossible, but changing how you think is not. Think about what you have instead of what you don’t have. Consider what you can do, rather than what you can’t. Nobody should accept a life that makes them miserable; but sometimes the misery comes from within, tainting everything around it and forming a vicious circle of unhappiness. A change in attitude, although difficult and requiring great inner strength, can help enormously. After all, do we not feel what we think, and become what we feel?

Think about your friends, family, loved ones and how balanced those relationships are. If your relationships are unbalanced, it will more difficult to balance your own mind. Do you find you are always saying yes to people when you wish you could say no? Do people rely on you for support or favours when you could really do with a little more help yourself?

Or maybe you’re the one who relies too heavily on others and expects a little too much from other people at times? Ultimately, the only person who can really help you is yourself. Others can offer support and encouragement, but change has to come from within, and we are all empowered to help and change ourselves.

So, think about what works for you, and what doesn’t, and set about making some positive changes and spring cleaning all areas of your life.

Whatever you’re doing this weekend, take some time for yourself, give a little to others, and have a great Easter.

Your SIAD 2009 events

2009-03-22T13:23:00.003Z

We had a great response to SIAD this year and many of you have contacted us, letting us know what you did and how the information on our website helped you. Some of you wanted your endeavours to remain private, and we respect that and thank you. Others were happy for the events of yourselves and your organisations to be proudly publicised, and I've detailed below the responses I received from three of our dear members:

Kay, from Trinity College Dublin, wrote:

I have been inspired by your SIAD and this year I pulled some people together and had an
afternoon conference/seminar 'new ways of understanding self-injury' to launch Ireland's first ever self-injury awareness day. It went really well, it was powerful, positive and moving, and got an excellent response from the people who attended - made up largely of service providers - and also from the media.

I'm really hoping to build on this, a colleague is already moving on getting a 'self-injury ireland' network together which we hope is going to be the basis of doing some really progressive work and especially in realtion to harm-reduction/harm-minimisation.

I hope you're day went well, and that next year we'll have something bigger over here that includes public forums and really getting the message out there.

Take care and keep up all your work, and thanks again for the inspiration!

From Marjorie, the Counselling and Wellbeing Service Co-ordinator at Wigan and Leigh College:

Just to let you know that at Wigan and Leigh College we have raised awareness of SIAD and self injury in the following ways, over the weeks commencing 23 Feb and 2 March:

Made SIAD posters and factsheets available to College personal tutors for delivery in tutorials across the College. I have had requests from 12 separate tutors and 2 curriculum managers (who will cascade out to other personal tutors) who ran tutorials in this subject over the two weeks identified.

SIAD/FirstSigns website advertised on College-wide Message of the Day board - all students and staff who accessed the networked computers in the College saw this message as they logged onto the system.

Email sent to all staff (750) promoting SIAD and materials and website.

Displays of SIAD posters/factsheets and College Counselling Service within the entrance area 4 buildings of the College.

Intro to Self Harm Training for various members of staff.

Request to raise the issue of a Self Injury procedure for staff at the Safeguarding Learners meeting to be held on 12 March.

Suzanne from Bradford Grammar School wrote:

We have been talking to the Year 8 about self esteem and what might happen if this is slowly chipped away by various parts of your life - home, school, friends etc - what might the result be and they came up with various things as well as self harm - we discussed a range of harm - and looked at a range of other coping strategies and where to go if you needed help. The aim is to look at ways of improving self esteem from a young age to help raise awareness and opportunities for finding support early. We are trying to set up a rolling programme to do sessions with each year group. We also have a poster display up at least once a year.

We are based in school and are able to offer a drop in all day every day and in this way we can address the self harm issues (and many other problems) as and when the young people wish to chat about them.

Thank you so much to Kay, Marjorie and Suzanne for sharing their SIAD stories, not only with us, but with all our members.

Thank you also to everyone who supported SIAD and FirstSigns in any way.

“We're talking about self-harm” – and it's great to see that so many of you are too!

SIAD 2009

2009-02-27T08:59:00.004Z

Self-injury awareness day is an international event occurring annually on 1st March. The last week of February is crucial to the success of SIAD, so thank you to all our members and everybody who is raising awareness.

There's still a couple of days to go, so it's not too late to get involved. They'll be loads of things happening around the world this weekend, and no doubt throughout March too!

Why not take a look at our SIAD page and see what you can do to help. Wedge has created some fantastic posters for us this year, and they're easy to download and print.
We offer:
A generic letter for you to customise – great for sending to MPs, Doctors, Teachers, Magazines,Local Newspapers and Radio Stations;
Posters for you to print on and stick up around your office or school / college / uni;
Factsheets for Family Members, Teachers, Friends, Guys and Health Care Workers – slip one under the doors of your Headteacher and Doctor.

Join our Facebook event – you don't have to go anywhere or do anything – just confirm your virtual attendance as a show of support for SIAD and FirstSigns.

Take part in the SIAD forum on our Message Board and let us know what you've been doing to raise awareness.

And of course, as always, we're selling awareness wristbands and keyrings. They're easy to order and we post them out super fast. Thank you to everyone who has already purchased them; we've had a terrific response and all money directly helps us raise awareness about self-injury. We're a non-profit voluntary organisation, we're 'unfunded' and running on a tiny budget, so your donations and purchases keep us going – thank you so much.

If you do have plans for SIAD, or are organising an event, and would like your efforts to be blogged about over the coming weeks, please email Jules@FirstSigns.org.uk

Thank you to everyone who cares about raising awareness of self-injury and we wish you all a happy and successful SIAD.

Visit our SIAD page
Join our Facebook event
Get Wristbands and Keyrings

A big thank you

2009-02-05T17:13:00.002Z

Firstly, on behalf of myself and Wedge, I'd like to thank everyone who donated money to FirstSigns during January. It's heart-warming to see so many of you caring about our continued work and growth. Donations came in not only from our dear members, but also from friends and acquaintances of Wedge, who chose to show their support for us even though they aren't involved with FirstSigns. Thank you all very much.

Secondly I would like to thank Wedge, who not only orchestrated the fund-raising drive and worked hard to promote it, but has also DOUBLED each and every donation made. Thank you Wedge, your efforts will certainly help me as I run your organisation this year. You've been running FirstSigns (aka LifeSIGNS) for 7 years and I've a lot to live up to – the extra funds will help me ensure we continue to thrive :)

It's a busy time for FirstSigns, especially with SIAD coming up, and the funds you have donated will indeed help us to survive and grow through the months ahead, as we continue to support people in distress and raise awareness about self-injury and self-harm in the UK and beyond.

Thank you,

Jules

Awareness Wristbands and Keyrings now available

2009-01-28T23:07:00.003Z

Judging by the number of queries we've had asking about wristbands and keyrings, I'm sure many of you will be just as excited as I am to hear that they are now in stock, and available to purchase!

As so many of you wanted different combinations of wristbands and keyrings last year, we've made ordering easier this year (thanks to Wedge and his excellent webmaster skills), but if you still can't find what you're after then please email me - anything is possible :)

We're only a month away from SIAD (Self-Injury Awareness Day) on 1st March, so what better time to buy a wristband or keyring (or both). As always, every penny we get goes straight back into helping us continue our work, and spread awareness throughout the year.

We'll be blogging lots more about SIAD over the coming month, so if you're planning an event at your school / college / workplace and you'd like us to mention it, then please do contact me.

Meanwhile, I look forward to the manic posting of wristbands and keyrings, as is usual for this time of year :)

Jules@firstsigns.org.uk

Young person wanted for Teachers TV

2009-01-27T12:09:00.002Z

Kieran, from Real Life Media Productions, is currently working on a programme for the Government funded educational channel, Teachers TV.

The programme is about increasing awareness of adolescent mental health issues among teachers, how to spot the symptoms, how to react and when to refer. The purpose of the case study is to show the important impact and influence of teachers.

Kieran is looking for a young person who has personal experience of self-harm, who has a story to tell about the influence of a teacher / teachers at school. For example a teacher may have been the catalyst for the person to seek help, or a teacher could have reacted in a way that made the problem worse, and the person less likely to ask for help. They will also want to talk about when they started self-harming, why, how it made them feel and if / how they asked for help.

The programme is going to be a briefing for teachers on some the most common mental health issues suffered by children and young people; what the warning signs of a problem may be in how their behaviour manifests itself in school, and the importance of responding in an appropriate way.

The majority of filming would be interview based, but if agreed with the individual they may also film a sequence of them doing something visual (making tea, sitting down to watch tv - just for a few seconds of visuals to break up the interview). This is of course all down to what the contributor is happy with.

The amount of time involved would be a maximum of two hours, although it will probably be less.

The production team are based in Leeds, and will also be travelling to London as part of the programme. But they are still interested to hear from people in other locations as they may be willing to travel.

Although Kieran hasn't stated as such, I would assume that any young person volunteering for this project would need parental/guardian consent.

Please email Jules@FirstSigns.org.uk if you are interested or have any question.

Thank you

New Management Structure and Fund Raising Challenge

2009-01-13T19:16:00.005Z

Hello there; maybe you’ve known about FirstSigns (previously LifeSIGNS) for years now, or maybe you’ve just found our website and Message Board. Either way, I hope you can see how much love and energy have been poured into our work.

Running a website for seven years isn’t free of cost - financially, physically and emotionally - and the amount of work that goes into writing all our articles and producing our factsheets and stuff is extraordinary. Add the time spent travelling up and down the country to meet with health care professionals and train them in SI Awareness and you come to the conclusion that running our voluntary organisation is a full-time job – but we don’t get paid.

Working alongside Jules for the last year has been great; Jules takes the stress out of my life by managing so much of the administrative burden of running a popular organisation. We receive so may emails from organisations around the world, and of course we like to reply to all our members’ queries too.

Time for Change

I’ve travelled so far, met so many people, trained literally thousands of health care professionals and I’ve received tens of thousands of emails over the years. I’ve loved meeting so many passionate and talented members and volunteers, and I truly believe that our organisation has had a huge impact on the country, and has touched people worldwide. Our information is spread around schools, colleges, universities, prisons, health centres, counselling centres, youth groups and churches. Everywhere and anywhere we can help people talk about self-injury in a respectful and responsible manner.

But it’s time for a change. I’ve worked with dozens of volunteer Directors over the

years, and I’ve helped them take responsibility for our organisation and shape our future, but I’ve always had a hand in everything we do. I hope you don’t mind if I admit that it’s been hard work; even when I’m on holiday, I check my mails and take phone calls from the press! It’s time I took a step back and regained some perspective. I need a break from the day-to-day running of FirstSigns!

So I’m taking a step back and Jules becomes the Managing Director of FirstSigns. For a time, I’ll be away from the organisation to allow me to take a rest from what has become a major part of my life. It’s time I had some space to think about other things in my life, like my relationships, hobbies and career. I’ll remain involved withFirstSigns, so don’t assume I’m ‘leaving’ – I’m not, but I am no longer available to everybody. Everything from now on must go through Jules. As I say, I am not leaving - I remain as the Chair of the organisation, and so I’m on hand for major meetings, and Jules and I are in touch often, and besides, we’re friends now and we’re always talking to one another.

I want Jules to have the best experience; I want her to enjoy her time as Managing Director and find some brilliant people to work with. We couldn't run our Message Board without our fantastic, loyal team of Message Board Moderators, who I know will understand my announcement and continue to support Jules; and I hope all our members will support her too. I hope and expect Jules to take FirstSigns wherever she feels is best for our organisation and members, and every decision Jules makes has my full support, so be prepared for some subtle changes throughout the year – Jules gets to make strategic and operational decisions now, not me.

I want to help ensure Jules has the resources necessary to run our organisation; we use loads of online tools to ensure we reach people with our information. Jules will look after our Facebook Group and Page, our Blog, our Bebo page, our MySpace, our Twitter account, and all the management tools we use like our calendar and the various databases we use. Running our social networking sites alone can be very time consuming, so don't be surprised if Jules starts recruiting for help from our dear members shortly!

But I want to do more for Jules and FirstSigns. I need your help in making sure that FirstSigns has enough money to run effectively, so I’m running a fundraising month!

Help Me Raise Funds for FirstSigns

Whatever you donate in January, I’ll double!*

Donate £1 through PayPal and I’ll match it, making £2.

Imagine if 100 members donate a little cash each this month – some of you might donate 50p – and that’s great because I’ll make it into a pound. Some of you will donate £5, and I’ll match that and make it a tenner.

By the end of January, perhaps you guys will have donated £200? I’ll match that, and FirstSigns will receive £400. That should help Jules do everything she wants to do, like getting the Wristbands and Keyrings sorted in time for Self-Injury Awareness Day (SIAD: 1^st March).

So don’t delay, donate to FirstSigns now from our donations page – just follow the PayPal instructions and remember you don’t have to have a PayPal account do donate through PayPal – debit and credit cards work just fine. If you'd prefer to donate by cheque, then please do contact Jules for details.

Jules will keep you all updated via our blog and I can’t wait to find what our grand total is!

So, thank you for your continued support, it’s been a long seven years for some of us, but I know so many of us have made fantastic progress with our struggle with SI – you guys are my inspiration! You know Jules well enough already to trust that FirstSigns will go from strength to strength – we’re always always growing.

Wedge

*Yes, this is on top of my monthly donation to FirstSigns, when I give 1% of my earnings (in ‘real-life’ I’m a writer and editor for a large regional company).

Update on BBC Headroom Campaign

2009-01-09T15:27:00.003Z

Melanie, Video Producer for BBC Cymru has been touch with further details about the videos they are producing for the Headroom campaign.

It would now seem that the video can be filmed by contributors themselves, in their own home and time, using a camera and training provided by the BBC.

Alternatively, Melanie would go along and assist with filming if required.

Please see below a briefing that Melanie has provided:

Video Nation: Self Harm brief

Video Nation has been commissioned to produce short films for the Headroom / Video Nation websites on the theme of Self Harm.

Each film (video diary) should focus on the personal story of self harm that individuals are currently experiencing, or have experienced.

The main aim for the Video Nation films is for the audience to be able to watch and empathise with others’ experiences, to relate to and understand that how they are feeling is experienced by many others, to be inspired and motivated by the contributors’ progress in dealing with their issues.

Contributors:

In each film the subject should be encouraged to tell their personal story and experiences of Self Harm, and discuss their personal ‘triggers’.
The person should talk about how they are coping / have coped and steps they are taking / have taken to manage their problems.
The person should also talk about the support they have received /continue to receive from friends, family, colleagues, work place and educational institutions etc.
If there is a family group affected by a person’s self harm, that might also be appropriate to follow up as a story idea in the mix of films.
We would also like to find a young South-Asian woman to contribute in the mix of films too – to tie in with one of the themes.

About BBC Headroom

A pan-BBC audience support and information campaign on the subject of mental health and well-being.
BBC Headroom launched in May 2008 and acts as an umbrella support resource for the wide variety of mental health and well-being related activities taking place across the BBC. The aim is to provide easy-to-access audience information and tackling stigma surrounding mental health and wellbeing.

The films should:

be a maximum of 2 minutes in length
have a positive outcome (in terms of being on a journey, not just being at their lowest ebb).
cover a variety of areas within the topic of self harm.
talk about practical solutions for a problem; how the subject expresses their feelings and thoughts through creativity, artwork, taking exercise etc.
have a ‘sense of normality’, be something that many people can empathise with.
show a sense of progress in the situation

Once again I would ask that anyone interested in taking part email Jules@firstsigns.org.uk as soon as possible. Thank you.

The BBC needs you!

2009-01-07T13:16:00.003Z

Jav, from the BBC, contacted Wedge yesterday asking for our help in finding people to take part in the BBC Headroom campaign.

As part of the ongoing campaign, Jav will be producing 5 short films focusing on self-harm. Each two minute clip will feature people sharing their experiences of how they have coped, overcome or stablilised self-harm – so they will be positive films.

Having discussed the umbrella term of 'self-harm' with Jav, we have agreed that the films do not need to focus purely on self-injury, so people with personal experience of other forms of self-harm are welcome to volunteer (except for eating disorders because they are covered in another project).

Jav is looking for a diverse range of people, so age, gender, location (UK), personal circumstances and background are irrelevant – anyone can volunteer for this (how refreshing is that?!)

Here you can get an idea of some of the films that have been made so far.

Jav will be travelling to the volunteers' homes, to film them in their everyday lives, over half a day. The finished films will only be used after the contributors have seen the films and confirmed their agreement for them to be aired.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering for this project, or who has any further questions, please email Jules@firstsigns.org.uk

This is a fantastic opportunity to appear in film on a high profile site, so I look forward to hearing from you :)

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T10:47:00.003Z

They say that though the days are long, the years are short, and 2008 has certainly passed in a whirlwind. Wedge and I have worked incredibly hard this year, and it only feels like yesterday we were working 12 hours a day preparing for SIAD. Now it’s time to start thinking about SIAD 2009!

I’ve never been much of a celebrator of new year; after all it’s just another day, and any new day can be a new year and a fresh start. There’s a lot of pressure to make resolutions, most of which have been broken by mid-January, so we would suggest not giving up anything for New Years, but instead pledging to make things a little nicer and easier for yourself every day.

Things you may consider doing:

▪ Make time for yourself every single day. We all have busy lives, but even if you can only grab 15 minutes at the beginning of the day, and 15 minutes at the end – make that half an hour all about you.

▪ Get some fresh air every day; artificial light and heating are no substitute for natural UV rays.

▪ Think about the things you are putting into your body and consider how a change might improve your health and your mood. You don’t have to give anything up, but you can cut down on the not so good things and treat yourself with healthier alternatives.

▪ Take up a new hobby: try a different sport, learn a foreign language, enrol on a self-defence course, try some arts and crafts, rescue a homeless animal, do some voluntary work – the list is endless and there is something for every taste and pocket.

▪ Treat yourself occasionally. Buy a new book or a scented candle and tell yourself you deserve it, because you really do.

▪ Learn to say no without feeling guilty.

▪ Aim to do something that challenges you now and again. Whether it’s a trip out on your own or cooking a meal from scratch – it will increase your confidence and make you feel good about yourself.

▪ Notice the things around you and enjoy them. The world is a wonderful place and there is so much to see and enjoy if you take the time to really look.

▪ Value your loved ones. Take time to consider why you love them and remember to tell them occasionally. Just as importantly, allow yourself to be loved. Even if you aren’t feeling great about yourself, know that you are very important in the lives of others, and valued as person.

▪ Take control of your own actions. Take time to consider the consequences of your actions, and recognise your own power when it comes to making positive changes in your life.

▪ View life’s obstacles as challenges that can be overcome, but allow yourself to ask for help when you need it.

Wedge and I wish you all the very best for a happy, healthy and self-empowered 2009.

FirstSigns and Twitter

2008-12-29T11:21:00.003Z

As well as our Social Networking groups on Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, FirstSigns is also on Twitter.

Those of you already following us will know that all FirstSigns news and information is announced on Twitter first. It's a simple and efficient way for us to interract with our members.

If you don't have a Twitter account, it's easy to set up and you can follow @FirstSigns straight away. Once you're following us you can send replies to our Tweets either publicly, or via a direct message (private) - and with all messages limited to just 140 characters it only takes a few second. Twitter really is a great way to keep in touch, update your 'status' and of course you can 'follow' all your friends who have Twitter accounts too!

It's also easy to feed your twitter updates into your other social networking profiles, so you can update your Facebook profile, for example, direct from Twitter.

FirstSigns is currently being nominated for a Twitter Shorty Award in the nonprofits catagory, so thank you to everyone who has nominated us. Unfortunately nominations are currently taking a while to register on the site (we know we've had more than are showing), so if yours hasn't shown up yet then maybe try again :)

The closing date for nominations is midnight on 31 December, so if you haven't yet nominated @FirstSigns please consider doing so. We're unlikely to get the number of votes larger organisations are pulling in, but every vote we get puts us further up the leader board and so helps to spread awareness about FirstSigns and self-injury.

If anyone needs help in setting up a Twitter account or following @Firstsigns, please either leave a comment here or email Jules@firstsigns.org.uk

Finally, we hope you all had a safe and happy Xmas. We'll be blogging tomorrow about the New Year, with ideas on how to make it a happy and empowering 2009. Of course, a link to the post will be Twittered as soon as it's published!

Surviving the holidays

2008-12-23T13:35:00.002Z

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, or none of the above, the holiday season affects everyone. It can be a time of joy – maybe a break from work, an opportunity to see loved ones and a time to let go and have fun. But for many people, the stresses and pressures involved with the holiday season can become overwhelming.

Everyone’s circumstances will be different, and we each face our own individual challenges, but the holidays don’t have to be a nightmare. With some careful consideration and a possible change to the way you do things / react to things you can ensure that you not only survive, but you may even end up enjoying yourself!

Top Tips for Survival

• Remember that most people become stressed at this time of year, however much they enjoy the holidays. By taking an active interest in what the people around you are doing, and maybe offering to help where necessary, you will have a focus and it will make you feel needed. Offer your parent / partner some help with cooking the dinner, laying the table, washing up etc – it will keep you distracted and ease someone else’s strain at the same time.

• If you’re the one who needs the help, then ask for it! It’s often the case that all preparations for the holidays are left to one member of a household. This can be distressing and overwhelming; so ask your partner and / or children for some help when you need it.

• If someone is annoying you, take a deep breath and walk away. People say and do a lot of things during the holidays, and under the influence of alcohol, that they wouldn’t normally. It is better to walk away and calm yourself than engage in an argument that could leave everyone miserable for days.

• Take time for yourself whenever possible.

• If you have guests staying, get them involved with some simple chores. Most people like to help out if they’re staying with someone and it will give you a little extra time for yourself.

• Don’t be afraid to say no. If you don’t have the physical or emotional energy to attend the Boxing Day party your Uncle always hosts, then make an excuse and don’t go this year. Sometimes we have to put ourselves first.

• By all means enjoy a drink, but don’t use alcohol to get you through. It may seem to help at first, but drinking too much will make things worse and drag you down further. Balance the alcohol you consume with lots of water or other non-alcoholic drinks.

• Eat a reasonably healthy diet. Do enjoy yourself, but by making a few healthy choices you can boost your energy levels without making yourself feel ill.

• Get out of the house and go a walk. Exercise can boost your mood and some time in the fresh air will clear your head.

• Keep a positive attitude. If you have already decided you hate Christmas and are going to be thoroughly miserable, the chances are you probably will be. Our thoughts are very powerful, and can severely influence the way we feel – keep your thoughts positive and it will help you feel more positive.

• Tell yourself that however bad it gets, it only lasts a couple of days, so focus on the good stuff and appreciate the small things. Before we know it we’ll be half-way through January, working hard and wishing we could spend a day or two eating chocolate on the couch while watching Indiana Jones for the tenth time!

• Consider not giving up anything for New Year; instead, consider pledging to make things a little nicer and easier for yourself, and your loved ones, every day. We’ll be blogging some ideas for small changes you could consider making in 2009, over the next couple of weeks.

Wedge and I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

Free Prize Draw

2008-12-08T11:08:00.001Z

Wedge has a copy of Jan Sutton's 'Healing the Hurt Within - 2^nd Edition' that he's wanting to give to one of our members.

We've decided the fairest way to choose who gets the book is by holding a draw. So, if anyone would like a chance of winning, please email Jules@firstsigns.org.uk . There's no need to put anything in the email, just ensure the title is 'Book Draw'.**

We're running this for two weeks, and on Monday 22^nd December an email address will be picked randomly from our virtual hat! Entries must be received by 9am on 22^nd December.**

The winner will be announced after they have been contacted for their address.***

I will contact the winner for his or her name and address, so please only enter if you are happy for us to post the book to your home.

Any questions please email Jules.

Thank you and Good Luck!

*The Not So Small Print

Entries to our free prize draw must be received as stated by the closing date and time specified.

The draw is open to all FirstSigns members of our Message Board, Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and Twitter, together with visitors to our website and blog.

The winning entry will be the first entry drawn at random after the closing date out of the FirstSigns 'virtual hat'.

No correspondence will be entered into, prize is as stated, is not transferable and there is no cash alternative.

** Email addresses will not be retained by FirstSigns or used for any other purpose other than for this draw.

*** In order to maintain anonymity of our members, only the winner's first name or a chosen nickname will be announced.

BBC Horizon: How mad are you?

2008-11-26T09:59:00.001Z

(and how judgemental am I?)

Earlier this month BBC2 aired a two-part Horizon special about mental illness called 'How mad are you'. For those who didn't see it, it focused on a group of 10 people, 5 of whom had a diagnosed mental illness and 5 who had never had any mental health problem. The idea was that three psychiatrists would study the group as they performed various tasks over the course of a few days, and then decide who fell into which group and diagnose them accordingly.

The programme created a discussion within our Message Board and I received some emails from people asking me what I thought of the programme. I found it difficult to respond because I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, and because it made me question my own perceptions and judgements.

Interestingly, the psychiatrists only diagnosed two of the 'contestants' correctly, but I think the whole experiment was slightly flawed. For a start, diagnosis of a serious mental illness usually takes some time, but the psychiatrists only had 5 minutes to speak with their chosen 5. In addition, the people in question had all been assessed beforehand as suitable to take part – they were people in control of their illnesses or, in some cases, in complete recovery. However, a positive outcome was that the show highlighted the often very fine line between health and illness, and proved that with the right help and / or medication, people with a serious illness can live a normal life.

So why did I question my own perceptions? It was because of the man who the psychiatrists diagnosed as healthy, but who turned out to have Bi-Polar Disorder. In my mind, I had already put him into the 'mentally ill' category. Why? Because I noticed scars on his arm.

I'm uncomfortable that I judged this person based purely on those scars – clearly the psychiatrists either didn't notice or didn't make assumptions that they were self-inflicted. And yet I saw those scars and immediately decided this man must be one of the five. I have tried to justify my assumptions by accepting that as I knew five of the people were ill, and that as I know self-injury is often used as a coping mechanism by people with mental ill health, it is acceptable to put the two together in this case.

However, I must also accept that had it just been a group of 10 random people on any other reality show, I would not have assumed the man had a mental illness just because of his scars. Self-injury is a coping mechanism, but it is not in itself an illness, and it does not necessarily indicate that any mental illness is present. It could have been just as likely that this man had never had any mental health problems.

At the end of the programme the man talked briefly about his self-harm and how it helps him cope with his illness, but I wasn't pleased with myself for being right. I was angry with myself for making assumptions based on a few scars.

What do you think? As always, your comments are appreciated.

More information about the programme can be found at BBC's Headroom.

Harmless: Self Harm DVD Trailer

2008-11-13T09:22:00.000Z

Harmless, a relatively new self harm organisation based in Nottingham, have sent us a link to the trailer they have produced for their DVD, and asked if we might share it with our members.

The video lasts just under nine minutes and includes short discussions with four people who self harm (including older /male people), and also a psychiatrist. It raises some excellent points about self harm that concur with the ethos FirstSigns (previously LifeSIGNS) has maintained over the last seven years.

You can access the trailer here.

Please be aware that although this particular film does not require a trigger warning, there are some very triggering videos on YouTube, some of which may be advertised on the page the link takes you to. Please take care.

I'm sure Harmless would be glad for any feedback, so please do post your comments here and we'll be sure to pass them on.

A little inspiration

2008-11-03T13:22:00.000Z

Wedge is always encouraging me to write more personal blogs, and as you know we like to be inspiring and empowering here at FirstSigns, so I thought a little positive inspiration would be good.

One of my friends stuck a little note on my computer this morning saying: “Thank you for loving me when I least deserve it, because that's when I need it the most.” I knew it was an adaptation of a quote I'd seen before, and I set about finding out the source. It turns out it's a Swedish Proverb, and in my search I came across many little words of wisdom.

So, I've cheated a little here with this blog and put together some little quotes for you to ponder on when the world seems bleak and you're feeling overwhelmed by life.

---------------

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. ~Leo Buscaglia

Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. ~ Lin Yutang

I keep the telephone of my mind open to peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then, whenever doubt, anxiety or fear try to call me, they keep getting a busy signal - and soon they'll forget my number. ~Edith Armstrong

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. ~Swedish Proverb

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. ~ Dale Carnegie

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up. ~ Jesse Jackson

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. ~ Winston Churchill

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. ~ Sam Keen

If you are going through hell, keep going. ~ Winston Churchill

---------------

Do you have any favourites you'd like to add?

Self-harm Conference

2008-10-21T21:21:00.000+01:00

Jules and I went on our travels on Sunday, down to Wells, near Glastonbury. Come Monday morning, we were in the thick of the day’s Self-Harm Conference, called ‘The Injured Self’.

We were fortunate to be invited when Alison Leyland (of Living Change) heard me speak at the CPC Conference (London) in May.

Alison organised the whole day, and we learnt then that it was the first conference she’s ever done! We were inspired by the CPC conference to organise our own next year, and I’m sure we learnt a lot from Alison’s efforts.

Delegates from all over came to discover more about the emotional drivers of ‘an injured person’ and self-injury itself. There were many counsellors, but also doctors, teachers, social workers and community leaders in attendance.

Alison started the conference by proposing that every human being was ‘injured’ in some way, and that birth (and before) and the early years of life laid down the basic personality of a person, and that pleasures and pains were deeply etched into a person’s psyche. Alison explained that her research had shown her that no matter how old and mature a person became, they would still revert to their basic personality and fear the same sorts of pains that they feared as a young child.

I spoke next, and I spent my hour (or longer) focusing on the emotional drivers behind the act of self-injury. I explained the definitions and differences of self-harm and self-injury, and raised the idea that self-injury is a (maladaptive) coping mechanism. People cope the very best way they can, and it can take a long time to find the strength to consider moving away from self-injury and to choose to learn new ways of coping.

After coffee and discussions, and after lunch, Professor Roger Baker spoke about ‘Emotional Processing’ and explained how experiencing emotion in the right manner at the right time, and then expressing that emotion in an appropriate (to the person) manner was crucial in being able to understand one’s self and the trauma and difficulties of life.

For me, I found it particularly interesting when Alison explained that, when in crisis, a mature and capable adult can revert to their most basic childhood personality. I certainly feel that I’m in control of my life, and that I’m a capable adult, and yet frequently I feel overwhelmed and vulnerable; I very much recognise that my fears feel just like my childhood fears.

It was good to hear Prof. Roger talk about the need to identify / label emotions correctly and experience and express them appropriately. At FirstSigns, we’ve always said that in order to avoid internalising emotions and bottling them away until we explode, that we’ve got to express them – and we love the creative expressions we receive, such as art and poetry.

Jules and I did our best to answer questions and speak to people, and lots of people left with our business cards :)

Many thanks to Alison for her organisational skills and passion about these difficult subjects.

Wedge

If you’d like to have FirstSigns speak at your conference, please get in touch. We’re booked for two next year already!