Tag: Mental health
Blog
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Story Characters as Aspects of the Self
All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players… And one man in his time plays many parts. (As You Like It, Shakespeare) Many of us have experienced ourselves, at times, as not just one self but as different selves each wanting different things and sometimes competing for attention. Subpersonality is…
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Writing for Meaning
One of the main jobs of the primary class-teacher is to ensure pupils have mastered the rules of spelling, punctuation, and grammar in addition to writing for different contexts. All of this is, of course, important but there is one aspect which does not get much of a look-in which is Writing for Meaning. One…
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Supporting a child with anger issues in a Therapeutic Storywriting group – a case study
Ten-year old Mike (name changed) was an academically able Y6 boy who was on the SEN register because of his inability to regulate his anger. He had attended a 10- week Therapeutic Storywriting group with five other Y6 pupils and was interviewed at the end of this as part of a research project. According to the SENCO ‘he has…
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Open Training in Therapeutic Storywriting
Wednesdays: 24 Jan, 7 Feb, 6 March 2024 3-day online training for SEND specialists working with groups of 6 pupils to support mental wellbeing. Research shows the intervention improves emotional resilience while developing writing skills. Training days are spaced out to allow supervision of case studies on Days 2 & 3. For more information contact…
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Magical metaphors
The magical element of story that defies rationalisation is what makes it attractive to thechild. Story writing is essentially a playful and creative activity. Children who are preoccupied with the anxieties of their internal world can find it difficult tofocus on classroom tasks. Sometimes their particular life circumstances can also make themfeel ‘different’ to other…
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Meet the trainer: Claudia Moss
Dr Claudia Moss is a highly experienced Chartered Educational Psychologist and Founding Director of Moss Inclusive Psychology. After completing her BSc Honours degree in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, she worked as an Inclusion Support Worker with KS3 and KS4 pupils who experienced Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and then undertook a Postgraduate Certificate…
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Meet the trainer: Rachel Dann
Story Links supports the mental health of pupils whose behaviour patterns are related to attachment anxiety. It is a parent partnership intervention in which the educational professional facilitates the co-creation of stories between parent/carer and the child. The story metaphor is kept in the animal or fantasy genre to be non-threatening to the parent who…
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Supporting children learning about the Russian invasion of Ukraine
When really big news hits the headlines, we cannot fully prevent the children and young people in our care from hearing about what’s happening. As the mother of an eight-year-old, however much I try to turn the news bulletins down on the radio while we’re on the school run, or switch the channel over when…
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The healing power of stories
Oral storytelling has a powerful impact on us, and has been shown to alleviate pain. There is a physiological and psychological impact. Important clinical implications affirm storytelling as a low-cost and humanized intervention that can improve the well-being of hospitalised children.
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The father of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh
The zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who died last weekend aged 95 years, was cremated today in Vietnam. On this day we salute the wonderful work he did making the practice of Mindfulness accessible to so many.
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Tough term? How to support your mental wellbeing
Tried and trusted evidence-based ways to make sure that we stay mentally healthy regardless of the challenges thrown at us.
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Spotlight on Dyslexia and Therapeutic Storywriting
Dyslexia affects between 10-15% of people making it the highest incident specific learning difficulty or learning difference (source: British Dyslexia Association). Support for dyslexic children can be thin on the ground leading to frustration all round, for teachers, children and their parents.
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Helping children to move beyond reaction to reflection
As they write, the participants are thinking about and reflecting upon what their character is experiencing. This can help the child to think more clearly about their own feelings and to draw on a broader range of vocabulary when expressing what is happening in their life.
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Supporting the mental wellbeing of children in a world with Covid-19
A report published in January this year by the then Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield found that even before the Covid-19 crisis children’s mental health services “were far from meeting the existing level of need.
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CTSW update: September 2021
There are a few places left on the Story Links Parent Partnership course and the Therapeutic Storywriting Groups training. Both interventions have an extensive evidence-base that shows they support both emotional wellbeing and academic literacy. Read our latest blog focuses on Story Links and gives a good overview of the intervention. You can also keep up to…
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Story Links: How working with parents is key to effectiveness
For children who are struggling to make sense of the emotional anxieties they are experiencing, life can be incredibly confusing and bewildering. In order to help, we often need an approach that will support emotional and social wellbeing as well as developing the relationship between home and school, and between child and parent. Parent-partnership Story…
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Therapeutic Storywriting on SENDcast
The SENDcast podcast has long been a favourite source of up-to-the-minute thought leadership in the SEND field. Dr Trisha was delighted to be recently interviewed by host Dale Pickles about the origins of Therapeutic Storywriting and its benefits to pupils who are distracted by their inner emotional landscape. Listen now: Therapeutic Story Writing with Dr…
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CTSW update July 2021
Thinking of interventions for next term to support pupils’ emotional wellbeing while also developing literacy skills? Research shows that our Therapeutic Storywriting Groups and Story Links (parent partnership) interventions meet both these targets. Please find details of our upcoming courses below. We are also now active on LinkedIn where we’ll be promoting concepts, courses and training opportunities. VIRTUAL…
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Use of Mindfulness to support emotional literacy
Learning happens in the present moment Mindfulness is a mind-body based approach that aims to be bring people into awareness of the present moment. It is useful to remember that learning can only really happen when we are in the present moment – and the same applies to children. Many of the pupils I work with…
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CTSW Update June 2021
We’re increasing our presence on social media channels and would like to ask for your support in helping to promote the work of the Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting. We hope that SEN professionals will connect with us on LinkedIn, where we’ll be promoting concepts, courses and training opportunities. Facebook will be the place where we promote our work…
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Post-pandemic: time to bring Psychological Mindedness into schools
In delivering professional development to teachers working with vulnerable pupils it is clear that post Covid pandemic that there are even more pupils in need of emotional support in our schools than before. Teachers are reporting how some pupils are finding it difficult to settle back in the classroom and some are anxious to be…
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CTSW Update, May 2021
Research shows that Therapeutic Storywriting and Story Links interventions support pupils’ emotional wellbeing while also developing their academic skills. Therapeutic Storywriting groups develop writing skills while the parent-partnership Story Links intervention focuses on pupils’ reading skills. Both are proven to support emotional and social well-being.The trainings are practice-based and professionals are expected to start the intervention…
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CTSW Update, April 2021
Virtual Training in Therapeutic Storywriting and Story Links Are you looking to support pupils’ emotional wellbeing while also developing their academic skills? Our Therapeutic Storywriting and Story Links interventions have an extensive research base that shows they achieve both these targets. Therapeutic Storywriting groups develop writing skills while the parent-partnership Story Links intervention focuses on pupils’ reading…
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CTSW Update, February 2021
Many pupils returning to school will be in need of support with both their emotional wellbeing and academic skills. Our Therapeutic Storywriting and Story Links interventions have an extensive research base that shows they achieve both these targets. Therapeutic Storywriting groups develop writing skills while the parent-partnership Story Links intervention develops pupils’ reading skills. Both support emotional…
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CTSW Update, December 2020
I hope your term is going well despite everything. Just to let you know there are a few places left on the Story Links course that starts in January ’21 and the Therapeutic Storywriting Groups training in April ’21. Both trainings are practise-based and designed to provide emotional support for pupils while also developing their…
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CTSW Update, July 2020
As pupils return to school, the need for emotional support within the learning environment will be needed more than ever. Therapeutic Storywriting Groups and Story Links are evidence-based 10-week interventions that can easily be delivered in a socially distanced and Covid-safe manner in school. Our virtual training makes the interventions, which are used in over…
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Therapeutic Storywriting Supports Pupils’ Emotional Wellbeing
What if we could develop the confidence in children and young people to talk about, and understand, any troubling emotions that are holding them back? Therapeutic Storywriting aims to do just that and schools in more than 23 Local Authorities in the UK are using the programme with great success. Therapeutic Storywriting works with the…
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Attachment Behaviour and Learning
The contribution that an understanding of attachment theory can make to schools and learning outcomes is considerable. There are links between attachment, behaviour and learning. Behind every child who misbehaves and underperforms in school there is a story, and the story is acted out in the classroom. While it is the pupil’s behaviour that will…
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Primary-age children who self-harm
Primary schools are increasingly encountering self-harm amongst pupils who cannot explain why they are doing it, leaving teachers struggling to know what to do. It is an expression of feeling. Self-harm tends to be associated with teenagers and schools are more likely to be able to confidently respond to this behaviour. Unlike adolescents younger children…
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BBC coverage of Therapeutic Storywriting
The Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting worked with Young Minds on a project that awarded funding to four schools in the UK to take part in a programme of therapeutic teaching which uses story writing to explore feelings. The BBC reported on the project at Worle Community School in Somerset. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/21829980
