Wellness Workshops for Young People & Family & Friends!

UPDATE: Due to the current health situation in Victoria, the Mental Health Masterclass group sessions scheduled between 16 March-12 April have been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience and will update our website when we have new dates scheduled.

Mental Health Masterclass is back, and it's even bigger and better!

Masterclass is a great opportunity to learn and practice skills that will help you cope with common emotional and wellbeing problems. Building on our successes from last year, we will now offer twice as many sessions throughout the week to enable more people to come along. Sessions will continue to run for 1 hour and are open to young people, friends and family members. Masterclass includes 9 skill-building and lifestyle interventions jointly delivered by a headspace clinician and a young person.

All sessions are ’stand-alone’ - meaning don’t require you to attend in any particular order! You will get the full benefit of each class. At the conclusion of each session, you will receive a handout with suggested activities and options for follow-up.

Masterclass is held every Wednesday, 5pm - 6pm AND Thursday 3pm – 4pm at headspace Sunshine.

Masterclass Workshops

Get Relaxed

The aim of this session is to:

• Gain a basic understanding of mindfulness and relaxation and the usefulness of implementing these practices to assist with managing feelings of tension and discomfort.
• Increase awareness of current physical, or body state, together with the thoughts, fears and memories that intrude into the present moment
• Acknowledge and compare feelings of discomfort with those of freedom and relief.
• Promote curiosity and sample different mindfulness exercises from a position of openness, free of judgement.
• Normalise the challenge people may face with trying something new for the first time.
• Develop a list of relaxing activities that people can enjoy on their own or with others.

Say It Straight

The aim of this session is to:

• Understand the advantages and disadvantages of different communication styles, and to explore what styles of communication people use. 
• Consider the thoughts and beliefs that may stop people from standing up for themselves when their needs aren’t being met in a social context.
• Develop an understanding of the different aspects of communicating assertively, including without blame, taking ownership of feelings, describing rather than judging, and offering a compromise.
• Increasing confidence in being assertive by using these skills in different social situations.

Boost Your Confidence

The aim of this session is to:

• Consider the impacts of negative self-appraisal re: body image on both short-term (emotional distress) and long-term (patterns of avoidance, time, money)
• Normalise their experience through education and de-stigmatising language.
• Consider media consumption from a more critical perspective
• Increase people’s appreciation of diversity both in them and in others.
• Move towards self-acceptance through whole-of-person appreciation with a particular focus on strengths and values.
• Expand people’s lives through engaging in meaningful life experiences that might have been avoided due to body image issues.
• Experiment with different ways of re-connecting to people’s physical selves in a positive way through relaxation, mindfulness and increased self-care.

Healthy Thinking

The aim of this session is to:

• Normalise the experience of having problems and to recognise that problems can be solvable.
• Understand the difference between worrying and problem-solving
• Explore the vulnerability that is experienced in relation to confronting problems and that from a position of vulnerability we can create new opportunities.
• Conceptualise the six-step problem solving approach and practice implementing the model using a real-life example, or the case examples provided.

Keep Your Cool

The aim of this session is to:

• Normalise the experience of anger as an appropriate emotional response.
• Understand the difference between anger and aggression and to recognise that anger is a learned response.
• Begin to identify the physiological, cognitive and behavioural build up during an anger response.
• Conceptualise ‘anger as a volcano’ metaphor by observing different physical, emotional and behavioural cues in each state, including the consequences of each state.
• Explore people’s previous experiences of anger by examining the events before, during and after, with particular emphasis on the short-term and long-term.
• Introduce ongoing self-reflection by encouraging people to be their own ‘scientist’ or ‘experimenter’.
• Trial practical strategies to vent anger and/or aggression in a more meaningful and helpful way that is not damaging to people themselves or others.
• Enhance understanding of empathy and its impact on emotional responses.

Master Your Moods

The aim of this session is to:

• Understand why we have emotions and develop an awareness of the relationship between thoughts, feelings and actions.
• Understand sadness and anxiety, and how these emotions vary in intensity.
• Consider the truthfulness of people’s thoughts, and learn how to challenge thoughts and develop a more rational perspective.
• Explore the brief nature of emotions, the impact of judgement, and explore emotions as physical sensations. 
• Experiment with different ways of accepting and siting with emotions rather than act based on a temporary mood state.
• Increase activity and enjoyment by re-engaging in activities of achievement or pleasure

Sleep Well

The aim of this session is to:

• Share experiences around sleep and what might be impacting negatively on it
• Normalise the challenge people are facing within the context of our stressors
• Provide people with education around the importance of sleep as well as engage them in discussion
• Explore people’s current sleep routine
• Experiment with different ways of re-connecting to people’s 
  ‘physical selves’ in a positive way through relaxation, 
  mindfulness and increased self-care.

Get Active

The aim of this session is to:

• Enhance understanding of the short-term and long-term benefits of physical activity on physical and mental health.
• Be(come) aware of the recommended physical activity guidelines indicated by the WHO.
• Examine people’s current level of physical activity
• Acknowledge the challenges or barriers around being active or increasing physical activity in people’s routine by looking at the cost and benefits of exercise
• Develop a list of activities people are currently engage in or would like to engage in
• Develop a weekly activity schedule

Eat Well

The aim of this session is to:

• Understand the short-term and long-term benefits of good nutrition and balanced eating on physical and mental health.
• Be(come) aware of the recommendations for food and beverage intake, according to the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
• Examine people’s current eating patterns and routines, and identify areas for change.
• Normalise and acknowledge the barriers to balanced eating or making dietary swaps.
• Identify current food preferences or things that people would like to try.
• Plan and set goals for making healthy food swaps or participating in meal planning and preparation at home.

Session schedule January – March 2020

There is no need to register for these sessions, just come along on the night.

For more information, call us on (03) 9927 6222 and ask to speak with Dylan or Maddy