The Rest of Our August Offer

Five Obstacles on the Road of Recovery
In this programme we will learn how to identify and overcome five significant obstacles on our personal journey of recovery. We will discover what can bring these obstacles about, how we can remove them, and how we can prevent them. We will use a guided mindfulness practice along with practical day-to-day tips. This course is based on the pañca nīvaraṇāni (five hindrances) which are recognised in Buddhist traditions as mental factors that hinder progress in meditation and in our daily lives.
 
Part 1: introduction | 11:30am-12:30pm| Monday 2nd August
Part 2: indulgence | 11:30am-12:30pm | Monday 9th August
Part 3: ill-will | 11:30am-12:30pm | Monday 16th August
Part 4: sluggishness and sleepiness | 11:30am-12:30pm | Monday 6th September
Part 5: restlessness and worry | 11:30am-12:30pm | Monday 13th September
Part 6: restlessness and worry continued | 11:30am-12:30pm | Monday 20th September
Part 7: sceptical doubt | 11:30am-12:30pm | Monday 27th September
 
Managing Your Mood
This two-part course will help students explore practices around managing our moods. Learning to improve the way we manage our emotions is often an important first step for many people with mental health difficulties. Topics covered will include: 

• the evolutionary context of moods & emotions 
• influencing mood changes 
• self-compassion 
• behavioural activation 
• gut & mood 

Part 1 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Tuesday 3rd August 
Part 2 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Tuesday 10th August 
 
Understanding Personality Disorder
Personality disorder is a phrase used to describe a group of common, long-lasting conditions that affect how people view and manage their emotions and how they relate to other people.

This three-part course explores what is meant by personality disorder in general and how it can affect other aspects of a person’s mental and physical health.

We will also discuss specific treatments and how people can help themselves to regain a measure of control in their lives.
 
Part 1 | 10:30am-12noon | Wednesday 4th August 
Part 2 | 10:30am-12noon | Wednesday 11th August 
Part 3 | 10:30am-12noon | Wednesday 18th August 
 
Understanding Psychosis
A three-part workshop about psychosis. These sessions will enable you to have a broader understanding of psychosis, including examples of lived experience and information on supporting someone else. In the first session we will explain what psychosis is, explore the different experiences of psychosis, and share information about psychotic episodes and examples of lived experiences. In the second session will explore schizophrenia more specifically, looking at the meaning of positive and negative symptoms and different types of recovery. In the final session will look at supporting someone who is experiencing psychosis and how we can help ourselves as a supporter. 
 
Part 1 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Wednesday 4th August 
Part 2 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Wednesday 11th August 
Part 3 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Wednesday 18th August 
 
Taking Control of My Psychosis Medication | 2:30pm-3:30pm | Wednesday 4th August 
In this session we will discuss what medication can be taken to relieve psychotic symptoms and explore how we can find out objective information. We will also look at:

• What the risks and benefits are to taking medication for psychosis which need to be considered and balanced carefully.
• What our rights are and how we discuss the challenges of taking medication with a health professional
• How we go about developing a personal action plan to take control of our medication

 
Maintaining Wellbeing: staying positive
The aim of this two-part course is to help you to reflect on the positive outlook and work out how you can bolster your own positivity. The impulse to dwell on the negatives is hard-wired into us, a hangover from humankind’s early days, when we had to be constantly on the alert. We know that the Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on people’s mental health and acknowledge how hard it is for us to maintain our wellbeing during this time. But that doesn’t mean that being negative is an absolute. The situation we currently all find ourselves in is actually just the right time to begin focusing ourselves more towards the positive. 

Part 1 | 2pm-3:30pm | Thursday 5th August 
Part 2 | 2pm-3:30pm | Thursday 12th August 

Cultivating a positive outlook is possible for everyone, though it may take some work. You will be sent some work sheets before the course begins. Please do not worry, we will explain and guide you through completing these. 
 
Introduction to Coaching Skills
Coaching is a way of opening up spaces for personal reflection, helping people become aware of their strengths and resourcefulness, and supporting them to achieve their goals.  
 
Coaching is a series of conversations between a coach and another person aimed at bringing out the best in the person being coached. Whether we are mental health professionals, people who use services, or carers and supporters, we all know that the quality of the relationships and the conversations we have are very important. 
 
Coaching tools and techniques can support people’s recovery by helping them tackle the challenges and everyday stresses of life. 
 
Part 1 | 12noon-1pm | Monday 9th August 
Part 2 | 12noon-1pm | Wednesday 11th August 
Part 3 | 12noon-1pm | Monday 16th August 
Part 4 | 12noon-1pm ­­| Wednesday 18th August 
 
Introduction to Recovery
Many people find being diagnosed with mental health difficulties devastating. Too often people feel that their life is over and that they will never be able to fulfil their dreams and ambitions or lead a satisfying and valued life. But it does not have to be this way. Whatever age a person is, whether they have only recently been diagnosed, or whether they have had a diagnosis for some time, recovery is possible, no matter how serious the person’s difficulties. It is possible for people to rebuild a meaningful, valued and satisfying life. This two-part course explores the impact of mental health difficulties on people’s lives, what helps people to grow within and beyond what has happened, and how they can rebuild their lives. 
Part 1 | 2:30pm-3:30pm | Monday 9th August 
Part 2 | 2:30pm-3:30pm | Monday 16th August 
 
A Guide to Independent Mental Health Advocacy | 10:30am-11:30am | Tuesday 10th August 
An introductory workshop about Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) which will give you a basic overview of the advocate’s role. The right to an IMHA was introduced in 2007 under amendments to the 1983 Mental Health Act. This gave legal rights to IMHAs which are not available to other advocates. The session will help you to understand these rights.

Understanding Eating Disorders
Eating disorders have both biological and psychological causes and can affect any of us regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. But they are treatable. Recovery is possible but, because of stigma or misperceptions, some people may not get the help they need. It is important for people to understand what eating disorders are and what they are not.
In the first session, we will be looking at the classification of eating disorders, identifying anorexia, explaining myths and facts around the illness, and thinking about the different types of treatment and recovery. In the second session, we will recap the different eating disorders, identifying bulimia and binge eating disorder, and we will explain what it is like to live with an eating disorder and how to seek help.
 
Part 1 | 11am-12noon | Tuesday 10th August 
Part 2 | 11am-12noon | Tuesday 17th August ​

Bereavement: coming to terms with loss | 1:30pm-2:45pm | Tuesday 10th August 
This stand-alone webinar gently leads us through the four phases (or ‘layers’) of mourning as described by John Bowlby, the founder of attachment theory. We will be thinking about, and sharing, ways of supporting the grieving process. We realise that, taking part in this session, you may recently have been bereaved, or know someone who has and would like to help them. Your emotional wellbeing at this sad time is of absolute importance to us. With this in mind, we ask you to let someone who you trust know that you will be doing this webinar - this person will be your support contact. When you join us, please keep your mobile beside you in case you need to call or text your support contact. Ask them to check how you are when you start watching, and also when it ends. Perhaps your contact might be able to join with you online. We want you to know that you are warmly welcome, and that you are not alone in your grief.
 
Parks, Walks and Walking Meditation
This three-part course aims to encourage and inspire you to:

• Learn about the benefits of walking for wellbeing
• Learn about Peckham Rye Park and parks in your locality
• Discover activities you can do in your local park and London walks
• Discover how to practice walking meditation (complimentary walking meditation MP3 available to all workshop attendees)

 
Part 1 | 10:30am-1:30am | Thursday 12th August 
Part 2 | 10:30am-1:30am | Thursday 19th August 
Part 3 | 10:30am-1:30am | Thursday 26th August 
 
Motivation
How do you get out of your head and stop thinking about what you do and start doing it? 
 
This two-part course explores what holds us back from utilizing our motivation, what environment best harnesses our motivation, and looks at the reality of motivation in terms of its role in our daily lives.
 
This course provides tips that help launch us into action and explains the theory that helps us to close the gap between what you know you want to do and taking action to make it happen. 
 
Part 1 | 2pm-3:30pm | Thursday 12th August 
Part 2 | 2pm-3:30pm | Thursday 19th August 
 
Communication and Active Listening
This two-part course explores what active listening is, looks at the benefits of active listening (including exploring its power to transform our conversations), and teaches how we can practice and hone our skills as empathetic listeners. 
 
Part 1 | 10:30am-12noon | Friday 13th August 
Part 2 | 10:30am-12noon | Tuesday 17th August 
 
Ayurveda Self-Massage
N.B. You will need a towel and warm sesame oil or sunflower oil for these sessions. 
 
Ayurveda, the “wisdom of life”, is a traditional system of healing from South Asia. These sessions were co-developed by Ayurveda experts in Sri Lanka and the UK, Buddhist scholars and monks in the Theravada tradition, UK registered mental health professionals, and SLaM Recovery Trainers who have direct lived experience of mental health problems. 
 
In these sessions you will learn about the benefits of self-massage for your hand and feet, and you will learn how to do this using oil.
 
Self-Massage for Our Hands | 11:30am-12:30pm | Friday 13th August
Self-Massage for Our Feet | 11:30am-12:30pm | Friday 20th August
Self-Massage for Our Feet | 11:30am-12:30pm | Friday 27th August
 
Creativity and Wellbeing | 1:30pm-2:30pm | Tuesday 17th August 
Developed by the Education Department of Dulwich Picture Gallery in collaboration with SLaM Recovery College. 
 
Taking inspiration from the gallery’s Vase with Flowers by Jan Van Huysum, participants will work collaboratively with the gallery's artists to explore new techniques to develop their own creative artwork.
 
This stand-alone webinar has been developed to support participants’ creativity and wellbeing. Throughout the session you will be encouraged to explore new skills, to be mindful, and to learn how to connect with the five ways of wellbeing: connect, be active, learn, take notice, give. 
 
Understanding Depression
Depression is a common mental health condition which can take hold of your life and just won’t go away.  Understanding the signs, symptoms and causes of depression is the first step to overcoming the problem. 
 
This course runs over 4 sessions and will explore what depression is, its causes and how it is diagnosed.  We will discuss what can help overcome the hurdles to recovery such as negative thinking and what professional support is available. 
 
We will offer practical tools to help overcome depression as well as how we can support others.
 
Part 1 | 2pm-3:15pm | Tuesday 17th August 
Part 2 | 2pm-3:15pm | Tuesday 24th August 
Part 3 | 2pm-3:15pm | Tuesday 31st August 
Part 4 | 2pm-3:15pm | Tuesday 7th September
 
Mental Health Act: the basics
A two-part course about the Mental Health Act (1983, amended 2007) The workshop aims to support students to:

• Explore the purpose and principles of the Mental Health Act (1983)
• Understand how and why someone may be detained for assessment and treatment using the Mental Health Act (1983) and what this experience is like for service users and carers
• Gain a better understanding of the rights of people being ‘sectioned’ and the responsibilities of the health professionals, family members and advocates who might be involved in this process.
• Learn about the role of mental health tribunals and how sections are lifted/ended
• Understand steps that can be taken to plan for ill health and potentially prevent being admitted under the Mental Health Act.

 
Part 1 | 1pm-2pm | Wednesday 18th August 
Part 2 | 3pm-4pm | Wednesday 18th August 
 
Caring for the Carer | 3:30pm-4:30pm | Wednesday 18th August 
As a carer it is important that we look after our own wellbeing. In this workshop, we will discuss ways that ensure we function at our best, recognising that there can be benefits to caring, and that each carer brings unique skills, abilities, and experiences.
 
In this workshop, we will invite you to share activities and experience that may be helpful to others and also explore what resources we may need which are accessible. 
 
Introduction to Self-Compassion
This stand-alone course (running twice in, once in August, once in September) is designed as a taster and preparation for our six-part Moving Towards Self-Compassion course (which will be starting on 30th September). You will be introduced to some key ideas about self-compassion and why we might need to be more compassionate towards ourselves - especially in these challenging times. We will explore our human experience of having a 'self', the nature of compassion, how to practise self-compassion and the positive impact it can have on our mental health. The session will involve a discussion of key ideas, followed by an experiential practice of self-compassion. It will conclude with a reflection and an open Q&A. You will also be able to ask questions throughout the webinar, so please feel free to express your curiosity - it is very welcome! 
 
After the sessions, we will send you a link to an online form where you can register your interest in the full course.
 
Introduction to Self-Compassion A | 2:30pm-3:30pm | Monday 23rd August 
Introduction to Self-Compassion B | 2:30pm-3:30pm | Thursday 9th September
 
Optimising Your Sleep
Do you have difficulty getting to sleep at night? Do you wake up early in the morning? Do you spend most of the night tossing and turning? Or do you find yourself sleeping too many hours or sleeping too much during the day? In this two-part course we will: 

• Self-assess our own sleep​ 
• Recognise the impact of the pandemic on our sleep​ 
• Explore the benefits of sleep​ 
• Explore how much sleep we really need​ 
• Explore the pros and cons of daytime naps​ 
• Address excessive sleep 
• Recognise the impact of not getting enough sleep​ 
• Explore methods for improving our sleep

Part 1 | 2:30pm-3:30pm | Monday 23rd August
Part 2 | 2:30pm-3:30pm | Monday 6th September 
 
Introduction to Beth | 11am-12noon | Tuesday 24th August
SLaM’s Beth website, designed for us on laptops and PCs, tablets and smartphones, is a free and secure way for our patients and carers to stay connected with their care team. For service users, Beth is very friendly and easy to use, and supports personal choice and autonomy. You can link your Beth account with your NHS number to access your health records and:  

• see who is in your care team and support network 
• securely message your care team  
• access your current care plan 
• see all your appointments 
• keep track of your mood and sleep 
• use free and trusted online health resources 

 
For people caring for someone under SLaM services you can create your own account to look after your own wellbeing and securely message their care team.
 
Hearing Voices
During this three-part course, we will be exploring the experience of voices hearing and of supporting people who hear voices. We will consider how voices can be both a hindrance and an asset, and how to constructively respond to them.   
 
Enabling students to utilise self-management techniques, we will also help people find organisations and sources of support.
 
Part 1 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Wednesday 25th August
Part 2 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Wednesday 1st September
Part 3 | 11:30am-12:30pm | Wednesday 8th September
 
How to Register

FIRST TIME REGISTRATION, if you haven’t signed up to a webinar with us before:  
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqjpd3n-l3AxAj-8hQpHMfNlUQkZRWEJZODhLU0ZTVkQ0QkQzSzJMNUZGSS4u 

RETURNING STUDENTS REGISTRATION, if you have already signed up to a webinar with us before:  
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqjpd3n-l3AxAj-8hQpHMfNlURUgxM0s0VlJDN0Y4SEc0WlhCMVdaRlNCNS4u

Please feel free to share this offer of free-to-view webinars with anyone who you think might benefit. 
 
With very best wishes,
 
The team at South London and Maudsley Recovery College
​

Rachel Eborall, SLaM’s Deputy Head of Inclusion and Peer Worker Development, has asked the college to promote these two peer support job opportunities. Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.
 
Peer Worker Role, Home Treatment Team in Lewisham:
https://www.slam.nhs.uk/about-us/work-for-us/job-vacancies/#!/job/UK/London/London/South_London_Maudsley_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Lewisham_Operational_Directorate/Lewisham_Operational_Directorate-v3290243?_ts=3190

Peer Support Project Co-ordinator Role, Lewisham and Croydon Home Treatment Team
https://www.slam.nhs.uk/about-us/work-for-us/job-vacancies/#!/job/UK/London/London/South_London_Maudsley_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Crisis_Team/Crisis_Team-v3276049?_ts=10900
 
If you would like to be added to Rachel’s peer support mailing list, to keep up to date with all peer support opportunities at SLaM, please fill out this shot, online form:
 
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqla7a9W5o-BInfmrp6tizbBUMExUNzVQVllWRkZaR1VFUkw2TEVFTkxLTy4u

The Royal College of Psychiatrist’s Faculty of Rehabilitation & Social Psychiatry are collecting stories from people with lived experience of long-term mental health conditions. These stories will support the work of The Faculty, which is made up of psychiatrists, service users and carer representatives with experience of psychiatric rehabilitation services. They want to understand and represent such experiences.
 
Some of the stories collected will be placed on the Faculty website.  They may also be used in future reports and campaigns.
 
The RCoP appreciate that sharing your story with others can be difficult and thatyou may need support from carers or the individual who has invited you to participate.
 
Taking part in our project is entirely voluntary, and stories will be anonymised. All stories of living with long term mental health conditions are appreciated. These may include your experience of mental health rehabilitation services e.g. how you accessed services; what you feel helped and what didn’t; what would you like services to know and do differently? 

Patients and carers with lived experience are leading on this project. 

Please see and download this form if you are interested in taking part. You can return the form by post to:
Catherine Langley
Faculty & Committee Manager
Royal College of Psychiatrists
21 Prescott Street
London
E1 8BB

Or by email to Catherine.Langley@rcpsych.ac.uk 

With very best wishes,

The team at South London and Maudsley Recovery College

Hello Students, Colleagues and Friends,

All these sessions are, as always, free of charge. Except for the DESMOND course (see below) they are open to everybody; you don’t need to have any connection at all to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. We just ask that you answer a few questions and let us know which sessions you’d like to be a part of, using one of the registration forms links below, and we’ll then send you links to the webinars you’ve chosen. 

The majority of our webinars are run as Live Events on the Microsoft Teams platform, meaning that you can join anonymously and will be neither seen nor heard. Instead, you interact by typing questions and comments into a Q&A panel. Occasionally we will run a course in a Meetings format for a limited group of students, where you will be seen and heard, but these will be clearly identified as such. 
  
If you can't make a particular live event you can still enrol and use the link we'll send you to watch a recording later. 

First, three courses with their own registration process:
 
DESMOND: Type 2 Diabetes Education for Self-Management Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed
N.B. Only available for students with a diagnosis of Type-2 Diabetes who are also either a SLaM Service User, a SLaM Carer, or a SLaM Staff Member.

Session 1 | 10:30am-12:45pm | Tuesday 13th July
Session 2 | 10:30am-12:45pm | Tuesday 20th July
Session 3 | 10:30am-12:45pm | Tuesday 27th July
Session 4 | 10:30am-12:45pm | Tuesday 3rd August

For more details, and how to register, please read this news post:
https://www.slamrecoverycollege.co.uk/news/desmond-type-2-diabetes-free-online-course-in-july-and-august 

Or go straight to the Expression of Interest/Participation Agreement form: 
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqgmyKPB4GLVHori7bpbnOyxUM1dJQkU0WTIxQ005NTNLWFAySUJXTllMWiQlQCN0PWcu 

Traumas of Racism
​
Unit 1: Racism as trauma | 1:pm-3:30pm | Monday 19th July
Unit 2: Inherited distress: transgenerational trauma | 9am-11:30am | Friday 23rd July
Unit 3: Encoded norms: institutionalised racism | 1pm-3:30pm | Monday 26th July
Unit 4: Daily disregard: interpersonal racism | 9am-11:30am | Friday 30th July
Unit 5: The unsaid sinks inwards: internalised racism | 1pm-3:30pm | Monday 2nd August
Unit 6: Towards healing: thriving against the odds | 9:am-11:30am | Friday 6th August

For more details, and how to register, please read this news post:
https://www.slamrecoverycollege.co.uk/news/desmond-type-2-diabetes-free-online-course-in-july-and-august

Or go straight to the Expression of Interest/Participation Agreement form: 
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqgmyKPB4GLVHori7bpbnOyxUNVdPR1c0MU5TVTNVOTJQRDU4SlM3WklROCQlQCN0PWcu 

Parenting and Mental Health Focus Group | 11am-12noon | Thursday 15th July
 
A focus group on the topic of parenting and mental health recovery. Join us to hear about our plans for future courses in this topic, and to share your ideas about what would be most helpful to you. The group is suitable for anybody who is interested in how parenting (or thinking about becoming a parent) interplays with mental health recovery.  You do not have to be a parent to attend. 
 
If you are interested, please complete this Expression of Interest/Participation Agreement form:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspxid=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqgmyKPB4GLVHori7bpbnOyxUMEVDMjMzMkRFTFZSU083VU44OFlUMjYzVCQlQCN0PWcu

And the rest of the courses we're offering in July (please scroll down to the end of this post for your registration links for all of these sessions):

SLaM Recovery College Courses in July
 
Ayurveda Self-Massage
 
Ayurveda, the “wisdom of life”, is a traditional system of healing from South Asia. These sessions were co-developed by Ayurveda experts in Sri Lanka and the UK, Buddhist scholars and monks in the Theravada tradition, UK registered mental health professionals, and SLaM Recovery Trainers who have direct lived experience of mental health problems.
 
There are two workshops, one for our hands and one for our feet, both of which we will be running twice. We’ll send you the links to all the sessions, but it’s up to you as to whether you attend one, several, or all of them – taking part in a session again could help with your practice.
 
Self-Massage for Our Hands | 3pm-4pm | Monday 5th July
Self-Massage for Our Feet | 11:30am-12:30pm | Monday 12th July
Self-Massage for Our Hands | 3pm-4pm | Monday 19th July
Self-Massage for Our Feet | 3pm-4pm | Monday 26th July
 
Introduction to Beth
 
SLaM’s Beth website, designed for us on laptops and PCs, tablets and smartphones, is a free and secure way for our patients and carers to stay connected with their care team. For service users, Beth is very friendly and easy to use, and supports personal choice and autonomy. You can link your Beth account with your NHS number to access your health records and:  

• see who is in your care team and support network 
• securely message your care team  
• access your current care plan 
• see all your appointments 
• keep track of your mood and sleep 
• use free and trusted online health resources 

For people caring for someone under SLaM services you can create your own account to look after your own wellbeing and securely message their care team. 
 
This is a stand-alone session, repeated twice in July, so there’s no need to register for more than one.
 
Introduction to Beth | 11am-12noon | Tuesday 6th July
Introduction to Beth | 11am-12noon | Tuesday 20th July
 
Recovering Our Purpose
 
Having a purpose is a vital aspect in our personal recovery. Purpose brings direction and intention into our lives, and our intentions count for so much more than we usually think. Our purpose can be like a GPS for our lives, it can be a source of wisdom and energy enabling us to accomplish things we didn’t think were possible. But how are we to discover the distinctive direction and purpose of our lives? In this two-part course, drawing on the work of Jan Chozen Bays and others, we will work together to recover our purpose, and navigate and reinvigorate our lives. 
 
Part 1 | 1:30pm-2:30pm| Tuesday 6th July
Part 2 | 11:30am-12:30pm| Tuesday 13th July
 
Routines for Recovery
 
Many studies have shown that establishing and maintaining routines filled with healthy habits is a great way towards meaningful recovery and wellbeing. In this new, three-part programme, we will learn about:  

• The importance of routine for our wellbeing  
• Useful tools for establishing and maintaining our routine  
• Overcoming the barriers to keeping our routine

This is a ‘blended learning’ course, consisting of:  

• Two webinar sessions  
• An e-Learning programme (interactive, including quizzes, links, and activities that you can access at any time). N.B. We will send you a link to this programme soon.

Part 1 | 1:30pm-2:30pm | Wednesday 7th July
Part 2 | 1:30pm-2:30pm | Wednesday 14th July
 
Understanding the Impact of Substance Use on Mental Health
 
This two-part course explores the use of substances (drugs and alcohol) and their impact on mental wellbeing. At times, using substances can appear to be a solution but it often has a longer-term impact on our wellbeing. During these sessions, we will explore why this happens and what support is available to aid recovery. 

Part 1 | 2pm-3:30pm| Thursday 8th July
Part 2 | 2pm-3:30pm | Thursday 15th July
 
Optimising Your Sleep
 
Do you have difficulty getting to sleep at night? Do you wake up early in the morning? Do you spend most of the night tossing and turning? Or do you find yourself sleeping too many hours or sleeping too much during the day? In this two-part course we will: 

• Self-assess our own sleep​ 
• Recognise the impact of the pandemic on our sleep​ 
• Explore the benefits of sleep​ 
• Explore how much sleep we really need​ 
• Explore the pros and cons of daytime naps​ 
• Address excessive sleep 
• Recognise the impact of not getting enough sleep​ 
• Explore methods for improving our sleep

 
Part 1 | 10:30am-11:30am| Monday 19th July
Part 2 | 10:30am-11:30am | Monday 26th July
 
Bereavement: coming to terms with loss | 1:30pm-2:30pm | Tuesday 13th July
 
This stand-alone webinar gently leads us through the four phases (or ‘layers’) of mourning as described by John Bowlby, the founder of attachment theory. We will be thinking about, and sharing, ways of supporting the grieving process. We realise that, taking part in this session, you may recently have been bereaved, or know someone who has and would like to help them. Your emotional wellbeing at this sad time is of absolute importance to us. With this in mind, we ask you to let someone who you trust know that you will be doing this webinar - this person will be your support contact. When you join us, please keep your mobile beside you in case you need to call or text your support contact. Ask them to check how you are when you start watching, and also when it ends. Perhaps your contact might be able to join with you online. We want you to know that you are warmly welcome, and that you are not alone in your grief. 
 
Let’s Talk About Tobacco | 11am-12noon | Wednesday 14th July
 
​An opportunity to learn about smoking and its effects from Mary Yates, Health Promotion & Wellbeing & Smoke-Free Lead at SLaM, and to hear about the range of treatments and support services that are available to assist smokers who have an interest in cutting down or quitting smoking
 
Topics covered will include nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), e-cigarettes/vaping, and Varenicline (aka Champix).
 
NEW! Finding balance: harmonising our minds and bodies
 
These sessions will be in the Microsoft Teams Meeting format, which means we will be able to see and hear each other, have group discussions, and share experiences and helpful tips. We’ll ask you to fill out an online participation agreement. These sessions won’t be recorded, so you’ll need to be able to make the live sessions. 
 
This new eight-session course explores the complex and fascinating relationship between our minds and bodies. We will look at theoretical and scientific concepts of balance drawn from biology, psychology and world philosophy. Using this central idea, we will look at how our minds and bodies have evolved to maintain balance in intriguing ways. Then, we will practise experiential exercises that are aimed to facilitate a felt experience of these concepts. The sessions will conclude with a reflection on what we have learnt and experienced, and how this might change how we perceive ourselves and care for our own physical and mental health.
 
Session 1 – What makes up a human being? | 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 15th July
Session 2 – Physical balance | 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 22nd July
Session 3 – Physical balance in motion | 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 29th July
Session 4 – Mental balance| 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 5th August
Session 5 – Mental flexibility | 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 12th August
Session 6 – Understanding pain | 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 19th August
Session 7 – Hunger and appetite | 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 26th August
Session 8 – Physical and emotional regulation | 2:30pm-4pm | Thursday 2nd September
 
Hearing Voices
 
During this three-part course, we will be exploring the experience of voices hearing and of supporting people who hear voices. We will consider how voices can be both a hindrance and an asset, and how to constructively respond to them.   
 
Enabling students to utilise self-management techniques, we will also help people find organisations and sources of support. We recommend, if it’s possible, attending all three sessions, although they can watched as stand-alones.  
 
Part 1 | 1:30pm-2:30pm | Friday 16th July
Part 2 | 1:30pm-2:30pm | Friday 23rd July
Part 3 | 1:30pm-2:30pm | Friday 30th July
 
NEW! Abandonment Issues: causes, symptoms, and what can help overcome them | 10:30am-12noon | Tuesday 20th July
 
This new webinar focuses on exploring the fear of abandonment. This fear can cause various harmful coping behaviours and can sabotage relationships.  
 
The team will present insight, provide practical ways we can choose to respond to our fear, and show how we can feel hopeful for our future relationship journeys.  
 
Understanding Bipolar Disorder
 
A two-part course. Bipolar is a mood disorder characterised by extreme changes in mood. Although we all have mood swings, in bipolar disorder these can become unmanageable and overwhelming - individuals can experience severe and/or rapid mood swings that can last several weeks or months, far beyond the normal ups and downs. Session 1 explores how bi-polar is diagnosed, and what the symptoms and early warning signs are. Session 2 looks at how bi-polar is treated and explores self-help ideas and how to manage during the COVID outbreak.
 
Part 1 | 2pm-3pm| Tuesday 27th July
Part 2 | 2pm-3pm| Tuesday 3rd August
 
Eating Healthily to Look After Your Weight
 
This two-part course focuses on how to work towards a healthier lifestyle, and diet.  Many of us struggle to understand the reasons why it is so hard to eat a healthy diet, and to manage our weight. We will explore what is effective healthy eating to support your physical, and mental wellbeing. We will discuss the environmental, and personal issues that affect our food choices. The second part of the course will outline how to monitor, and measure, weight, make dietary changes, and consider broader lifestyle issues.  Setting realistic weight goals, and developing sustainable, and personal, action plans, will also be discussed. The course facilitators will be the Trust Head of Nutrition, & Dietetic Services, a peer recovery trainer, and a practitioner trainer from the Recovery College.
 
Part 1 | 2pm-3:15pm| Tuesday 27th July
Part 2 | 2pm-3:15pm| Tuesday 3rd August
 
Making Changes: where to start and how to maintain
 
The aim of this four-part course is to enable participants to explore, embrace and prepare for the challenges involved when embarking on a change of lifestyle. This may include reducing alcohol consumption or embarking on an exercise programme or a healthy eating plan.   
 
The learning will be applicable to any type of change someone wishes to make in their life.  
 
We will also look at decision making and managing and maintaining the process of recovery as it applies, for example, to relapse prevention. 
 
Part 1 | 3:30pm-4:30pm| Wednesday 28th July
Part 2 | 3:30pm-4:30pm | Friday 30th July
Part 3 | 3:30pm-4:30pm | Wednesday 4th August
Part 4 | 3:30pm-4:30pm | Friday 6th August
 
Understanding and Managing Health Anxiety
 
Health anxiety is the name used when you spend so much time worrying that you're ill, or about getting ill, that it starts to take over your life; for many people, the Covid-19 pandemic has increased these types of worries. 
 
This course will look at some of the causes of health anxiety, and the things you can do to lessen these worries, and the impact on your life.
 
Part 1 | 10:30-12noon| Friday 30th July
Part 2 | 10:30-12noon | Friday 6th August
 
FIRST TIME REGISTRATION, if you haven’t signed up to a webinar with us before:  
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqjpd3n-l3AxAj-8hQpHMfNlUOTlXMENXWUgwQ0JVVlhOMTU0SllDMFU1Uy4u 

RETURNING STUDENTS REGISTRATION, if you have already signed up to a webinar with us before:  
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqjpd3n-l3AxAj-8hQpHMfNlUNTRPSlRROVhQQTUxTUYxVUc0U083QzUwUC4u 

Please feel free to share this offer of free-to-view webinars with anyone who you think might benefit. 
 
Visit our COVID_19 resources page for details of crisis support, covid-19 advice, online learning, online activities, and staying connected: https://www.slamrecoverycollege.co.uk/covid-19-resources.html  

With very best wishes,
 
The team at South London and Maudsley Recovery College
​

The second course of SLaM Recovery College’s new BAME* suite of courses. See below for more details of this project.
[* Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic]
 
Unit 1: Racism as trauma | 1pm-3:30pm | Monday 19th July 
Unit 2: Inherited distress: transgenerational trauma | 9am-11:30am | Friday 23rd July 
Unit 3: Encoded norms: institutionalised racism | 1pm-3:30pm | Monday 26th July 
Unit 4: Daily disregard: interpersonal racism | 9am-11:30am | Friday 30th July 
Unit 5: The unsaid sinks inwards: internalised racism | 1pm-3:30pm | Monday 2nd August
Unit 6: Towards healing: thriving against the odds | 9am-11:30am | Friday 6th August 

This six-unit course explores how the experience of racism can be helpfully understood as trauma. We use a trauma-informed approach to making sense of the many impacts of racism on the mental health of people of colour. We draw particularly on the work of Camara Jones, Farhad Dalal, Guilaine Kinouani and Judith Herman, but the course is also profoundly informed by the lived experiences of our service users, parents and carers of services users, clinical and non-clinical colleagues.
 
The course gently leads us through the continuing effects of transgenerational racial trauma (historical as well as familial), as well as the everyday impacts of institutional, interpersonal, and internalised racism. We will explore what each of these means, what it feels like to experience them and how to recognise them when they happen. We will also think about how we can minimise the traumatic impact of these experiences.

The sessions will be in the Microsoft Teams Meeting format, which means we will be able to see and hear each other, have group discussions, and share experiences and helpful tips. These sessions won’t be recorded, so you’ll need to be able to make the live sessions. 
 
If you’d like to take part in the course:
 
Please complete this online expression of interest/participation agreement form:
 
forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SuTPoS5olUqOctA7m1iHqgmyKPB4GLVHori7bpbnOyxUNVdPR1c0MU5TVTNVOTJQRDU4SlM3WklROCQlQCN0PWcu
 
There are 30 places available on the course. If more than 30 students apply, we will allocate the places by lottery.
 
SLaM Recovery College’s new suite of BAME courses
 
Although this project was initially inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, we are not aligned to or affiliated with any political aims of this or any other organisation. Our purpose is to use education to expose and address ongoing systemic failings throughout society, to raise awareness, and to discover and explore what might most help us all move forward together.
 
The general aim of this set of courses is to re-programme thinking around racism. We do this by providing a reflective space where it is possible to explore the lived experience of racism along with its many social and psychological impacts on BAME people, non-BAME people and on society as a whole.
 
This space is provided to raise questions and discover solutions that have a positive impact on the lived experience of BAME people within our culture. Our intention is to help facilitate understanding and growth in those parts of our culture where discrimination, injustice and persecution of people perceived to be different still persist.
 
We have already run the four-part course Being an Ally (which we’ll be offering again soon); the other courses in this project will be:
 
·       Uncomfortable Truths: the experiences of BAME people in mental health services
·       Colourism: perception, prejudice and identity