Peter Abbott specialises in outstanding quality online or face-to-face training in Psycho-Education, Wellbeing and Mental Health First Aid.

His CPD Accredited courses will educate and empower learners to take ownership and a better understanding of their wellbeing and mental health through psychoeducation, discussion, practical exercises and takeaways.

Over the last 5-years, there has been a much sharper and welcomed focus on the topic of mental health in the workplace. The role of Mental Health First Aiders is much more common and plays a vital part in supporting employees who are struggling with their mental health.

This is only part of the wellbeing story we need to consider with regard to our wellbeing and mental health.

Expert thinking now is that we all need to take a much more proactive approach to our well-being and mental health. Taking ownership of our well-being both physically and mentally is vital to this approach, however, a lot of people have not acquired the knowledge or skills to be able to do so.

A key life skill we should all possess is at any given moment, to be able to tell the status of our physical or mental health. Know how to take ongoing action to support it, keep it healthy and reach out for help if we need to.

Why is it important to understand your wellbeing and mental health?

Humans have never lived in such a fast-paced switched-on world as we do now. Since 2010 we have seen personal screen time go from 24 minutes to 4.5 hours per day. That's an 800% increase. We are constantly encouraged and drawn to a 24/7 digital culture. This new age of digital consumerism is having a major impact on people's mental health and wellbeing and particularly increasing stress in our daily lives.

It's never been more important to be able to not only understand what wellbeing is, and how strong our mental and physical health is, but to take action to keep it as optimum as possible. This allows us to cope with the ups and downs of life, manage stress far more effectively and enjoy a much better work/life balance.

What is Psycho Education and why is it important?

Psycho-Education is now being seen as an important way forward. When we attended school, we were taught about Physical Education (P.E.), however, we rarely received an education when it came to understanding and supporting our mental health. This is where Psycho-Education steps in.

Psycho-Education teaches people -

• What mental health is, what influences it and how fluid it can be through understanding the mental health continuum
• Fully understand what stress is, how it can impact us and how to take effective action to manage it
• Understand what a healthy work/life balance looks like and identify unhealthy signs so action can be taken
• Understand the importance of high-quality sleep, what is happening when we do and put in place preparations to get the best sleep possible
• Understand what intrusive thoughts are, how they might be challenged using the ABC framework and tips to help manage them
• Being able to monitor and manage your wellbeing effectively is a key life skill and Psycho-Education can help make that happen by creating a plan and checking system to ensure positive ownership and management