Creating and Sustaining Good Mental Health at Work 1 day

We begin with three characteristics: Clear, Rational and Positive. Clear means understanding what we believe and why; rational means relating our judgements to facts and reality; positive means having constructive intentions towards ourselves and others, with rational optimism about the future.

We examine how unclear thinking, unsupported assumptions and habitual negative interpretations can contribute to confusion, frustration, worry and resentment. The course draws on principles from cognitive psychology, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy.

Good and poor mental health are not treated as two fixed categories. The Mental Health Spectrum extends from minus ten to plus ten, with varying degrees of clarity, rationality, confidence and emotional wellbeing in between.

Delegates reflect on how habitual thinking, emotional responses and actions can influence their position, and identify realistic opportunities for improvement.

Explore Self, Others, Systems and Mother Nature. We can choose aspects of our own thinking and behaviour, but cannot fully control other people, organisational systems, natural events or changing circumstances.

Distinguish what we can control, what we can influence and what requires intelligent adaptation. Apply this distinction to difficult colleagues, organisational change and unexpected events, directing attention towards constructive action.

The brain is a physical organ, and its functioning is influenced by our physical condition and daily habits. Mental wellbeing therefore involves both how we use our minds and how we treat our bodies.

Recognise why mental and physical habits both contribute to concentration, emotional responses and the energy needed to work well.

Use Paul MacLean's historical Triune Brain model as a simple teaching framework for instinctive functions, emotional responses and rational judgement. Discuss automatic bodily processes and survival responses, feelings such as fear and enthusiasm, and deliberate reasoning, planning and purposeful action.

The central principle is: We run it on reason and manage our emotions. Delegates consider how rational judgement can guide behaviour while recognising and appropriately managing emotional and instinctive responses.

Our interpretations of events influence our emotional experiences. Hearing a crash downstairs and believing someone has broken into the house may produce fear; discovering that a cat knocked over a cup changes the interpretation, even though the original fear was real.

Examine how mistaken assumptions and habitual negative interpretations can produce unnecessary anxiety, anger and resentment. Practise questioning interpretations more rationally and developing more appropriate emotional responses.

The matrix examines thoughts about the past and future through four patterns. Past Bad can involve anger, resentment, guilt and regret; Future Bad can involve worry, anxiety and pessimism; Past Was Good can bring treasured memories and gratitude, but also nostalgia and dissatisfaction with the present.

Future Good represents rational optimism: if we work well today, there are good reasons to believe we can improve the future. This means recognising reality and identifying constructive action, rather than expecting difficulties to disappear automatically.

Use the matrix to recognise habitual patterns and consider more constructive responses to criticism, disagreements and change.

We develop habitual ways of thinking and feeling as well as familiar physical routines. Repeated interpretations may contribute to recurring anger, worry, regret or optimism.

The same setback may prompt one person to become angry, another to lose confidence and a third to examine the facts and take constructive action. Delegates recognise their habitual responses and identify more rational alternatives.

Complete separate Mental Health Management Matrix self-assessments covering the previous six months at work and outside work, which we call home. Estimate how much attention has been directed towards anger, worry, nostalgia and rational optimism.

Compare the two areas and identify differences in habitual emotional responses. These are practical self-reflection exercises, rather than clinical diagnostic assessments.

Consider how a psychologically wise person might distribute attention between reasonable concern, justified anger, treasured memories and rational optimism. Fear, sadness, anger and concern can be appropriate when circumstances justify them.

The aim is to develop predominantly constructive and optimistic habits while retaining proportionate responses to difficulties. Compare present habits with a preferred pattern and identify practical improvements, without imposing a universal numerical score.

Examine how alcohol, food and drugs can influence brain activity, judgement, sleep, concentration and emotional responses. Distinguish caffeine, prescribed medicines and non-prescribed or illegal substances, recognising the difference between appropriate medical treatment and harmful substance use.

Explore three constructive habits: sufficient regular sleep, balanced nutrition and exercise. Exercise includes aerobic activity, anaerobic strength and resistance work, and flexibility.

Identify realistic physical habits that can support clearer thinking, emotional wellbeing and energy.

Criticism, setbacks, defeats and imposed change are inevitable features of life. The Mental Health Success Formula helps delegates manage their emotional responses and turn negative feedback into adaptive change.

Apply five stages: Purpose, what are we trying to achieve; Plan, how do we intend to achieve it; Action, what should we do; Feedback, what do the results tell us; and Change, what adaptations will improve future results?

Positive feedback helps us recognise what is working. Negative feedback calls for examining the facts, learning from mistakes and improving plans or actions, or adapting to circumstances we cannot change. Delegates also work through eight practical questions about goals, plans, actions, results, feedback and improvement.

The purpose is to prevent negative events from unnecessarily becoming habitual negative mental and emotional states. Constructive action provides a practical foundation for rational optimism when life does not go according to plan.

Review the individual assessments and select practical actions for improving mental, emotional and physical habits. Identify how to maintain rational optimism and respond constructively to future criticism, setbacks and change.

Leave with specific improvements to apply at work and at home, supported by the post-course resources and three months of telephone coaching.