26 Mental Health Exercises & Interventions Based on Science 22/01/23, 10:13 AM
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Body & Brain ! 6 Jul 2022 " 7
26 Mental Health
Exercises & Interventions
Based on Science
25 Sep 2019 by Leslie Riopel, MSc. #
Mental health is
undoubtedly an
important topic;
however, many
people find it
uncomfortable to talk about it.
Mental health includes your emotional health, your
psychological health, and your social well-being.
The state of your mental health determines how you
handle stress, how you relate to others, and how you make
choices in life.
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Mental health is critically important at every stage of life
from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Mental
health problems can affect one’s thinking, moods, and
behaviors.
There is a myriad of factors that can contribute to mental
health issues such as:
$ Biological factors like brain chemistry or genes.
$ Experiences in life, such as abuse or trauma.
$ Family history of mental health issues or problems.
Mental health activities and interventions are designed to
help someone cope.
There are many interventions and activities that can make
this process a little more approachable from Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to Mindfulness.
Before you continue, we thought you might like to
download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free.
These science-based exercises will explore fundamental
aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values,
and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to
enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or
employees.
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This Article Contains:
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26 Mental Health Exercises & Interventions Based on Science 22/01/23, 10:13 AM
$ What is Mental Health Activities?
$ 5 Examples of Mental Health Techniques and
Skills
$ What are Mental Health Interventions?
$ The Types of Mental Health Interventions (Incl.
List)
$ 4 Examples of Evidence-Based Mental Health
Interventions
$ A Look at Using Interventions with Depression
$ 3 Mental Health Group Activities and Exercises
$ 2 Therapeutic Mental Health Activities and
Interventions for Adults
$ 6 Mental Health Promotion Activities for the
Workplace
$ 3 Activities for Teens and Students (Incl. Mental
Health Awareness Exercises)
$ 3 Mental Health Activities and Ideas for kids
$ Mental Health Worksheets (incl. PDF)
$ A Take-Home Message
$ References
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What is Mental Health
Activities?
Mental health activities are things you can do to improve
your mental health. Engaging in wellness activities can
have a positive effect on your health and wellness, as well
as your sense of inner peace.
Mental health activities might include mindfulness or
meditation, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy worksheets,
Psychotherapy worksheets, and even mood trackers.
5 Examples of Mental Health
Techniques and Skills
Cognitive Therapy or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
works by helping you identify and change the elements of
your belief system and the cognitive distortions that can
lead to those automatic negative thoughts or ANTS.
ANTS are those automatic negative thoughts or
subconscious thoughts that occur in response to stimuli.
These thoughts are often irrational and self-defeating.
A few CBT techniques include:
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1. Identifying Cognitive Distortions
2. Cognitive Restructuring and Reframing
3. Keeping a Thought Record
4. The Worry Tree
5. Chunking and Problem-Solving
1. Identifying Cognitive Distortions
Cognitive distortions are irrational thoughts that can
influence your emotions.
They are biased ways of thinking about yourself and the
world around you. While everyone experiences cognitive
distortions to a small degree, some people take it to the
extreme.
These irrational thoughts and beliefs (basically distortions)
can lead to problematic emotional states and behavior.
This might include anxiety, low self-esteem, depression,
and even conflicts in relationships.
Taking steps to become more aware of cognitive
distortions can help you shift your thinking to more
rational and objective thoughts whenever possible.
Thinking more rationally tends to lead to more positive
emotional and behavioral experiences.
According to Dr. David Burns, MD (Burns, 1989) in the
book “The Feeling Good Handbook,” there are at least ten
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different cognitive distortions that one should be aware
of.
$ All or Nothing Thinking: This occurs when someone
sees things in terms of black-and-white categories.
For this type of thinker, anything short of perfection
is a failure.
$ Overgeneralization: This occurs when you view a
single event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
Those who overgeneralize might also make broad
interpretations from a single event like feeling
awkward in a job interview leading you to falsely
believe that you are always awkward.
$ Mental Filter: A mental filter is when you pick out a
single negative detail and dwell on it to the point of
exclusivity. As a result, your vision of reality
becomes darkened, like a drop of ink discoloring an
entire beaker of water.
$ Disqualifying the Positive: This occurs when you
reject positive experiences and insist they “don’t
count” for some reason or other. Thinking this way
helps you maintain a negative belief that is
contradicted by your everyday experiences.
$ Jumping to Conclusions: When you jump to
conclusions, you don’t think things through, and you
react impulsively. This might manifest as mind-
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reading, or concluding someone is reacting
negatively toward you without checking it out or
fortune-telling or predicting something will turn out
bad.
$ Magnification: This is also known as catastrophizing
or minimization. This occurs when you exaggerate
or minimize the importance of events. For example,
someone might mistakenly believe that their
achievements are not important, or their mistakes
are incredibly damaging.
$ Emotional Reasoning: This occurs when you assume
that your negative emotions reflect the way things
are. For example, you might say to yourself that you
feel like a lousy friend; therefore, you must be a bad
friend.
$ Should Statements: These occur when you believe
that things should be a certain way like you should
always be friendly.
$ Labeling and Mislabeling: This is an extreme form of
an overgeneralization, and it happens when you
attach a negative label to yourself, such as thinking
you are a loser.
$ Personalization: This occurs when you believe you
are responsible for events outside of your control.
You might also see yourself as the cause of some
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adverse external event, which you were not
primarily responsible for.
The Putting Thoughts on Trial Worksheet is a Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy activity focused on the logical
examination of irrational thoughts. In this exercise, the
client acts as his own advocate as he puts himself in
different positions.
Just like in a real courtroom, the client is forced to
recognize that he or she can only work with hard cold
facts.
This exercise is extremely valuable because it helps
someone see things from many different perspectives.
As a therapist, you can help by challenging evidence that
you believe breaks the rules. You can also offer up
evidence that your client may have missed.
2. Cognitive Restructuring and Reframing
Cognitive restructuring and reframing is a psychological
technique that allows you to actively reprogram your
brain. In short, if you change your beliefs, you create real,
physical changes in your brain.
According to a study done with those who drive cabs in
London (Maguire, Woollett, & Spiers, 2006) humans have a
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remarkable capacity to acquire and use knowledge of a
large complex city to navigate within it.
The cab drivers brain scans were compared with the scans
of normal brains with average people. The study found the
section of the brain used for mapping and memorizing
routes was more developed in those who drive cabs, and
also physically bigger.
The Socratic Question worksheet is a great tool to help
you reframe your thoughts, which are often a running
dialogue. Our thoughts determine how we feel and how
we act, so taking the time to challenge them can be very
helpful.
Negative thinking strengthens the negative part of our
mind, whereas positive thinking strengthens the positive.
The brain is basically like a muscle with many different
parts. The parts you use more often grow bigger and
stronger.
3. Thought Record
Keeping a Thought Record is another excellent tool to
help change thoughts. Thought records are used to teach
clients about the interactions between thoughts, feelings,
and behaviors, and is used for clients to record their own
experiences. In terms of cognitive restructuring, keeping a
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thought record is a great place to begin challenging
irrational thoughts.
The Thought Record worksheet offers plenty of space for
your clients to record their thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors.
4. The Worry Tree
The Worry Tree is designed to help you think differently
when it comes to things that worry you. As you dive
deeper and deeper into what is going on, as it pertains to
your worry, you start to get a new perspective.
The Worry Tree is a simple tool developed by Butler and
Hope (1995) to help focus the attention and help people
make better decisions. It can also stop someone from
turning a worry into a catastrophe.
The further you break the worry down, the more clearly
you can see other outcomes and change your focus of
attention.
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This Worry Tree was accessed via
getselfhelo.co.uk/worrytree.htm
5. Chunking and Problem-Solving
Chunking is breaking large amounts of information down
into smaller pieces, and it is a great problem-solving
technique. It refers to the process of grouping separate
pieces of information together, but it can also be used to
solve problems. It is also a great way to stand back and
look at the bigger picture.
By chunking down, you can ask yourself how you did
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something or why you think something happened.
Chunking also allows you to analyze what happened when
and if it will happen again so that you can then begin to
see the underlying cause.
You can also chunk up and ask yourself what something
means or what you were trying to achieve.
$ Chunking up refers to moving to a more general or
abstract piece of information.
$ Chunking down means moving to more specific or
detailed information.
Taking the time to work through a Problem Solving
worksheet can be very helpful when it comes to breaking
problems down.
What are Mental Health
Interventions?
Sometimes a mental health issue will escalate and require
an intervention. A mental health intervention can help
someone through tragedy, trauma, or through any
underlying untreated psychiatric disorder.
Ideally, a therapist or intervention specialist of some kind
is involved in helping convince someone to get mental
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health or medical treatment.
A mental health intervention team may consist of many
different experts, including a therapist, social worker,
psychiatrist, or psychologist.
The overall goal is to help intervene before a situation gets
into a crisis mode.
The Types of Mental Health
Interventions (Incl. List)
According to the Foundations Recovery Network, a
foundation that specializes in the dual diagnosis of
substance addiction and mental health disorders, the top
four types of interventions include:
1. Simple intervention
2. Classical intervention
3. Family system intervention
4. Crisis intervention
A simple intervention involves a single family member, but
it can also include a professional of some sort.
This occurs without the staging of a massive gathering of
people, which can be a lot less intimidating. The person
doing the intervention would confront the patient and ask
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them to stop using drugs or ask them to get into some
type of treatment program or mental health counseling.
This type of one-on-one intervention can be very effective
when done thoughtfully and correctly.
The classical intervention typically begins with some kind
of planning session without the patient. This type of
intervention may also include counseling and education
for family member and participants.
Often deemed the Johnson Model intervention, in this
type of intervention, family members can discuss their
part before the official intervention begins.
A counselor or interventionist is present to help prepare
and set the stage as to what is to come.
The family system intervention is based upon the family
system theory and treatment, where multiple people in a
family might struggle with an issue such as addiction or
co-dependence.
In this type of intervention, all family members are
encouraged to participate and continue beyond the initial
intervention.
A crisis intervention might be necessary if the patient is
becoming a danger to himself or others.
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The immediate objective of this type of impromptu
intervention is to stabilize the situation and ensure
everyone is safe.
4 Examples of Evidence-
Based Mental Health
Interventions
Evidence-Based interventions are programs and practices
that have peer-reviewed, documented, empirical evidence
of effectiveness.
1. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is a treatment
designed to help those who suffer from ongoing episodes
of depression or for those who suffer from chronic
unhappiness.
A study was done by Kuyken and colleagues (2016) looked
at the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in
the prevention of depressive relapse.
The relapse of depression is a significant public health
problem, according to the study. Mindfulness-based
cognitive therapy was used in randomized trials with 1,258
patients.
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Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy appeared to be
efficacious in terms of treatment for relapse prevention
for depression, especially for those with more pronounced
symptoms.
MBCT was developed by John Teasdale, Mark Williams,
and Zindel Segal and is based upon the same premise as
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.
Though this form of treatment was initially developed to
address recurrent depression, it may also be beneficial for
those seeking treatment for a wide range of mental health
concerns.
2. Solution-focused brief therapy
Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is another good
evidence-based therapy. It is a short resource-oriented
and goal-focused approach to therapy that helps
individuals change by constructing solutions.
It aims to enhance optimism and positive expectancy
along with the experience of positive emotions to improve
outcomes.
A study done by Franklin, Zhang, Froerer & Johnson (2016)
showed that SFBT techniques have a great deal of support
when it comes to demonstrating positive results.
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3. Schema-focused therapy
Schema-focused therapy is designed to help people
identify the thought and behavioral patterns underlying
and perpetuating mental health conditions.
Schemas are like a framework of thoughts, per se.
Schemas help us organize and interpret complex
information.
These constructs are often the product of how our basic
childhood needs were dealt with.
Schema-focused therapy has also been useful in treating
borderline personality disorder, which involves feelings of
instability, extreme emotional reactions, and chronic fear
of abandonment.
This type of therapy might include cognitive-behavioral
techniques, Gestalt work, or even visual imagery. (Kahl,
Winter, & Schweiger, 2012).
4. Interpersonal psychotherapy
Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a brief and very
structured type of approach. It helps one deal with
interpersonal issues that could cause them problems in
terms of their mental health.
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IPT is based on the idea that interpersonal problems are
often interconnected with mental health issues. The goal
of this therapy is to help someone better understand how
these problems, operating in their current life situation,
lead him or her to become distressed.
Interpersonal problems may include interpersonal
disputes, role transitions, grief, and interpersonal deficits.
IPT helps to explore one’s perceptions and expectations of
relationships, aiming to improve communication and
interpersonal skills (Jakobsen, Hansen, Simonsen,
Simonsen, & Gluud, 2012).
A Look at Using
Interventions with
Depression
Evidence-based interventions can also be helpful for
depressed patients with cancer. Depression is significantly
higher in patients with cancer when compared to the
general population. (Holland, 2002)
At least 25% of oncology patients experience some form of
depression.
The most evidence has been seen in the use of cognitive-
behavioral therapy. This type of brief, goal-oriented
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therapy helps people learn the principles of behavior
change, which they can direct toward a specific clinical
outcome. (Osborn, Democada, & Feuerstein, 2006).
This type of therapy is designed to help teach people
strength-based skills to solve problems. As they learn to
solve problems, they begin reframing their thoughts and
thinking differently.
3 Mental Health Group
Activities and Exercises
There are many wonderful group activities and exercises
that can help boost mental health. A few of these are:
1. Group Beginnings
2. Cracking the Nuts and Eliminating the ANTS
3. Teaching Acceptance Strategies through Visualization
The Group Beginnings worksheet is a valuable tool for
organizing a group session. According to Judith Belmont, a
psychotherapist, and an author, effective beginnings and
endings are one of the major determinants of the
effectiveness of a group.
The Group Beginnings worksheet has a checklist of items
to review at the start and end of each group session.
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Some of these items include:
1. Sharing successes and challenges.
2. Providing feedback from prior sessions.
3. Informal mood check.
4. Homework review.
5. Setting agendas.
6. Establishing goals.
7. Taking a mindful minute.
Cracking the Nuts and Eliminating the ANTS worksheet is
a tool developed by psychologists Elisha Goldstein, Aaron
Beck, and David Burns. It uses acronyms to help people
uncover and eliminate unhealthy patterns of thought.
The activity involves clients listing and discussing ANTS
and NUTS as part of the therapy. ANTS refer to automatic
negative thoughts that result in anxiety or depression, and
NUTS refers to negative unconscious thoughts.
Teaching Acceptance Strategies through Visualization
worksheet offers tips and activities for visualization.
These include:
1. Quicksand visualization.
2. Beach ball visualization.
3. Mountain visualization.
4. Train visualization.
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5. Helicopter and Airplane visualization.
6. Balloon visualization.
7. Computer visualization.
8. Teflon mind visualization.
These exercises serve as metaphors helping the client
visualize different motivating strategies for change.
2 Therapeutic Mental Health
Activities and Interventions
for Adults
The Identify Your Internal Core Beliefs worksheet helps
someone identify how they see the world by focusing on
their core beliefs.
This also helps someone see the internal filters they have
in place that may be distorting their viewpoint. The
worksheet has a list of negative core beliefs like ‘I am
unlikeable’ or ‘I am a bad person‘ and a list of positive core
beliefs such as ‘I am loveable‘ or ‘I am a good person.’
These beliefs are checked off and scored to help someone
better understand how they see the world.
The Problematic Thinking Habit worksheet is another
excellent way to identify problematic thinking and means
to create healthy thinking. Clients can choose from a list
of problematic thinking habits and then focus on ways to
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think more positively.
6 Mental Health Promotion
Activities for the Workplace
Many helpful activities can be done in the workplace.
Some of these include:
1. 8 Hours of Sleep Challenge where employees wear a
sleep tracker and compete for prizes or incentives.
2. 30 days of Gratitude Jar where employees write down
one thing they feel grateful for every day for 30 days.
3. Peaceful Planting Project where employees bring a
plant into the office.
4. Bring Your Pet to Work Day to create a family-friendly
atmosphere.
5. Chair Massages given throughout the day.
6. Meditation Month for stress relief and dedicating a
few minutes a day toward the practice.
These activities and more can be found at the Austin
Benefits Group website.
3 Activities for Teens and
Students (Incl. Mental
Health Awareness Exercises)
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Checklist for Assertive Behavior worksheet is a tool for
teens to identify assertive behavior. The worksheet can
help someone clarify a goal, decide on significant points
they want to say, and help them anticipate positive and
negative responses.
Learning About Communication worksheet is a useful
resource for helping teens and students identify whether
their behavior is non-assertive, aggressive, or assertive.
Tips for Emotional Resilience worksheet is a great
resource to help teens and students develop a sense of
resilience. The worksheet offers tips for using events as
learning experiences, helping one focus on what they can
control, how to develop compassion, and how to develop
good self-care habits.
3 Mental Health Activities
and Ideas for kids
The Helping Children Identify Feelings worksheet helps
children be more self-aware of their emotions instead of
acting them out. Children are asked to identify a feeling or
feelings by thinking of a situation that upsets them.
They are then asked to circle their feelings and write what
they are upset about and how they can ask for change.
Through this activity, children can select certain emotions
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like anger, sadness, or confusion and identify strategies
for coping.
Making a Calming Box worksheet is another metaphorical
tool that can help a child cope. Children can bring in their
own box and use actual objects such as a stress ball or a
glitter-calming jar to self-soothe.
I-Messages for Kids worksheet is a useful tool for naming
an emotion, describing a behavior, and requesting a
change. An I-message is a respectful and truthful way to
ask for change tactfully.
Mental Health Worksheets
(incl. PDF)
The teenmentalhealth.org website offers an evidence-
based guide for students. The Mental Health and High
School Curriculum Guide offered as a pdf provides a wide
variety of tools to help teens and students, including
modules on:
1. The stigma of mental illness.
2. Understanding mental health and mental illness.
3. Information on specific mental illnesses.
4. The importance of family communication.
5. Seeking help and finding support.
6. The importance of positive mental health.
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The guide also includes several quizzes and activities.
A Take-Home Message
The stigma that used to be associated with mental health
has dramatically diminished over the years.
Mental health is critically important to living a good life.
From cognitive-behavioral therapy to interpersonal
psychotherapy to evidence-based interventions, there is
an endless supply of resources that can help someone.
While these exercises and interventions are fantastic, you
might want to take some time to read more on the subject.
Peruse our selection of mental health books to pick
reading material that will suit you.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to
download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free.
% REFERENCES &
Burns, D. D. (1989). The feeling good handbook:
Using the new mood therapy in everyday life.
New York, NY: William Morrow and Company.
Butler, G., & Hope, T. (1995). The mental fitness
guide: Manage your mind. Oxford, NY: Oxford
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University Press.
Franklin, C., Zhang, A., Froerer, A., & Johnson, S.
(2017). Solution focused brief therapy: A
systematic review and meta-summary of process
research. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy,
43(1), 16-30.
Holland, J. C. (2002). History of psycho-oncology:
Overcoming attitudinal and conceptual barriers.
Psychosomatic Medicine, 64(2), 206-22.
Jakobsen, J. C., Hansen, J. L., Simonsen, S.,
Simonsen, E., & Gluud, C. (2012). Effects of
cognitive therapy versus interpersonal
psychotherapy in patients with major depressive
disorder: A systematic review of randomized
clinical trials with meta-analyses and trial
sequential analyses. Psychological Medicine, 42,
1343-1357.
Kahl, K. G., Winter, L., & Schweiger, U. (2012). The
third wave of cognitive behavioural therapies:
What is new and what is effective? Current
Opinion in Psychiatry, 25(6), 522-528.
Kuyken, W., Warren, F. C., Taylor, R. S., Whalley,
B., Crane, C., Bondolfi, G., … & Dalgleish, T.
(2016). Efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy in prevention of depressive relapse: An
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individual patient data meta-analysis from
randomized trials. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(6), 565-
574.
Maguire, E. A., Woollett, K., & Spiers, H. J. (2006).
London taxi drivers and bus drivers: A structural
MRI and neuropsychological analysis.
Hippocampus, 16(12), 1091-1101.
Osborn, R. L., Democada, A. C., & Feuerstein, M.
(2006). Psychosocial interventions for
depression, anxiety, and quality of life in cancer
survivors: Meta-analyses. International Journal
of Psychiatry in Medicine, 36(1), 13-34.
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' ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leslie Riopel, MSc., is Professor of
Psychology at Northwood University.
She writes on a wide range of topics at
PositivePsychology.com and does
research into mindfulness and
meditation. Leslie’s unique blend of
experiences in both real estate &
psychology has allowed her to focus
on fostering healthy workplaces that
thrive.
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beyond thorough and thoughtful, 2021 to say the
least. These resources are vital and should be
shared more often. Thank you, 2021 again.
Reply
Mark Wayne Cline on November 30, 2020 at
18:26
I was reentering the field of counseling and found
this information very helpful, insightful, and an
excellent way to grasp the basic criteria required
for therapy.
Reply
Jacalyn Michelle Donegan'Lawson on October 14,
2020 at 15:25
Looking for information for Mental Health group
activities
Reply
Amit on April 28, 2020 at 20:15
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26 Mental Health Exercises & Interventions Based on Science 22/01/23, 10:13 AM
Great article ,the same logic of police officer
applies to medical professionals too they can also
suffer from similar problems .wud like to know
about cbt worksheets and how to engage with the
sheets and apply them in daily life
Reply
Nicole Celestine on August 10, 2020 at 15:40
Hi Amit,
Glad you enjoyed the article. You can find a
post containing a range of useful CBT
worksheets and activities here. We also have a
free pack of three CBT exercises you can
download for free here.
Hope this helps!
– Nicole | Community Manager
Reply
Leslie Riopel on October 9, 2019 at 19:38
Jorey,
That’s a great question. I found a wonderful article
about this issue written by a Dr. Kelly Long, a
Special Agent in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms for over 18 years.
Dr. Long states that this type of stigma is often
caused by the perceptions of officers themselves. A
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26 Mental Health Exercises & Interventions Based on Science 22/01/23, 10:13 AM
police officer is supposed to be strong, self-reliant,
and fearless. Many believe that asking for help, or
acknowledging that they are struggling, is an
admission that they are not those things. They may
also fear that others will lose trust in them if they
admit a weakness.
Some of the stigmatization of mental health issues,
are starting to be addressed. Many departments
throughout the country have created peer-based
programs that offer support to officers through
peer-support programs and critical incident stress
teams.
Peer support programs are a group of specially
trained volunteer officers within the department
who are trained to aid their fellow officers during
times of both professional and personal crisis so
this is one option.
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Teams
Another important peer-based program is a critical
incident response team which is a specially trained
team that includes both professional and peer-
support personnel who can respond immediately in
the aftermath of a traumatic event.
Having said all of that, the biggest issue is the fear
of being seen as weak, so that is the issue that
really needs to be addressed.
I think the best way to combat this is education and
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26 Mental Health Exercises & Interventions Based on Science 22/01/23, 10:13 AM
awareness and bringing the issue out into the light.
Officers and leaders need to take it upon
themselves to end the stigma associated with
mental health issues. Officers must start
supporting each other and encouraging those who
are struggling to get the help they need. Officers
must also be brave enough to evaluate their own
mental wellness, acknowledge when they
themselves need help, and take steps to get the
help they deserve.
Not an easy task, but an important one.
I hope that helps!
https://inpublicsafety.com/2019/05/addressing-th
e-mental-health-stigma-in-law-enforcement/
Reply
Jorey L Krawczyn on October 3, 2019 at 05:18
The “stigma” that used to be associated with
mental health has dramatically diminished over the
years. I agree with this statement, however I work
with police officers and this stigma in not seeking
help is highly lethal. How would you suggest I
attack this stigma in a positive fashion in hopes of
eventually eradicating it from the profession?
Reply
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