Month: February 2013

We had a really encouraging and inspiring group today. As one of the groups’ aims was to find a place of respite for individuals who felt of a break away we discussed issues around and discovered that there are actually places in Edinburgh that can provide this. I explained that i would look into this on behalf of the group. We did an excercise about our strengths and what other members thought our qualities are. We discussed how doing this excercise gives us a better understanding of our qualities as a times we feel we do not have any. The group members agreed that they would write a story/poem to express their experiences.

Next Week we have John Crawford from SAMH coming to visit the group.

Today was a very productive meeting. It was great to welcome a new member along who was made to feel very welcome. Due to the group talking about what helps one another whn feeling down, someone brought in a crochet, a poem and a mobile display to express the way she feels. The group was very touched as a lot of though went into this. This is something we are actively encouraging in the group for people to share what helps them survive through difficult times.

We had Geoffrey from Strengths base as our guest this week. He wanted to introduce himself to the group before coming back in April to help work on what the different strengths are in the group.

We discussed with Keith (Edinburgh Napier University) how the group could work on their life experiences into anonymous stories that could be used by drama students to work on. There is a positive feeling amongst the group that things are taking off in so many ways.

Today we had Angela Voulgari  from Penumbra in the group today to explain what her Organisation does and to talk about self harm.  A common misconception about Penumbra is that it is a service only for teenagers who self harm.  Angela was able to explain that the organisation works with lots of different areas supporting people’s Mental Health and Wellbeing.  We discussed the reasons why people may self harm.  People in the group discussed how they had possibly behaved recklessly in the past and wondering if this had been a form of self harm.  We discussed if an individual has a drink/drug problem if this then also a form of self harm?  Some things that may help people who self harm are having support, distracting yourself, doing things you enjoy that will keep you safe and last of all to learn to believe that there is hope.

For more information on Penumbra please visit http://www.penumbra.org.uk/content/home