Mental Health

Inspire : Challenge : Transform

Mental illness affects 1 in 4 adults in the United Kingdom in any one year
1 in 10 children between the ages of 1 and 15 has a mental health disorder
12% of the UK population experience depression in any one-year
Only 1 in 10 prisoners has no mental health disorder
700,000 people in the UK have dementia at any one time
Mixed anxiety and depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain
Up to 80% of people who experience mental health problems will make a full recovery
Mental ill-health costs business and commerce approximately £9 billion every year
To scource and find more facts like these please see the links listed below.

“ Our service users are dealing with a full spectrum of mental health problems with varying degrees of severity. They each have different levels of interest and ability in art. However, Eileen is able to engage all, motivate and inspire. She creates a friendly, accepting environment adapting to the needs of each service user so they can explore new skills and fulfill their potential.”
Sherrill Malik
Community Mental Health Recovery Worker

I recognise and strongly believe in the important role creativity plays in the treatment of those who are not experiencing good mental health. I have been working with mental health, alcohol and drug recovery organisations since 2003, predominantly Rethink and Mind. My focus remains as always to ensure empathy, sensitivity and structure form the basis of Cognivity’s workshops, allowing attendees clarity of purpose, space, and time for self-development. Using carefully selected tools and techniques each workshop strives to support and encourage individuals to explore therapeutic ways of helping themselves.

Case Study
At Mind Oasis creative activities are offered as a way of improving people’s level of mental health.

Brief: Many women suffer from low self-esteem, I was asked to design and deliver creative activity workshops which served to create a feeling of inclusion and belonging for people who otherwise feel very isolated. Workshops which would recognise and therefore support those people rendered inarticulate by their mental health problems to develop a form of expression.

“Eileen has helped to give group members both a sense of individual achievement and the experience of being involved with others in a cooperative creative endeavour.”
Community Mental Health Worker

“Eileen established a rapport with many of the women, and the number of regular attendees has grown steadily over the period she has been working here.”
Co-worker, Mind, Plymouth

“Cognivity’s contribution to the well being of the women who attend the group plays an important role in their recovery.”
Joe Higman, Manager, Mind Oasis, Plymouth

Good mental health is characterised by a person’s ability to fulfil a number of key functions and activities, including:
the ability to learn
the ability to feel, express and manage a range of positive and negative emotions
the ability to form and maintain good relationships with others
the ability to cope with and manage change and uncertainty.

Cognivity work with a wide variety of people using a broad collection of techniques within this sector. Sometimes it is merely time and space an individual requires in order to become well again. Other times it may be structure with a clear plan of achievable targets and outcomes. Whatever the route, the individual or group, with help and support design their own recovery plan and Cognivity work alongside in the most appropriate way to facilitate the materialisation of these ideas.

Case Study
Longreach House is part of a group of Drug Rehabilitation Centres based in Plymouth. Learners have complex issues and levels of motivation and self esteem can be low. They often undergo traumatic individual and group therapy sessions resulting in a very changeable group dynamic.

Brief: To deliver creative workshops that engage the clients, and as a facilitator respond creatively to the changing group dynamic.

“Eileen put together a well-thought through programme that engaged all learners. The pace and structure absolutely matched the needs of the group and the resources were of high quality.”
Aydin Boyacigiller, Learning Manager- WEA Plymouth

http://www.mind.org.uk
http://www.rethink.org
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk
http://www.artsandhealthsouthwest.org.uk

Current projects Creative Wellbeing Open Studio, Plymouth Arts Centre
Facilitation of creative programs at Mind and Rethink, Plymouth
Mosaic of Health, Creative Wellbeing program, Tavistock