Insight into our Insight Workshops
As a charity supporting young people in crisis, we get a lot of questions generally starting with the word: Why? Young people asking why this is happening and trying to untangle webs of emotions and actions. Parents and carers questioning themselves and/or how circumstances got to this point. Health professionals understanding our services and why we operate the way we do. These why’s have no simple answers and there are many more of them. However, at the heart of what we do is a deep compassion for young people in mental health crisis and a vision to be part of the change and support to recovery. We realise this involves not just the young people and is also at the heart and soul of many others – parents, carers, grandparents, youth workers, teachers and more! Those who support young people clinically, but also and especially, those of us who are present in the everyday interactions and seek to champion alongside them, and the support they may be receiving from medical professionals. Emerge’s Insight workshops seek to do exactly this – share understanding and voice of hope to those of us who support young people in mental health crisis. We have previously run them online and in person, and by popular demand, are having another in person workshop on 6th June in Surrey and 13th June in Kent!
Therefore, in this article, we want to outline three insights into the heart of why we run this workshop:
- Time to connect to other parents and caregivers
The Insight workshop aims to create a safe space for parents, carers and others supporting young people’s mental health, to come together and share the stories and complexities of the journey to recovery.
During the workshop, we encourage you to put your “armour” down for an evening. We seek to connect you with yourself and others in an understanding environment, where you can talk openly to others who are also doing their best to provide support. At Emerge, we want you to know that you are not alone on this journey – so come as you are and connect with like-minded people.
- Pick up new skills
“Helpful” and “Very helpful” were the most popular comments of participants after they attended previous sessions of the Insight workshop. One participant shared that the evening had “helped [her] understand [her] daughter more”. Throughout the evening, we will discuss how we can empathise with young people, to minimise drama and also focus on good self-care. We acknowledge how hard life can be when supporting a young person who is struggling with their mental health, and hopefully some of the workshop will resonate with you, providing strategies to help your own wellbeing, or to try with your young person. And if not, then to accept and acknowledge those efforts and show you appreciation and gratefulness for all you pour into them.
- Regain hope and courage
Life can be scary for us all. And in the face of that fear, we, at Emerge, want to empower you to know that you can make a positive difference in the life of the young person. One of my favourite quotes is: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear”, Theodore Roosevelt. The difference you make at times may feel small, but we want to help equip you with knowledge and skills to trust and believe in yourself as a supportive adult. Recovery in mental health is a long journey, there is no silver bullet, no one person and no one cure that will fix things overnight. But there is hope for a better future.
