BSS Psychology Newsletter
2 April 2021
Holiday time is seen as a time of love, family and joy however, for many, times like Easter can be lonely. We may be away from loved ones, or from our ‘home’. Even though we may not be alone, we may feel lonely.
Here are some tips to make the most of the Easter period whilst away from home:
- Acknowledge and share your feelings: recognise emotions are like waves, and with time will pass. Talk to friends and family about how you are feeling.
- Be kind to yourself: practice self-care by taking time doing something for yourself, whether
that be reading a favourite book, going for a mindful walk, or even exercising. - Adjust your expectations of Easter: be realistic and focus on the now rather than what Easter ‘should’ be.
- Connect with others: whilst you can’t be present with family, use technology to connect. Video call or call family, loved ones, and friends. Create a virtual Easter celebration.
- Reflect on the positives: think about the close relationships in your life, express gratitude for those relationships. Reflect on other positives in your life.
- Reach out for support.
28 April 2021 - World Safety and Health at Work Day
Incident reports overall show that as many as 80 percent to 90 percent of serious injuries and accidents have been attributed to human error. To create and contribute to a safe workplace it is important to identify safety challenges that arise in your daily work environment and what steps to take in order to behave safely.
The Safety Commitment Model is a useful tool that enables the individual to take control of their behaviours which may impact their safety. The Model requires you to identify what is meaningful and vital in your life and use those key values as motivation to behave safely.
The Model includes six elements:
- What Am I Accepting,
- Who I Am,
- What I Care About,
- What Am I Doing,
- What Am I Noticing,
- The Here And Now.
These elements are then applied to four safety challenges:
- Emotions
- Thoughts
- Distractions
- Descriptions about yourself.
This model aims to turn a ‘what if’ into ‘what is’ and consider what is important to you when making choices around safety. Using the Safety Commitment Model adds thought around safety decision making and will change behaviour for the better.
Powerful Ways To Combat Stress in Stressful Situations
Self-knowledge is power, so reflect on whether you’re the kind of person who prefers to
act, think, or feel your way to a calmer state after a stressful event.
Active strategies: Remove yourself from the environment. This can help calm or at least de-escalate the threat response system in the brain. Go for a walk connecting to nature can help with neural integration which is linked to optimal mental functioning. Basically, being in nature can help our brain deal with life stress.
Thinking strategies: Challenge your thinking traps. When you’re stressed, do you tend to think in black & white, take everything personally, or think only about negatives Mindfully focus on the present. The mind can stay hooked into stress. Mindfulness can reduce emotional reactivity.
Feeling strategies: Name the emotion. Did what just happened make you frustrated? Anxious? Numb? Naming emotions can help the brain make links and lessen the power of emotions.
Bonus Tip: Stress can be felt physically. Check in with the body – where you do you feel it? This can help clue you in to how you might need to look after yourself physically.
Telehealth and Video Counselling Session - How they work and when to use them?
BSS Psychology offers counselling sessions via phone and online via Zoom. These options are alternatives to the traditional face to face sessions and are an excellent easily accessible option when faced with an urgent matter or are working with a FIFO roster. All you need is a phone or internet connection. To book a session, call 1800 30 30 90. BSS Psychology takes privacy very seriously, our privacy policy applies to all sessions conducted by our team.
Online Presentations
Each session runs for 30-60 minutes and will be uploaded at 10am Australian Western Standard Time on the date stated and will be available for 5 business days. These sessions are available at no cost.
CLICK HERE A Vimeo link will take you to the current presentation that is available for viewing or simply search BSS Psychology.
Monday 12th April - Substance Abuse
Thursday 15th April - Divorce Your Phone Not Your Partner
Monday 19th April - Anger Got A Grip Over You? Name It
Thursday 22nd April - Binge Drinking - When Does It Become A Problem?
Thursday 29th April - Stress Management And Burnout
Monday 3rd May - Psychological Distance
Thursday 6th May - Personality Types