Welcome to Manifestation, Motivation and Passion. If you're looking to transform your life,
this is the podcast for you. It's all about improving yourself on the inside to see transformation
on the outside. I look at how to find and improve motivation and manifesting lasting changes.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Welcome. I'm Quinn B. Thank you for joining me this Anzac Day as we pay tribute to those
who served this country. We welcome this week's guest, Yvette Strawbridge from Como Solutions
Focused Counselling Services. As part of our Women Empowering Women chat, Yvette will be
discussing mental health and how we can take a proactive approach.
From the top we had Steve Miller with Fly Like an Eagle, Reason to Believe by Rod Stewart
and Dream Weaver by Gary Wright. Starting on the 29th of April until the 2nd of May,
with all things going well and no lockdowns, we'll have the Perth Garden Festival at Langley
Park. Jump onto their website at perthgardenfestival.com to purchase tickets. The timer is 5.45pm.
Tomorrow's weather is 26 with light winds and lows tonight of 13.
Next up is Jo Cocker. Next up we have Yvette Strawbridge from Solution Focused Counselling
who has a Masters in Social Science, Health and Counselling and many other string of credits
to her name and takes a mind, body, soul approach utilising different tools from art therapy
to psychodrama. So if you would like to know more about taking control of your mental health,
stay tuned. Are you there Yvette? Yes I am. Can you hear me Quinn? Because I
couldn't actually hear the introduction very well.
I definitely do have you online. Oh yes, okay.
Thank you again for joining us. You're here to talk about mental health and I guess with
COVID being centre stage and job losses across the nation, I guess that would bring a lot
of challenging issues and anxiety. What are some of the main issues you're seeing presently?
Well, so I'm in private practice Quinn and from a professional personal perspective I
actually have not seen a significant rise in sessions for my clients since COVID began.
Well that's a positive. However, from my perspective this doesn't
mean that there actually hasn't been an increase because as I understand with some of my colleagues
and when I'm networking that in some areas there certainly has been an increase but I
haven't noticed an increase with the clients that I've been seeing. So the presentation
of clients has been for matters that I would traditionally and usually be working with
clients on and not directly related to the impact and the effect of COVID. So often clients
who present for example with anxiety rather in my well over the last 12 to 18 months those
clients that have been presenting with anxiety actually have a history of an event or events
which have actually been the cause of their presenting anxiety rather than COVID. So family
of origin events are the main cause of anxiety for the clients that I see. So the clinical
work that I engage in with clients revolves around connecting those events from their
childhood with the client with what's actually happening for them now and teaching them some
strategies to manage the symptoms when they arrive.
It certainly sounds very complex. Are you finding that there are people in the older
age bracket that are more likely to have mental health issues due to loneliness from the COVID
lockdowns?
Certainly. Well, once again I can most certainly attest to the fact that the people in the
older age bracket most certainly do experience mental health issues due to loneliness. However,
those clients once again that I've been seeing who've been experiencing loneliness it actually
hasn't necessarily been as a result of lockdowns. It's been for other reasons rather than COVID.
And I guess it's not only applicable to the seniors but to all age brackets. If you're
for whatever reason have lost family it certainly can be a lonely time.
Yes.
And so we are taking a proactive approach today. So for those who might be experiencing
loneliness and don't want to feel like they're a burden on family what would you suggest
for them?
Yes. So and I'm very aware that there are people who really don't want to burden their
family or friends. So the most important thing for people who are feeling that way is that
they attend a general practitioner and obtain a referral or actually self-refer themselves
to a professional who focuses on mental health and wellbeing in their working professional
role as a practitioner or a consultant. And then the consultant can assist them with exploring
the underlying reasons and strategies for them to manage their loneliness.
And I think you nailed something really important about symptoms. If people are experiencing
anxiety or depression, stress perhaps, what could be some of the underlying symptoms that
they may not be aware of?
Sure. So I'll just go through some of them. So there can be just this general feeling
of nervousness, restlessness or tenseness. They can also have a sense of impending danger
or panic or doom which can certainly go with an increased heart rate. And these types of
presentations can sort of come out of the blue and without any warning. And people can
find themselves breathing rapidly and the term for that is hyperventilation. They can
experience sweating and trembling. They can feel weak or tired and also can experience
a lack of energy where they might have had a lot of energy and a lot of joy to be in
their life and then they feel like they don't have any of that. They can have trouble concentrating
or thinking about anything other than something that might be presenting for them right here
and now. And also some people, it can be so overwhelming, they actually feel unable to
leave their home.
Yeah, that's a lot and sounds like it would be a real burden to go through. What are some
proactive things that people can do for themselves before getting to that stage of going to see
a counsellor?
So, Quinn, there are some strategies. Some people call them grounding and nurturing strategies
which I have a handout that I give to clients. I just read something recently where it was
posted about how to find your calm in an emotional storm. And so there are things, for example,
like we can say out loud to ourselves, I'm experiencing and we just name whatever it
is. I'm feeling really frightened or I feel like something really terrible is going to
happen so they can say it out loud. Another strategy which is something I also hand out
to clients is to actually place their hand on their heart and say things like, I'm safe.
This feeling is from the past.
Yeah, really powerful statement.
Yes. Another one is absolutely to breathe. So they breathe in for the count of four.
They hold that breath in for seven and then breathe out for eight. And they can do that
sometimes up to ten times and usually because they're then focusing on their breathing,
then the feeling often passes.
Another thing is to activate their, to endeavour to connect with their inner child and to say
to themselves, so what do you need right now? And find a way to give that to yourself. And
many of those things are on the grounding and nurturing list that I use. Sometimes people
need to step away from where they are and find a safe place because sometimes where
they are at that particular point in time can raise a memory and they can have found
themselves triggered by a memory of something that's happened in the past. So it can be
a really, my language, smart strategy to actually move away from where they are and to find
a safe place.
A safe place, yeah. And is there any truth, someone said to me once, if you're doing like
colouring in or gardening, something that's repetitive, that can also, I don't know the
physical, the physiology of it, but that can actually help calm you as well. Is there any
truth to that?
Yes, absolutely. So people, so sometimes people say there's such a thing as writing therapy.
So some of my clients when I know that writing is something is that I tell them to sit, find
a box of tissues, find some paper and a pen and just write. Don't worry about capital
letters or full stops or spelling. Just keep writing and writing and writing until the
feeling passes. But absolutely colour, if they have pencils and something like a colouring
in book, that can be really useful. Painting and drawing are other ways that one can manage
those feelings when they come up, yes. And gardening, if that is something that is a
particular passion and something that they really enjoy, focusing on the plants and putting
their hands in the soil, that can be very grounding as well.
Yeah, absolutely. And so you mentioned writing. Do you also recommend positivity journals?
Well, I have a handout that I give to people and it's called Positive Thoughts. And certainly
people could use a daily journal to record what I call six of the best. And it's to think
about what's happened for them today. And the first one, so is to write. There's six
things. It's to write something that they saw. The second one is to write something
that they ate. The third one, something that they did for themselves and then something
that they did for someone else. Something that they received and something that they
smelled. And it's a really good idea to do that maybe in the evening before they're going
to go to sleep. And that assists them to actually endeavour to promote sleep from things that
have occurred for them positively during the day.
And I guess too, it would also take your mind away from whatever the problem is and you're
focused on remembering those certain things during the day.
Really focusing on positive things that have occurred. Sometimes we can be what is known
as problem saturate ourselves. In other words, we focus on the negative and we saturate ourselves
with the things that have not gone so well in the day. So it's a really great distraction
to use the positive daily journal link in the evening to write those six things that
I just mentioned. And that really does shift our thinking from the negative to the positive
and puts us into a more of a positive frame of thinking. And feeling. It's not only about
our thoughts, but so our thoughts can impact our feelings and our feelings can impact our
thoughts. It can work either way.
That's really interesting. And what about in our children? Do you also have clients
who are children or are you more focused on them?
Yes, I do. I certainly do see children. I see children, usually parents ask me to see
children because I'm a mediator as well. Sometimes, or I pick it up that it would be beneficial
to see children because one of the things that of course happens for children when their
parents separate is that the children, I mean, it's a loss and grief situation, not only
for the parents, but it is for children. And children have less capacities and often to
cope with loss and grief. And sometimes the separation of their parents is the first major
loss and grief experience that they've had in their life. And so they don't have any
past experiences to draw on to cope with the loss and grief.
And it's about learning the coping strategies to be able to deal with those things.
Absolutely. Yes, Quinn.
And so would you, for that example you gave, or if children are experiencing anxiety with
all the mask wearing again, would you recommend art, like you were saying before? Is it the
same sort of activities for adults as it is for children?
Yes, certainly. Yes, all of those things would work for children as well, but it's really
important for a parent to give of themselves and their time and to sit with the child one
on one and endeavor to connect with the child about what are you thinking about at the moment,
what are you feeling, what would help you most in this moment. And if a parent, sometimes
parents aren't always aware sometimes of what is that one of the most classic things for
children is if a child's behavior changes from what has been the norm. So that can be
a really telltale message to a parent that there's something happening for their child
because their behavior has changed. And that can be an alert to a parent that maybe they
need to explore with their child. So what's actually happening for you? You don't really
seem to be yourself. I've noted that, you know, and sometimes it plays itself out at
school, and sometimes it plays itself out with siblings, and sometimes it plays itself
out with mum or dad or other family members.
And I think too with the, you know, being such a technology driven society, I think
sometimes the communication aspect is kind of undervalued, just sitting down and having
that moment with our children.
Absolutely. We need to make time to spend time with a child and just to get one on one
if at all possible, and to give them our completely undivided attention with our phone not visible
in another room, our iPad not visible, the television turned off, none of the technological
devices to be available because they can be incredibly distracting. And children need
us to be, just be with them.
Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. So for those that are struggling, are there any female
support groups or what other resources are available?
For children or adults or both?
Let's go with both.
Okay. So at Women's Healthcare House in Northbridge, there is support groups there for mothers
and women at Women's Healthcare. There's one in Fremantle as well, Women's Health.
I'm just trying to think. I just know the Women's Healthcare used to be women's and
families. I think now they've rebranded themselves and renamed themselves in Northbridge. But
there's also one in Fremantle. And for children, particularly many schools have what's called
the Rainbow Program. And that is especially and specifically for children who might be
struggling with, particularly with the separation of their parents. So the Rainbow Programs
form a very good support network for children.
Yeah. Well, it sounds like there's quite a lot of resources out there. And how would
people be able to find you? What's the best way to contact you?
Oh, well, I have a website and it's ComoSolution Focused Counselling Services. If they Google
my name, Yvette Strawbridge, or if they put in ComoSolution Focused Counselling Services,
they'll find me as well. And my mobile number, which I'm happy for you to provide that to
people over the phone if they'd prefer to take down. I do get most initial contact from
a few people email me, but I think it's true to say that most of the contact I receive
from clients is via a mobile phone call initially. And so then we connect over their mobile and
my mobile. And then we usually start to connect via email.
Okay, perfect. Well, thank you so much for coming on today and telling us all about mental
health. I feel it's such an important part of our life. And given the current circumstances,
it's always good to take a positive approach. So thanks for coming on.
Oh, real pleasure, Quinn. And thank you very much for inviting me to speak on your program.
I feel somewhat privileged and very warmed by the fact that you invited me to speak.
So thank you very much for doing that, Quinn.
I'm Quinn Carnegie, and I hope you enjoyed this week's episode of Manifestation, Motivation
and Passion. I'm so thrilled you chose to spend time listening and would be even more
grateful if you left a positive review. And if you found value, no doubt your family and
friends will too. I'd love it if you share it with them. Thanks again.