Be Free Campaign's 4 week mental health workshop

Be Free Campaign is a mental health charity that provides early intervention and preventative education on mental health and wellbeing to young people aged 6-25. Our ultimate goal is to improve mental health outcomes for young people and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

Our flagship 4 week workshop is outlined below:

Week 1: We will discuss what is meant by mental health in general and differentiate mental health from mental wellbeing and mental illness. We will discuss current stigma surrounding mental health and we will touch on OCD. The end of the session will involve creating a support network for the YPs and discuss coping strategies for the individual to exercise independently. Be Free Campaign outlines 7 ways to good mental wellbeing, which will be discussed and reiterated throughout the 4 weeks.

Week 2: The focus of this session is on understanding anxiety and depression, linking our thoughts and feelings to our behaviours, finishing with coping strategies again.

Week 3: The topic of the third session is body image, where we will discuss current societal expectations regarding body image and potential influences on our body perceptions and goals. We will look at body dysmorphia and eating disorders, ending the session on individuality and expression and body positivity.

Week 4: The final session will look at the impacts of social media on our mental wellbeing and we will end the session with an activity where the YPs will create their own personalised mental wellbeing toolbox, thinking about how they can integrate each of the 7 ways of wellbeing into their daily life.