These short bitesize video clips and worksheets focus on different skills and techniques that we hope you find helpful. We have started with ones that people commonly use and often find helpful when looking after their wellbeing. They are examples of skills we often explore and practice in our Recovery Education Centre courses. 

Anchor Points clip and worksheet

Circles of Control clip and worksheet

Comfort Zone clip and worksheet

Cycle of Emotion clip and worksheet

Gratitude clip and worksheet

Grounding clip

Grounding - Physical clip and worksheet

Grounding - Mental clip and worksheet

Grounding - Self Soothe clip and worksheet

Self-Compassion Break clip

STOPP clip and worksheet

Stress Bucket clip and worksheet

Window of Tolerance clip and worksheet

WiseMind clip and worksheet

​5 Steps to Wellbeing

Research has identied 5 ways which can improve our personal Wellbeing. We have developed 5 short video clips to introduce each of the areas: connect, learn, be active, take notice and give. Download our CLANG Worksheets to think about your current wellbeing in relation to the 5 ways, and how you might be able to adapt or improve in these areas. 

Videos:

Our ADHD workbooks have been developed alongside our ADHD courses. The workbooks can be downloaded and worked through in your own time for self-directed study. 

First is our Introduction to ADHD workbook to provide a broad overview of ADHD.

Please find below our Understanding ADHD workbooks. We hope these workbooks will provide an opportunity to explore several theories, recognise the impact, challenges and strengths of living with ADHD, and to also think about what ADHD means to you.

Workbook One - Defining ADHD

Workbook Two - Exploring Life with ADHD

Workbook Three - Living Well with ADHD

Workbook Four - Support, Moving Forward & Time to Reflect

Download our Anxiety workbook which explores management skills and recognising challenges. On the last page you can find other useful links and resources listed. 

Sometimes it can feel that no matter how hard we try we aren't being heard. Whether it's with health care workers or organisations, as a customer, things of importance may not be considered with the importance we feel it should. There are many reasons why this might be happening, and it can happen to us all at different points.

Podcasts:

• Getting yourself heard: How can we do this? This podcast is in partnership with Citizens Advice.
• Having choices

Download our workbook to develop your understanding of boundaries, why they are so important, how they can be set and how they impact our lives. 

Download our workbook to begin recognising your strengths in the workplace and how you can build confidence and compassion in your profession. 

This workbook has been co-developed alongside our trauma informed course. When using the workbook, please take care of yourself and be mindful of where you are in your wellbeing and recovery.

Download our workbook which will introduce how you can explore types of relationships and connections and how these can support your wellbeing.

In this special series of podcasts we are bringing together staff, and carers from Rethink Mental Illness in Dorset, Dorset HealthCare and the Dorset Mental Health Forum.

Podcasts:

• Am I a carer, or am I just a mum, a daughter, a son, a wife, a husband, a friend?
• Experience of a crisis when caring for someone

Download our workbook which explores recovery for carers and supporters in order to increase understanding and confidence in the caring role. Our workbook enables an opportunity to explore your experences of being a carer and increase awareness of the support and resources available for carers. You will also look at the impact of being a carer on your own health and discover simple ways of promoting your own wellbeing.

Download our workbook to help develop an understanding of change as a process, to explore how motivation influences change, and to consider the impact of change on our wellbeing. 

This workbook has been co-developed alongside our trauma informed course. When using the workbook, please take care of yourself and be mindful of where you are in your wellbeing and recovery.

The workbook will explore different types of communities and how we use our individual strengths, values, and interests to build a sense of belonging. You will have a chance to look at the strengths and resources that are in your local community and how these can support you to thrive.

Podcast:

This podcast aims to define what we mean by community and explores the importance of connection and feeling 'part of' something. It also discusses the impact that various barriers have on someone's recovery journey, such as, social circumstance and socioeconomic factors, highlighting that recovery is not just an individuals personal responsibility.  

• Exploring Recovery: The context of community

Download our Depression workbook to look at symptoms and note experiences, as well as thinking about the importance of connections and self-care. 

Download our Early Warning Signs workbook to look at how you can begin to identify your own signs along with anchor points. 

Meaningful occupation or employment can look very different for everyone. We understand however that it can be incredibly positive in an individual's Recovery. 

"Dorset Work Matters is a new service for individuals with a mental health condition who are under the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) and wanting to gain PAID employment. Employment specialists work using the Individual Placement Support approach. Referrals are made through the CMHT." For more information about Employment Services visit their webpage. We have collaborated with Dorset Work Matters to co-produce a series of podcasts.

Podcasts:

• Looking for a job with Dorset Work Matters
• Starting a job search with Dorset Work Matters
• Managing your wellbeing at work with Dorset Work Matters
• Understanding transferable skills
• Preparing for a job interview
• A confident performance at a job interview

You can download our workbooks to complete in your own time.

First we have our Introduction to Bipolar workbook which aims to support in understanding the meaning and impact of a bipolar diagnosis, both clinically and personally.

You can also complete our Exploring Bipolar workbook which looks at many aspects of living with bipolar, for example, exploring mood, early warning signs, coping skills, wellbeing and supporters.  

Download our Exploring Emotions workbook to explore the role and purpose of emotions and to introduce some coping skills.

Download our Exploring Sleep workbook to understand the mechanisms of sleep and how it works for different people, to explore why sleep can be difficult, identify barriers and think about how to overcome them.

 

Spirituality plays a really important part in our wellbeing. We may not see ourselves as spiritual at all, however, it can include connecting with things that make you take a breath, that make you feel a part of the world you are in, and make you light up when you share with others. These resources explore with you how you might connect with those things, and recognise them as being a fundamental part of who you are.

Podcast:

• Spirituality: What's in a word?

Download our worksheet to complete a couple of activities around spirituality. 

Download our Spirituality workbook to further explore what this means to you. 

This can be used as a stand alone resource or can be completed alongside listening to the podcast.

Our Making Sense of Grief workbook explores the various dimensions of grief and ways people can cope during the process of grieving. This workbook will also look at the impact grieving has on your life, ways to make sense of grief, and include further signposting to help you find the right support for you.

Understanding and managing fatigue can be really important to Recovery. Causes of fatigue vary greatly, and whilst our podcasts have been developed by staff and Peers working in the Brain Injury team, the principles and techniques are applicable to many of us. 

Podcasts:

• Understanding Fatigue
• Managing Fatigue
• Reflections on keeping a diary

We also have a fatigue management workbook which documents some of the techniques used. This can be used as a stand alone resource or can be completed alongside listening to the podcasts.

Download our Managing Mood workbook to learn from your experiences of changing mood and explore different coping strategies.

Mindfulness is a term that many of us have come across but it can be confusing. We have created some resources to help unpick what is meant by mindfulness and explore how you might use these skills. 

You can also download our brief Introducing Mindfulness workbook to begin discovering your own mindful practice.

Podcasts:

• Mindfulness Practice or Practise Mindfulness
• Finding My Mindfulness

We are pleased to share our workbook that sits alongside our new course 'OCD - Ruminations, Compulsions and Obsessions.'

Download the workbook to explore how OCD is experienced by different people and understand what we mean by compulsions, ruminations and obsessions. The workbook explores different types of OCD, introduces the OCD cycle, along with introducing some strategies to help understand yourself better.

This workbook has been co-developed alongside our trauma informed course. When using the workbook, please take care of yourself and be mindful of where you are in your wellbeing and recovery.

This workbook provides an introduction to creating a shared understanding of how, when things feel difficult, we support ourselves and others. We start to think about how we can connect to feeling safe.

Download our strengths workbook to think about how to recognise your own strengths and how we might build upon these.

You can also download our workbook to explore the importance of a building a balanced routine and identifying helpful coping strategies. 

Thinking about how we can be compassionate to ourselves and to others is an important topic for us. Compassion is one of the most powerful ways of coping and building resilience.

You can also download our Self-Compassion workbook to explore what compassion means to you and how to practice it. This can be used as a stand alone resource or can be completed alongside listening to the podcasts, or alongside our two session course.

We also have a worksheet which includes additional Self-Compassion Exercises and Activities. You can look through these exercises and try any that inspire you or any that may be useful in helping to bring more compassion into your daily life. 

Download our Self-Management workbook to explore how balancing our lives supports self-management and to understand the role of self-advocacy.

Our Understanding Autism Workbooks have been developed alongside our Understanding Autism Course. The workbooks can be downloaded and worked through in your own time for self-directed study.

Workbook One - an introduction to autism, provides an overview of autism including history, key terms and neurodiversity affirming language.

Workbook Two - offers a deeper exploration of the key aspects of autism and how autism is expressed in the brain and the body.

Workbook Three - focuses on the senses, looking at sensory experiences and their impact on daily life. We cover topics like sensory differences, meltdown/shutdown and we begin to explore coping strategies.   

Workbook Four - continues to build on our exploration of different coping strategies whilst exploring topics like, thinking styles, masking, energy management and mental health.

We hope these workbooks will provide an opportunity to learn about autism and sensory theory, whilst exploring the impact different aspects of autism can have on daily life and wellbeing. Offering a chance to uncover what autism means to you and explore potential coping strategies.

Identifying our values can really help us to manage our wellbeing, to set goals and to make decisions. In this series of podcasts Tracey and Angela discuss how you might go about identifying or connecting with your values and when there may be barriers to acting in a way which is aligned with them.

Podcasts:

• Identifying with your Values and Why?
• Values and Recovery
• Barriers and Christmas 

You can also download our values workbook to explore how values impact our wellbeing and ways to connect with them. This can be used as a stand alone resource or can be completed alongside listening to the podcasts.

This workbook has been co-developed alongside our trauma informed course. When using the workbook, please take care of yourself and be mindful of where you are in your wellbeing and recovery.

These workbooks provide space to think about different perspectives on ‘personality disorder’ diagnosis and complex trauma. You can download and work through them in order. 

Workbook One – considers emotional pain and distress and the window of tolerance as a tool for making sense of our experiences.

Workbook Two – considers the role of trauma and the resources that can anchor us in wider living.

Workbook Three – explores what humans need to feel safe and how we negotiate this in order to live rather than survive.

Unusual experiences such as changes in thinking, hearing voices or seeing things that others don’t, can be scary and really difficult to manage. It can also be difficult to understand, help or offer support to people who may experience these things.

In this series of podcasts our trainers discuss what unusual experiences are, how they can be impacted on by varying difficult situations, and ways in which some people can manage them. Please note these podcasts were recorded in 2020, so some discussions may relate to this period of time, but they are still very relevant to understanding unusual experiences and are important discussions between professionals and peers. 

Podcasts:

• Understanding unusual experiences
• What might the impact of unusual experiences be?

Download our workbook which explores unusual experiences (Psychosis, Hearing Voices, Paranoia and other unusual experiences). It is not necessary for you to listen to the podcasts to be able to use the workbook.

"Recovery is based on simple human needs: To have hope for the future; to feel somewhat in control of your life and to be able to access to the ordinary things that make life meaningful - somewhere to live, something to do, someone to care about you, and a feeling that you are a part of society, not excluded from it.” (Shepherd et al.2014. p18)

You can download our recovery workbook to explore recovery definitions and models whilst reflecting on what this means to you. 

This workbook has been co-developed alongside our trauma informed course. When using the workbook, please take care of yourself and be mindful of where you are in your wellbeing and recovery.

This downloadable workbook introduces the 'Window of Tolerance' model and will explore the three different zones, thinking about what this looks like and feels like for us as individuals, and how we can nurture the zone where we feel calm and safe. It also considers how we can compassionately support ourselves and others.

You can also watch our short bitesize video which talks through this model in more detail, to help you complete the workbook.

Being Heard

Sometimes it can feel that no matter how hard we try we aren't being heard. Whether it's with health care workers or organisations, as a customer, things of importance may not be considered with the importance we feel it should. There are many reasons why this might be happening, and it can happen to us all at different points.

• Seldom heard voices

Carers and Supporters

In this special series of podcasts we are bringing together staff, and carers from Rethink Mental Illness in Dorset, Dorset HealthCare and the Dorset Mental Health Forum to discuss wellbeing as a carer. 

• Looking after your wellbeing as a carer
• Looking after your wellbeing as a carer (part 2) 

Exploring Bipolar

In this short series of podcasts we explore what it means to have a Bipolar diagnosis and how during difficult or unusual times (such as during the pandemic) some of those early, mid and late warning signs might be appearing. We also hear experiences from our trainers about an area which isn’t often covered and that is the role of that middle area, when moods aren’t either high or low but instead we feel well.

• Reflecting on Life with Bipolar 1 of 2: Managing mood changes during the pandemic 

• Reflecting on Life with Bipolar 2 of 2: Wellness

Introduction to Spirituality

Spirituality plays a really important part in our wellbeing. We may not see ourselves as spiritual at all, however, it can include connecting with things that make you take a breath, that make you feel a part of the world you are in, and make you light up when you share with others. Listen to the podcast exploring the barriers to connecting below. 

• Barriers and adaptation

Physical Health

Looking after our physical health can really have an impact on our mental health. In this series we will begin by looking at sleep, food and mood, and exercise or activity. Please note these recordings were created during the pandemic so may reference this in the discussions.

• Sleep: Finding those things that will help a good nights sleep​
• Food & mood
• Getting active and doing some exercise

Routine

In this series of 4 podcasts Marie and Kerry talk about the importance of having a balanced routine with a range of activities. They discuss why this can be difficult in these strange times and how they are adapting and creating new routines to help them manage their wellbeing.

• Routine: but why?

• Self-care routines

• Being sociable

• Making a routine back you up

Self-Compassion

In this set of three podcasts Tracey and Jane explore the flow of compassion which includes: compassion to others, self-compassion and the ripple effect that can be seen when we are compassionate in our communities.

• Compassion, what is it? 
• Self Compassion
• Compassion to and from others

What is Recovery?

Explore and build an understanding of Recovery and what it means to you in this series of podcasts.

• Exploring Recovery: The impact of COVID
• Exploring Recovery: Hopes and aspirations
• Exploring Recovery: Wellbeing

Understanding Autism

In this series of podcasts we have worked with staff from the Community Adult Autism Service in Dorset to share experiences of how living with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition may be impacted on by living in a pandemic. Specifically; we look at managing worries about change and how family members or friends may be able to help.

• Life in the pandemic
• Supporting People On The Spectrum
• Change
• Fear and Anxiety