Week 1

Let’s Talk Low Mood

Welcome

• Housekeeping - fire exits, toilets, refreshments

• Introductions, who we are • Questionnaires – which questionnaires?

– Why we use them– How often we need to take scores

• Congratulations on making it this far!• Handouts

• This course is a Psychoeducational course not group therapy and we are not able to discuss individual problems with you

• Please refer to your course invite letter with regard to keeping safe

• You do not need to discuss anything in the group which may cause you distress

• If you feel unable to attend all steps of the course here or online or using the manual at home please go back to your GP to discuss your difficulties

Keeping safe

Thoughts of harming yourself

• Thoughts are very usual • Intent and plans are different• If you are intending to harm yourself, you

need to seek further help• Samaritans Telephone Number is:08457

909090• Speak to your GP• Speak to someone in your life

Increase in Likelihood of Intent0 5 10Not likely Very likely

Ask yourself: Where are you now - what is the likelihood of harming yourself

today?

If the likelihood was to increase, what would you do?

You can contact:

• Samaritans Telephone Number is:08457 909090• Speak to your GP/Out of Hours Service• Speak to someone in your life

Group structure

• Weekly from 6.00-7.30pm but not in any ‘school’ half terms

• Psycho-educational group not a therapy group

• Weekly tasks to complete in between sessions

Week 1

• Introductions – who we are & how this works

• Ground rules and contracts• Ice-breakers• Course overview• Introduction to low mood & depression• The CBT model – how it works

• Motivation to change• Personal Goals • Homework tasks

Ice-breakers

Group Contract

What rules would you like the group to agree to over the next six

weeks?

Course Summary

• Week 1: Introducing low mood and depression

• Week 2: Behavioural activation and looking after yourself

• Week 3: Behavioural activation continued and time management

• Week 4: Introducing unhelpful thinking

• Week 5: Unhelpful thinking continued, positive self-talk and work-life balance

• Week 6: Planning for the future and what next

What is low mood/depression?Group exercise

Split into small groups; write symptoms of low mood on post-it notes and put into these categories…..

• Behavioural

• Emotional

• Physical

• Cognitive (thoughts/images)

…….stick onto body outline on flipchart

What is low mood/depression?

Changes in physical sensations...

• Low energy• Changes in sleep• Changes in brain chemistry• Aches and pains

Changes in thoughts...

• Negative thinking• Slow, sluggish thoughts• Repetitive thoughts• Harsh self criticism• Unfair and unrealistic thinking• Not being able to concentrate• Poor and biased memory

What is low mood/depression?

Changes in behaviours…

• Avoidance• Increase in risky behaviours• Withdrawing• Not doing the things you used to do• Putting off tasks• Not caring about personal appearance

What is low mood/depression?

Changes in emotions...

• No or limited pleasure felt when doing things/seeing people

• Sadness• Numbness• Despair• Anxiety• Anger• Irritability• Frustration

What is low mood/depression?

How common is low mood/depression?

• You are not alone. More than 15% of adults will get depressed at some time and 4% are depressed at any one time.

• It can happen to anyone. Getting depressed does not mean you are weak

What causes low mood?

Group exercise....

Split into small groups: write down on post-its what you think are the causes of low mood or depression.

CBT model

Thoughts“I’m never going to get better”

“No one will want to be with me” “I will always feel like this”

Physical sensationsNo energy

Reduced sleep

Behaviour

Withdrawing from peopleNot eating much

Not taking care of self

Emotions

SadnessHopelessness

Situation

Pros of Staying the Same

Pros of Changing

Cons of Changing

Cons of Staying the Same

Motivation to Change

Discussion

Collect examples of pros and cons of staying the same / making changes and put on white board

Cycle of Change

Adapted from Prochaska and DiClemente (1986)

Setting goals

• Setting goals is important to identify what you want to achieve.

• Choosing areas that you want to try and change is a key part of successfully moving forward.

• Types of goals:

• Long term goal(s)• Medium term goal (over 6 months)• Course goal (over 6 weeks)

SMART Goals

What are SMART goals?

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Rewarding

• Time-limited

• Specific – Make you goal specific enough so you know exactly what you are working towards i.e. two sessions of exercise a week.

• Measurable – Make you goal measurable, that way you know when you have achieved them i.e. exercise sessions last for twenty minutes.

• Achievable – Make your goal realistic!

SMART Goals

• Rewarding – Make you goal fun and enjoyable, if you don’t find it rewarding it is much harder to keep it going i.e. going to a dance class may be more rewarding than going for a run.

• Time-limited – Set yourself a time-limit by when you want to achieve your goal. Without a deadline it is easy to lose motivation.

SMART Goals

Putting it all together – example:

“I will go to a Zumba class for 45 minutes twice a week for the next four weeks.”

SMART Goals

Now It’s Your Turn! Spend 5 minutes setting your own SMART goal for the next 6

weeks

Specific What specifically do you want to achieve?

Measurable How will you measure your progress towards your goal?

Achievable How sure are you that you are able to attain your goal?

Relevant Why is your goal relevant to you?

Time-limitedSet a date by which you think you should be able to achieve your goal.

Workshop 1 summary

• The course and how it works

• Depression – its signs and symptoms

• Setting personal goals

• Any questions or queries?

Weekly Tasks

• Complete SMART goal setting

• Read through handout and complete the CBT Hot Cross Bun and Goal sheet before next week‘s session