Training and Consultancy

MSc in Applied Positive Psychology (University of East London) and Certificate in Applied Neuroscience

Stress is something that, to some degree or other we all experience, and yet we won't necessarily find the same things stressful. Similarly, two people might find the same situation to be stressful, but not necessarily to the same extent. So, why do we experience stress in the way that we do, and is our response to stressful events and situations more under our control than perhaps we may have previously thought?

What will you cover?

• What do we mean by 'stress', is it necessarily a bad thing, and why do we each experience it differently? We’ll explore the neurological processes at work and consider how patterns of thinking and rumination can lead us to experience stress.
• What mechanisms do we apply when looking to cope with stress, and why is it that some people appear better able to manage than others? How, in practical ways, can we develop the capacity to experience life from a more empowering and less stressful perspective?
• The more resilient we are, the better equipped we are to both experience events as less stressful, and to cope with and recover from stressful events when they do occur. What strategies are proven to be beneficial in building our capacity for resilience, and which ones might you choose to apply?
• Change, if that is what you seek, requires a commitment to action. So, what is it that you have chosen to do from this point forward? - The creation of an Action Plan.

Whether we're aware of it or not, we're always communicating something to those around us. However, with clear intent, the skillful application of key ideas and principles can allow us to communicate in ways that are increasingly effective in supporting the growth and development of those around us.

What will you cover?

• Effective Communication – Whether we mean to or not, we can’t not influence. We’ll look at the importance of intention, how we can build a connection with someone, and how the brain weighs risk and reward in determining our actions
• Everyone’s Different – We’ll examine some of the ways in which people experience the world in different ways, and how we can reflect this to positive effect in the way we communicate
• Effective Listening – Ensuring our communication achieves what we intend it to, the recipient needs to know that they are being listened to and understood. We’ll look at practical ways of communicating that go beyond the words we use
• Time and Space – When people have a problem or a challenge, they can often feel stuck. We’ll explore how, by experiencing the situation from different temporal and spatial perspectives can lead to new and empowering insights
• Communicating with Ourselves – While we can often be supportive and understanding of others, many of us communicate with ourselves in ways that can be unhelpful at best. We’ll consider why this might be, and look at practical techniques for communicating with ourselves in more constructive ways

Wellbeing is something that we all seek, although we may less often take the time to consider carefully what it is that contributes to our capacity to experience higher levels of it. By exploring evidenced-based practice we can identify factors that can directly contribute to improved wellbeing. We are, as a consequence, empowered to make decisions and to take actions that can allow us to experience greater wellbeing

What will you cover?

• What do we mean by 'wellbeing', and is it necessarily synonymous with “happiness”? How can negative emotions also contribute to positive wellbeing?
• How being open to immediate experience, as well as having a longer term sense of meaning and purpose can both contribute to improved wellbeing.
• What are the strategies, techniques, and ways of thinking that can help us to experience a greater sense of wellbeing?
• How, while our own wellbeing might to a very significant degree be our own responsibility, there is also a collective organisational and societal responsibility at play too.

Over the last 20 - 30 years in particular there has been a dramatic surge in interest in the practice of mindfulness and mindfulness meditation. But what exactly is mindfulness, and if it works, what are the psychological and neurological processes involved? This though is only part of the story, for mindfulness to have any real meaning, you need to experience it, to practice and to cultivate it. Our approach then will be an applied one, placing theory and intellect alongside our own sensory experience.

What will you cover?

• What exactly is mindfulness? – In a practical experiment we’ll pay attention to our moment to moment experience, noticing what happens when we allow ourselves to be present.
• What are the benefits of mindfulness? – We’ll examine the benefits that being mindful, most particularly through a regular commitment to practice, can bring. The evidence base for the impact of mindfulness is both strong and deep, and we’ll take a moment or two to consider just some of it.
• What are the neurological processes at work when we’re being mindful? – We’ll explore how mindfulness engages and impacts on particular brain networks in ways that enables us to develop the capacity for greater emotional regulation, and for all the additional benefits that mindfulness can bring.
• A health warning – We’ll consider arguments suggesting that the current enthusiasm for mindfulness is based on a dilution and misapplication of its underlying principles. It’s also true to say that there are contexts in which caution needs to be brought to bear in the use of mindfulness.
• So, let’s play …….. – We’ll engage in a variety of mindfulness practices, looking too at some of the challenges people can face in building a sustainable practice, and suggesting strategies to help overcome them.

Whatever definition of leadership we may choose to identify with, it’s apparent that effective leadership requires a capacity to inspire and motivate others to action. It requires us to create an environment in which people are supported, challenged and held to account, often achieving more than they had previously thought themselves capable of. Understanding the neuroscience of motivation and decision making can support us in becoming better, more effective leaders, to the benefit of all concerned.

What will you cover?

• What is leadership? - We’ll consider what we understand leadership to be, and where, as individuals are we on the leadership continuum. We’ll also consider notions of flexibility, and how we can develop the capacity to modify our approach to fit the needs of each situation
• The nature of motivation, and the role of the Triadic Brain – We’ll consider how different aspects of our brain which influence our response to threats, rewards, and emotional regulation interact and help determine our actions. We’ll consider how we can apply this knowledge to support people in making the most of existing opportunities and in being open to taking on the risks inherent in exploring new challenges.
• Creativity and the Brain – We’ll explore how different networks in the brain influence our capacity to both get jobs done and to be more open and creative. We’ll consider practical strategies to encourage both task oriented and creative thinking
• Psychological Safety – Creating an environment in which colleagues feel safe and secure enough to take the risks upon which growth and innovation rely, is a key aspect of effective leadership. We’ll explore the factors that serve to facilitate psychological safety, and consider the extent to which we are currently fulfilling this role, and how we might do so more effectively in the future

It’s possible to spend much of our lives operating on “autopilot”, simply doing things the same way we’ve always done them, responding to situations, for better or for worse, automatically and without making conscious, honest, and informed decisions. Becoming more self-aware allows us to engage with the world and with those around us in a much richer and more open way. We can know, and choose how to make the most of our skills and talents, and we can be more open and accepting of our vulnerabilities. Not in a passive or submissive way, but rather in a way that empowers and emboldens us to grow and to become more fulfilled.

What will you cover?

• What do we mean by “Self-Awareness”? – We’ll explore the processes by which we quite naturally delete, distort, and generalise the mass of sensory data available to us in ways that enable us to make sense of the world around us. And we’ll examine how, by becoming conscious of these processes, we can begin to become more aware of how we can choose to use this self-knowledge to re-evaluate some of the patterns of thought and behaviour we may have been practicing without question for years and years
• “What, not Why” – Self-Awareness isn’t about self-pity or self-indulgence, rather it’s an opportunity to use an honest and accurate determination of where you are now as the starting point for action, for moving to where you want to be. We’ll consider how slowing yourself down, so to speak, can be a precursor to speeding yourself up. At the same time, we’ll explore the importance of self-acceptance that needs to accompany self-awareness, wary that otherwise, it could easily become a stick with which to beat ourselves
• The power of words – Our capacity to develop a rich and varied emotional vocabulary is a key tool in our having the flexibility to more accurately and effectively regulate our emotional response to situations. We’ll consider the current scope of our individual emotional word banks and think about what we might choose to do to expand it
• “Knowing me, knowing you” – We’ll use two models, Karpman’s Drama Triangle and the Johari Window, to explore how we can unconsciously be drawn into responses that are frequently unhelpful, and to consider how we can actively seek to increase our own levels of self-awareness.
• What’s the role of Mindfulness? – Mindfulness is a powerful tool for supporting us to become both more self-aware and more self-accepting. It can be invaluable for helping us to recognise thoughts for what they are, fleeting neurological events. It can therefore provide us with the opportunity to know ourselves a little better, giving us the chance to then choose how to respond, rather than following whatever automatic pattern of response we otherwise would. We’ll explore simple, practical mindfulness exercises that, if you wish, you can subsequently incorporate into your daily routine