Theme: Wellbeing - MHAW

Professor Tamsin Ford CBE, will explore the evidence impacts of the upheavals of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions on children and young people – is there a Tsunami of mental health conditions or are the kids alright?

Tamsin is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. She is an internationally renowned Child Psychiatric Epidemiologist who researches the organisation, delivery, and effectiveness of services and interventions for children and young people’s mental health.

There are many aspects of the current research culture that negatively impact on the mental health of researchers. At Cambridge, we have set out our ambitions for creating a better research culture in an institutional action plan.

Liz Simmonds (Postdoc Academy) and Yi Ting Chua (president of the PdOC Society) from the University's research culture working group, talk about how the plan aims to improve different aspects of research culture, and following from that help to improve researchers' mental health.

An hour-long session in which Sabina and Kate from the Staff Counselling Centre guide you through gentle breathing and mindfulness exercises to help you relax and self-soothe.

A webinar run by Jenny Swain, CPSL Mind to consider the emotional impact of lockdown and tips for dealing with emerging out of lockdown.

Led by Sarah-Cate Blake, Education Officer at the Fitzwilliam Museum, this session will include ideas and resources for those working with or caring for young people.

A set of ideas and techniques for Young People to put into practice and facilitate their own self-regulated wellbeing resilience. Some of these are creative and practical activities, others are from trauma informed yoga and mindfulness.

A mentoring relationship could help you to progress in your professional life/career and build your networks. It can also support your mental health by increasing confidence and reducing anxiety.

If you are interested in hearing about mentoring and its effects on mental health, join the ourcambridge Self-Match Mentoring Scheme' team for an informal session and discussion.

“(Mentoring) supported my mental health through a period of work-related anxiety/stress”.

Why is the suicide rate so much higher in men than women?

What are the barriers that stop men speaking openly about their emotions and seeking professional help?

Come and watch an engaging conversation between two male staff counsellors as they deliberate these issues. There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.

Float into the clouds for this relaxing session discovering the world of the artist John Constable.

Join one of the educators from the Fitzwilliam Museum as they guide you first through a slow looking activity, before four short drawing exercises to try your own 'skying' at home.

In the role of parents and carers, we may be concerned about how those around us are coping in these challenging times, especially our children as we start to come out of lockdown.

In this panel session Dr Fiona Peacock, Faculty of Education, and Dr James Biddulph, Headteacher of the University Primary School, will discuss the main issues our children face as they return to school and lockdown rules gradually relax.

Participants will discover how to contextualise the difference between an appropriate anxiety or stress reaction to what is going on in the world, how attachment theory and positive relationships between people support resilience, and how parents could support their children in their journey out of lockdown.

Our ways of working and living online have changed a great deal during the past year.

What kinds of habits and routines have we created in our digital lives?

In this session we’ll talk how we might balance digital productivity and wellbeing, how to cope with digital fatigue and distraction, and more.

Mental Health Awareness Week

Join Claire Thompson, NHS Psychological Well-Being practitioner and author of Mindfulness and the Natural World and The Art of Mindful Birdwatching to hear about her journey into mindfulness, the natural world, well-being and mental health.

The session will explore what it means to develop a mindful relationship with ourselves and the rest of the natural world and why it is vital for our well-being and that of our planet that we do so.

Claire will present some of the current evidence supporting the benefits of mindful nature connection for well-being and mental health and share practical tips on how to connect with the natural world in our daily lives.

The session will end with a Q&A.

A Mindfulness session – “May our heart's garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is recommend by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as it can help improve mental health.

Esther Hunt trained as a Mindfulness Teacher with the British Mindfulness Institute and was taught by Dr Patrizia Collard. She is a Registered and Accredited Psychotherapist with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an Affiliated Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling in the Faculty of Education.

For more information on the benefits of Mindfulness please visit the NHS website

People think that long COVID is ‘just’ fatigue or a cough, but cognitive issues are the second most common symptom - and our data suggest this is because there is a significant impact on the ability to remember. Seven in ten long COVID patients experience concentration and memory problems several months after the initial onset of their disease’ says Dr Lucy Cheke who is the senior author of the ‘Cognitive and Memory Deficits in Long COVID’ study.

Research plays an important role in providing evidence that patients with Long COVID experience a significant impact on their ability to remember. Such a short sentence has enormous ramifications on my daily life as a patient with Long COVID, Lyn Curtis.

Dr Lucy Cheke is a Lecturer in the Psychology Department and head of the “Cognition and Motivated Behaviour” Lab. Her research explores various aspects of learning and memory, and in the past few years has focused particularly on the association between memory and obesity.

Lyn Curtis is an undergraduate student at the University of Exeter, and a patient representative member of the Covid and Cognition study group, headed by Dr Lucy Cheke. Her area of interest is the impact of Long COVID on menopausal females and the impact of hormonal dysregulation following COVID-19.

In this session, Dr Cheke will share the data about the long-term consequences of Covid-19 on cognitive functions in adults and Lyn Curtis will share her lived experience of Long COVID to provide insight into what this data looks like in daily life.

Learn more about the study here

In this session Rachel Bailey, from the University SPACE network, gives personal insights from her experiences of supporting and caring for someone with mental health issues.

How often do you find yourself on social media during the course of a normal week? More importantly, how does using social media make you feel?

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the ways in which we have used social media has changed, as well as how we feel about social media in general. Social media is a paradox. It connects us in some ways, while pushing us apart in other ways. Social media has become our source of information, and a valuable means of connecting with friends and family, while at the same time making us feel lonelier and disconnected.

In this talk, we will explore some of the research about social media, connection, loneliness – as well as looking at some ways that we might be able to helpful reframe our relationship social media in our everyday lives.

Tyler Shores is delighted to announce that he has secured two external speakers to join him next week.

Luke Fernandez is Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Weber State University where he teaches classes on the politics of technology and software development and Susan J. Mattwho is Professor of History at Weber State. They have both co-authors of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019).

Tyler Shores manages the ThinkLab research program at the University of Cambridge, and is a Senior Research Associate at the Intellectual Forum, Jesus College. His research focuses on digital habits, social media, and how digital environments shape how we work and think. Prior to Cambridge, Tyler worked in online education at Stanford, served as a director at an international education nonprofit organization, and worked at the Google world headquarters in Mountain View, California while running the Authors@Google program. His various work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC, WIRED, amongst others. And he was once on an episode of The Simpsons.

Luke Fernandez is Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Weber State University where he teaches classes on the politics of technology and software development. He is co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019). He holds a PhD in Political Theory from Cornell University. He is also a software developer. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Salon, Slate, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among other places.

Susan J. Matt is Professor of History at Weber State. Her research focuses on the history of emotions and US social history. She is co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019). She is author of Homesickness: An American History (Oxford University Press, 2011), and Keeping Up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003). Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Journal of American History.

University Sports Centre

Dr Elizabeth English, the University Mindfulness Practitioner, will explore components of mindful communication, and how we can create calm and satisfying connections with other people, even under pressure.

We all need something that can take us away from the stresses of everyday life and to clear our minds. What better than a photo walk.

Lloyd Mann and Nick Saffell from the Office of External Affairs and Communications, are offering wellbeing photography walks for staff across the University.

The sessions aim to teach simple steps that will help you take great photographs using your smartphone or camera, with a no-pressure, hands-on approach. We help you think about what makes good subject matter, and support you with angles and framing, allowing you to get the best shot possible.

The photo exercises give you something to occupy your mind and stimulate your brain, to get creative and hopefully the sessions might encourage you to take photos every day.

To make the session accessible, we’re running them for one hour, during office hours. Don’t let the walking part put you off, the emphasis is on taking some time to ‘look up’, and to connect with our surroundings.

We all need something that can take us away from the stresses of everyday life and to clear our minds. What better than a photo walk.

Lloyd Mann and Nick Saffell from the Office of External Affairs and Communications, are offering wellbeing photography walks for staff across the University.

The sessions aim to teach simple steps that will help you take great photographs using your smartphone or camera, with a no-pressure, hands-on approach. We help you think about what makes good subject matter, and support you with angles and framing, allowing you to get the best shot possible.

The photo exercises give you something to occupy your mind and stimulate your brain, to get creative and hopefully the sessions might encourage you to take photos every day.

To make the session accessible, we’re running them for one hour, during office hours. Don’t let the walking part put you off, the emphasis is on taking some time to ‘look up’, and to connect with our surroundings.

A mentoring relationship could help you to progress in your professional life/career and build your networks. It can also support your mental health by increasing confidence and reducing anxiety.

If you are interested in hearing about mentoring and its effects on mental health, join the ourcambridge Self-Match Mentoring Scheme' team for an informal session and discussion.

“(Mentoring) supported my mental health through a period of work-related anxiety/stress”.

Pilates is suitable for all levels of fitness.

It is aimed at improving and strengthening your posture, as well as developing flexibility to aid relaxation. Location: In person - University Sports Centre (West Cambridge Site)

Booking required

• Please wear comfortable gym clothing.
• Mats are available on site.
• Changing/showers are available on site
• Please let the instructor know of any medical conditions or mobility issues prior to the start of the class.