As usual a huge big thank you to all who came along to or Monday Meeting on 25th January and to those who participated in the mindfulness session and did some work around the "Expressing Gratitude" it was good to hear what you have been noting down keep it up let's see if 2016 will bring us a bit more Happiness! And thank you to our group who came along for a cuppa, cake and a chat on Thursday morning 28th Jan. Great to see you all!!!
The BIG event this week has been the launch of our Monthly Art Therapy Sessions. the first one was on Monday 1st Feb. The Independence Trust has kindly given us the use of their Art Room, which will be FREE for the first 6 months, so Massive THANK YOU to them! I wasn't able to go along, but it was well attended and we have had some positive feedback. BIG THANK YOU to Steve who has worked hard to get this project off the ground and for giving up his time to facilitate the session. We now have an Art Therapy Page on the website, so you can have a look at some of the work done and comments made about the evening.
It can be quite a daunting prospect to do something that is unfamiliar, especially if it's an activity you think may be a bit of a challenge. A feeling I more than recognise. I was lucky enough to come across a free Art Class available to me recently, so I signed up to it! I felt very nervous about the possibility of being the only one who was going to struggle. Although I like art and crafting, I lack a lot of confidence in my own ability and probably put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well. Anyhow, I went along. Firstly I was really please to see a couple of our group, who was doing the same course, so that reduced my worry a lot. However, I was still a bit uneasy about how well I was going to perform. What it I couldn't do it! What if I couldn't stick it out! Would I make a fool of myself... the rumination goes on and on.... Well I'm pleased to say I had a very positive experience. There was no Leonardo Da Vinci, although there was a few Picasso's amongst us, especially in the unseen drawing exercise! So the 2 hours just flew by, I'm now looking forward to the next class! Rumination over!
I also popped by Richard Price's OCD Support Group last Tuesday evening. Just wanted to say this is a great group for getting any OCD issues out of your system and Richard is very knowledgeable in this field, even though he is not professionally trained in this field but has a lot of experience having had to deal with his own issues with OCD. Richard is an advocate for OCD Action and he wanted all to know that if we experience any discrimination in the work place, due to OCD, he is willing to discuss work place adjustments with as employer, to make working conditions more manageable.
Lastly I am 4 weeks into my OCD course with Let's Talk. Can't say this course has been easy for me as I've not been able to identify a course of action that will address my issues, so unable to work on developing strategies to help. Anyhow, after attending Richards Group I have been given some insight to how I may be able to move forward so watch this space on that one!
We will be back at Barlow Road on Monday usual time 7pm to 9
Ruth :-)