The includem Wellbeing in Fife service offers support to children, young people and their families through supportively linking them to appropriate services, taking into consideration the needs of the child, young person and their family. We are committed to ensuring that the identified supports are the right service, at the right time and available in the right way to positively offer you the support you need. This service is for children and young people from age 5 – 26 and their parents and carers in Dunfermline and South West Fife to promote positive Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Groupwork will provide a welcoming and safe space for people to seek support from includem and from a wider peer group network. The focus of the groupwork is tailored to support the needs of the child, young person and their family, whilst drawing on the expertise from various services who are available to provide on-going support in their local area. We will be running groupwork sessions as detailed below and to support the needs identified by both young people and their parents and carers.
Reducing Anxiety groupwork
This is a small group size of 6-8 young people, which will run for 4 consecutive weeks and be available in both Dunfermline and South West Fife. The aim of this groupwork is to support the young person to gain an understanding of what anxiety is, the positive and negative impacts this has on our lives, equipping individuals with some coping strategies along with gaining knowledge of supports available.
Starving your Anxiety Gremlin
This programme is a more in depth look at Anxiety and how to overcome anxiety when it becomes unmanageable. The resource used for this is the cognitive behavioural therapy book “Starving your anxiety gremlin” written by Katie Collins-Donnelly. It is felt that this group will be a supportive follow on from the initial anxiety group and whilst working through the book, it is estimated this will take 8-10 weeks and group sizes will remain as 6-8 young people. Keep an eye on our social media for more information.
Supporting your Young person with their Mental Health
This groupwork is for parents and carers to provide them with positive strategies to help support their child or young person and build their own confidence and resilience whilst doing so. Parents will have the reassurance that this group will help them build on how they already support their child, without judgement. This allows parents to talk openly in an environment where shared experiences can support them in knowing they are not alone.
Solihull Approach to Parenting
The Solihull approach to parenting group helps parents in understanding your child’s behaviour and is suitable for parents of children aged, 6 months to 19 years. It is important to note that this is not a parenting group but exploring the fundamentals of life and how we relate to each other. We consider how we process our own emotions and how knowing about these can make a difference to learning more about your child’s development and behaviours, as well as improving your relationship and communication with your child. This groupwork, held over 10 weeks will help give focus to the importance of emotional containment for your child but also for yourself and your own wellbeing. Find out more about Solihill here. Keep an eye on our social media for more details.
What to expect when you attend a groupwork session.
All of the groupwork sessions have been designed to be as inclusive as possible. Workers will call and introduce themselves and discuss any additional supports you require to attend these sessions. You can expect a warm and friendly welcome. Includem have knowledge and experience of delivering groupwork on how to support both young people and adults positively impacting their mental health and wellbeing. There will be a clear aim to each session and staff will adapt their delivery and structure of each group depending on the needs. A group agreement will be set at the start of the first session and can be amended throughout, ensuring that all participants feel comfortable in attending the sessions.
Everything that is discussed within these sessions will remain confidential unless the information shared relates to someone at possible risk or harm. Breaks are a must and refreshments will be available. Groups will be run at times to maximise opportunities for children, young people and parents or carers to attend, such as consideration around school hours and having groups available in the evenings and on weekends. Although groups will be run within your local community, we appreciate for some it may be difficult to attend the group, this can be discussed with the group facilitators to explore ways to support you in attend.
We continue to work closely with others within the Dunfermline and South West Fife communities and use the information shared by them to tailor and facilitate groupwork sessions, ensuring the needs of local communities are understood.
