mental health

A collection of 63 posts

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone (And Why It’s Always Worth It)

Stepping outside your comfort zone is uncomfortable — but that’s where the growth happens. Here’s what happened when I challenged myself to do just that.

habits

Restarting Habits: How to Get Back on Track Without Beating Yourself Up

Lost your good habits? You’re not alone. Here’s how to restart without guilt, take small steps, and build lasting change—one simple win at a time.

Personal Growth

Heatwave Wisdom: What the Weather Taught Me About Keeping My Cool

Stuck in a hot car and losing your cool? Here’s what a heatwave taught me about emotional regulation, stress triggers, and slowing down under pressure.

charity

Running for Phase

Hey Phase blog! On Sunday 19th October, I'll be running the Yorkshire Marathon in support of Phase. However, this won't just be a case of putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles. I'll be running it in a costume

resilience

We All Need Role Models – Especially the Real Kind

Exploring the urgent need for authentic role models in a world of toxic influencers. Inspired by Gareth Southgate’s Richard Dimbleby Lecture and the Netflix docu-drama Adolescence, this piece dives into how we can build better communities, connection, and conversation with young people.

mental health awareness week

Mental Health Awareness Week 2023

It is Mental Health Awareness Week 2023 this week and this year the theme is Anxiety. The aim of Mental Health Awareness week is to open up conversation with others about important topics and support one another by sharing experiences and tools. Anxiety is an emotion that we have all

emotional wellbeing

Learning to be vulnerable

In this guest blog friend of Phase, Rebekah Bacon, talks to us about vulnerability - what it is, when we notice it and how we can benefit from being more vulnerable with people. A little while ago, I sat down with Kieran (the director of Phase) to talk about vulnerability.

anxiety

Let's Talk Anxiety Support Group Reflections...

Over the past term we have had the privilege of running 5 'Let’s Talk Anxiety Support Groups' across the Hitchin Secondary Schools. We are seeing more and more young people struggle with anxiety, especially as we start to emerge from lockdown and are processing all that has

pornography

Porn-pandemic

In a recent Ofsted survey [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57411363] it was highlighted that teenage girls were asked for nudes by up to 11 boys a night. The impact of pornography on young people is a silent pandemic that has been spreading for years. The rise of social

Hitchin

One Step at a Time...

This month (June 2021) Phase [https://phase-hitchin.org/] are challenging everyone to join us in carrying our virtual Olympic torch from Hitchin (where we work) to Tokyo! It's all part of getting ready for our Hitchin Home Olympics [https://sites.google.com/phase-hitchin.org/olympics/home?mc_cid=

mental health

What is normal now...

Hello Phase friends Sending Spring good wishes to everyone. As I’m writing this it’s sunny and I’m in the warmest room in my house even though I know in real life it’s only 10 degrees outside! This week’s blog is a ponder on the unlocking.

anxiety

Let's Talk Anxiety Support Groups

At Phase we are passionate about helping young people live life in all of its fullness, to reach their full potential and thrive. However, due to the pandemic, we have seen a rise in mental health issues and a high level of anxiety. A survey carried out by Young Minds

rest

Having time off… The importance of rest!

This is one those subjects that is much easier to talk about than to do – well it is for me! I am a keen runner and triathlete – though I can’t do triathlons at the moment due to lockdown. However, in the past I have run Edinburgh Marathon and done

COVID-19

Covid Christmas

I had planned a very different blog post, however following Saturday's announcement [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-55379272] of Hertfordshire and much of the east and south east of England moving into a new fourth tier and the huge implications this has on the Christmas many

busy

Quarantine Musings...

This week the Phase Vice-Chair John Maguire tells us about how he has been coping with lockdown, quarantine and all things WFH... My eldest son John lives in Malta and fourth time lucky we were able to visit him at the beginning of November and then had to quarantine for

anxiety

World Mental Health Day

Tomorrow (10th October) it’s World Mental Health Day. This is the day that the World Health Organisation uses to highlight mental health issues, and this year’s theme is ‘mental health for all’. Now, perhaps more than ever, we are talking more about how we feel inside our heads.

wellbeing

Mental Health Awareness Week (18th - 24th May)

This coming week is Mental Health Awareness Week, with the theme for this year being Kindness. We are at a time in life where looking after our mental health and wellbeing has never been so important. Our normal routines, and ways of life have changed, and we have had to

Coronavirus

Staying active in lockdown

Wow, so how are you coping with lockdown? It's hard isn't it? I have settled into a new routine of sorts, but I'm still finding it a bit unsettling. Phase has been giving you some tips in the last few weeks about how to

virtual mentoring

Virtual Mentoring

As we all go through this incredibly difficult season of isolation where routines, rhythms and everyday normality has been removed, it can make us feel lost, fearful and uncertain about what the future holds. At Phase we are passionate about equipping children and young people to journeying through adolescence, whereby

kindness

Random Acts of Kindness

Have you ever carried out a random act of kindness? Or been on the receiving end of one? There are some amazing stories I have heard of incredible acts of generosity. A friend recently told me of a time when he was making the huge and difficult choice to quit

mentoring

The M-factor

What is the 'M-factor'? Mentoring! Mentoring is such a valuable tool that adds so much to somebody’s life. My experience of mentoring has been really positive and helped me to learn and grown in myself. By meeting with someone regularly and consistently really honestly has so many

perspective

Start how you mean to go on

New school year, new start. A new start to me often feels like starting a new exercise book when I was at school, where I would promise to myself to keep this one neat, clean and tidy. Sadly it was something that I rarely managed. But I’m old and

resilience

Top tips to build resilience

Resilience is a bit of a buzz word right now, but what is it, why is it needed and most importantly, how do we build it? In this blog post I want to answer these questions and give you 10 great tips on how to build your resilience whether your

body

Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 - body image

It's Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year the focus is all around body image. It's something that affects us all - we might not all identify with having negative body image, but we all have a view on the way we look. And no matter

tips for uni

10 tips to de-stress

Today's blog piece is from a guest writer, David Price of Health Assured [https://www.healthassured.org/] offering his top tips to de-stress. Stress is a common occurrence in our everyday life and in most cases it is manageable without the need for any drastic actions. However, if