Really excited to announce that I am starting a range of stand-alone pre-recorded courses. The first one has just gone live and I am giving you the option of deciding your price, so if you need it but can only afford to pay $5 then that is okay.
For more information and to enrol click on this link.
I am excited to announce I will be delivering the FAA Level 2 in First Aid for Youth Mental Health on Sunday 29th May 2022. This is wholly online and can be accessed by anyone within South East Asia as it will be held 9am – 5pm Singapore time (GMT+8). The course covers how to identify mental health conditions in young people, the impact of drugs and alcohol, self injury and eating disorders, what to do if you think a young person is suicidal and how to have supportive conversations with young people around their mental health. Price includes e-book.
For more information and to sign up please click here.
There are 4 places left on the FAA Level 2 First Aid for Mental Health training I am delivering on Saturday 26th February 2022. The course will be held online from 9am – 5pm (GMT+8: Singapore) at the discounted rate of $197 (usual price in the UK is around $300). Price includes UK accreditation and e-book.
If you are in the right time zone and would like more information click here
I am absolutely honoured and excited to be taking over as Coordinator of the South East Asia School Counsellors Network (SEASCN). Set up in 2011 by Hazel McLure & Ian Moody, both school counsellors in Singapore at the time, they realised that the unique problems and issues they were facing in their roles were best answered by others doing the same jobs. Over the past 10 years they have seen the network grow to over 100 members across the region and a much beloved annual conference.
As both are leaving the region this year I hope to carry on the great work they started and ensure this valuable space for school counsellors continues.
Here in South East Asia, there isn’t always easily accessible support for young people so I was delighted when I came across the Siblings Support Project. Although they are based in the USA and Australia, they have a support group on Facebook called ‘Sibteen Support Project’ which can be accessed by any young person who can speak English from across the world (which will be limiting for some young people I know). The group is for siblings only – sorry parents and professionals you are not allowed in! – which allows them a safe and supportive space to ask questions and talk through things with other young people in the same situation as themselves. So if you or any of the young people you work with, could use a bit of peer support have a look.
You can find out more information about Siblings Support and the other work they do here: https://siblingsupport.org/
Back in January this year I co-founded the snazzily and imaginatively titled “Brunei Non Fiction Book Club with Nisa, who I knew only from #Bookstagram. We hadn’t met in person so I remember sitting in the cafe by myself that first meet up wondering if anyone would actually show up!
The idea was simple – read what you want and come tell us about it. We’ve discussed books with subjects as far ranging as environmental issues, trauma, politics, self help, memoirs and even (my personal favourite) graphic non-fiction. And anyone can join – just bring at least one non-fiction book to talk about!
Next month I will be speaking at this event talking about how people can join our book club, why non-fiction is great and what we’ve been reading. The event is free but you do need to sign up. So if you are interested in what we and other Brunei book clubs have been reading this year check it out. Sign up link here
Excited to be delivering this on 2nd January 2022. All spaces are now filled but if you would like to be on the waiting list in case a participant drops out, or would like to be informed about upcoming training please let me know via by the Contact Us page
Today I led a workshop for Respect Me on Healthy & Unhealthy Relationships. Below are some resources I talked about:
How Healthy is My Relationship Assessment:
Living Through Crazy Love: Leslie Morgan Steiner Ted Talk
Further Reading and Resources:
Jess Hill (2020) ‘See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control & Domestic Abuse’
The Duluth Model: https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wheels/
I have recently launched a podcast with the aim of giving evidence based strategies for improving mental health and well being in episodes of less than 10 minutes in length. You can listen to it via the Podcast page or subscribe to it here. I hope you find it useful.
Back in 2013 I was interviewed by Brook at a conference at UCL about the importance of talking about sexual pleasure as part of Relationships and Sex Education.
It seems like we need to have this conversation again in light of the #metoo movement and Everyone’s Invited, both highlighting the wallpaper of sexual violence that (not only) young people face.
The full video is above.
Aylssa Cowell 