The Latest Bulletin

Neil’s Effective Writing e-book is now on Kindle (and other e-book platforms) as are his two brand new e-books, A Career in Social Work and How to Do Social Work. For a limited period they are available for only 99p each. We hope you will like them and feel able to give them a positive review. https://astore.amazon.co.uk/neilthomp-21?_encoding=UTF8&node=14

On the one hand, it is very easy to get bogged down in details and lose sight of the bigger picture – to not see the wood for the trees. On the other hand, though, it’s also very easy to have an understanding of the bigger picture and struggle to put that understanding into practice in concrete practical ways – it can be difficult to translate that big picture into smaller, manageable steps ... https://neilthompson.info/index.php/think-global-act-local/

Anyone who works in the care sector knows how serious their job can be and often times the idea of fun just doesn’t come into it. However, here Simon North suggests some small changes you can make which will improve your workplace environment, relationships and ultimately your ability to cope with the stresses of the job ... https://www.careappointments.co.uk/career-clinic/new-career-advice/item/37596-tips-on-how-to-relieve-workplace-stress-and-improve-relationship

If you caught even part of BBC Three's Defying the Label season - the channel's biggest ever season of disability related programming - it was easy to sense the relish of the commissioning editors. Over the past month, there have been 15 specialist documentaries, current affairs features, a factual drama and a comedy panel game show that covered topics ranging from sex and relationships to hate crime. At times, it was as if BBC Three felt they were single-handedly filling in the wasteland of mainstream coverage of disability. Perhaps they were. In my weaker moments, I would prefer a television-wide ban of every disabled person in the country than to watch another makeover programme renovate a disabled person's house or…

Some people are able to reflect the light that lands on them, to take directions or assets or energy and focus it where it needs to be focused. This is a really valuable skill. Even more valuable, though, is the person who glows in the dark. Not reflecting energy, but creating it. Not redirecting urgencies but generating them. The glow in the dark colleague is able to restart momentum, even when everyone else is ready to give up ... https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/08/glow-in-the-dark.html

At Unseen we are working towards a world without slavery. It’s a big aim and a big task, but we believe we can do it. By concentrating our efforts on three main areas - supporting, equipping and influencing - we can start to tackle the issue in a way that really works. Our specialist care is the first step in the fight against slavery. Through supporting survivors, our provision gives them a safe place to recover from trauma and rebuild their lives. https://www.unseenuk.org/about

Neil’s Effective Writing e-book is now on Kindle (and other e-book platforms) as are his two brand new e-books, A Career in Social Work and How to Do Social Work. For a limited period they are available for only 99p each. We hope you will like them and feel able to give them a positive review. https://astore.amazon.co.uk/neilthomp-21?_encoding=UTF8&node=14

The mantra of being ‘balanced in all things’ is a well-established idea, but there is a paradox here. If we are aiming to be balanced in all things, doesn’t that mean we are being extreme (and therefore unbalanced) about being balanced? Shouldn’t we be trying to find a balance between being balanced and unbalanced? ... https://neilthompson.info/index.php/get-the-balance-right/

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published new guidelines which are aimed at helping to improve employee health and wellbeing. The guidelines were developed in response to recent research indicating that 27 million working days were lost due to stress-related illness in 2012-13. The chief aim of the guidance is to build a leadership model which promotes the wellbeing of employees, informed by an understanding of the role corporate culture can play in this. There is particular focus on the role of line managers in developing this model. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7794015e-2781-452f-8338-e8a4285663dc