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Do you find it hard to speak to people when you feel passionately they are wrong? Whether it's a row over giving up meat to save the planet or simply whose turn it is to wash up, such conversations can lead to a stalemate. One potential solution is deceptively simple but hard to pull off, especially when you feel sure you are right. The technique is called deep listening. It is an approach to difficult conversations that ensures both parties feel fully heard. Research suggests it can enhance the speaker's feeling of wellbeing, as when we are deeply listened to, we can feel valued, accepted and more connected, regardless of whether or not the listener agrees with us. Click here…

Active Lives, Healthy Minds is a three year (June 2016-2019) refugee-led mental health and wellbeing project in West London run by Race on the Agenda (ROTA) in partnership with Account Trust (Nepali community organisation), Network of Eritrean Women UK, Qoys Daryeel – Family Care (Somali community organisation), the Tamil Community Centre and Ilays. The project is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and aims to improve mental health. Click here to read more

The Centre for Welfare Reform was formed in 2009 to help create a world where everyone can be an equal citizen. The Centre is a citizen think tank. We are not funded by big business or government. We exist because of donations and voluntary effort and share information and ideas for free. Everyone is equal - everyone matters. But too often we are divided, isolated and alone. We need to live together in a spirit of equality and justice - taking care of each other and our planet. In 2016 the Centre helped to create Citizen Network, a global cooperative that brings together individuals and groups to create a world where everyone matters. The Fellowship of the Centre is developing…

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This book, by highly respected author, educator and adviser, Neil Thompson, offers a much more grounded approach to the complex issues involved. Part One provides a clear and helpful overview of key issues relating to promoting well-being – our own and other people’s, while Part Two offers 101 practical tips. This book will be ideal for anyone wanting to make a positive difference, whether in the caring professions, in a management or human resources context or just in their own personal lives.This is not a book that gives you instructions. The main aim is to give you food for thought, to support you in thinking through a number or key issues, warning you of pitfalls to avoid and helping you…

When people come to us for help or reach the last straw when it becomes clear that they cannot continue without help, it can be very helpful to ask: Why here? Why now? In other words, it pays to be clear about what has made the difference between carrying on as before and seeking change. It is often the case that the problem(s) people need help with have been around for some time, but they have not sought help before. So, why now? What has been the key factor that has made the difference. The answer to that question may tell us a great deal about the situation, how it is perceived by the person(s) concerned and therefore what it…

Bibliotherapy – the prescription of books as a remedy to ills – has been around since 2013, when the Reading Agency charity published a list of books that GPs could offer to patients, tackling topics from depression to dementia to chronic pain. Since then, 1.2 million readers have borrowed the scheme's books from libraries. It's so successful that it's about to be extended to children as well. Winifred Robinson discusses how it works with Professor Philip Davis who studies the effects of literature at Liverpool University. He's the author of a book called Reading for Life, having researched its effects on dementia, depression and worked with reading groups in prisons and homeless shelters. NB This content may not be available outside…

How much free time do you have lately? Did that question just make you laugh out loud? These days, we are pulled in so many directions and we have so many demands placed on our personal and professional lives that the idea of free time usually stays just that — an idea. But what if there was a way to bring a higher level of efficiency to our lives? What if you were able to focus on achieving your goals instead of checking on a seemingly endless list of to-dos? How could this change the quality of your life? How much free time would you be able to open up for yourself? Click here to read more

It is not just at the beginning of a new year that people promise themselves to do better. I rarely make New Year’s resolutions. But there are always times during the year when I think about something I just said or did, or didn’t do, and say to myself, “Self, you have got to do better.” But how? My natural inclination is to berate myself. I’ll give you a trivial example. Sometimes I carelessly do something that costs me money. At the supermarket, for instance, I pick up a yogurt that I know is on sale. But when it gets rung up, I don’t get the discount. Oh, it only applied to certain flavors; I forgot about that and picked…

Facebook page Facebook Social Work Focus group LinkedIn Twitter YouTube channel Neil’s website The humansolutions website Information about Neil’s online learning community, the Avenue Professional Development Programme