comes later. For now your role is simply one of supportive listener. So make sure you’re listening! pretend to understand Don’t think that all teachers got taught on some course “I somewhere to understand how that the say ‘I must feel’ moment you open to, up. YOU DON’T – don’t even pretend not helpful, it’s it’s insulting.” The concept of a mental health difficulty such as an eating disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) can seem completely alien if never experienced these difficulties first hand. You may find you’ve yourself wondering why on earth someone would do these things to themselves, but explore those feelings with the sufferer. Instead don’t listen hard to saying and encourage them to talk and what they’re you’ll slowly start to understand what steps they might be ready to take in order to start making some changes. be afraid to make eye contact Don’t was so disgusted by what I told her that she to “She couldn’t bear look at me.” to try to maintain a natural level of eye contact (even if you It’s important have to think very hard about doing so and it natural to you doesn’t feel at all). If you make too much eye contact, the student may interpret this as you staring at them. They may think that you are horrified about what they are saying or think they are a On the other hand, if you do ‘freak’. not make eye contact at all then a student may interpret this as you being disgusted by them to the extent that you cannot bring yourself to – look at them. Making an effort to maintain natural eye contact will convey a very positive message to the student. Offer support react, but my Mum just listened “I was worried how she’d then can I support No one had asked me said ‘How you?’ – that before and it made me realise that she cared. Between us we thought of some really practical things she could do to help me stop self-harming.”
comes later. For now your role is simply one of supportive listener. So make sure you’re listening! Don’t pretend to understand “I think that all teachers got taught on some course somewhere to say ‘I understand how that must feel’ the moment you open up. YOU DON’T – don’t even pretend to, it’s not helpful, it’s insulting.” The concept of a mental health difficulty such as an eating disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) can seem completely alien if you’ve never experienced these difficulties first hand. You may find yourself wondering why on earth someone would do these things to themselves, but don’t explore those feelings with the sufferer. Instead listen hard to what they’re saying and encourage them to talk and you’ll slowly start to understand what steps they might be ready to take in order to start making some changes. Don’t be afraid to make eye contact “She was so disgusted by what I told her that she couldn’t bear to look at me.” It’s important to try to maintain a natural level of eye contact (even if you have to think very hard about doing so and it doesn’t feel natural to you at all). If you make too much eye contact, the student may interpret this as you staring at them. They may think that you are horrified about what they are saying or think they are a ‘freak’. On the other hand, if you do not make eye contact at all then a student may interpret this as you being disgusted by them – to the extent that you cannot bring yourself to look at them. Making an effort to maintain natural eye contact will convey a very positive message to the student. Offer support “I was worried how she’d react, but my Mum just listened then said ‘How can I support you?’ – No one had asked me that before and it made me realise that she cared. Between us we thought of some really practical things she could do to help me stop self-harming.”
613_mental_health_and_wellbeing_policy_166_mar_2018_-_appendix_1_-_guidance.docx