The Lunchtime Lecture Series
In early 2009, feedback from ‘WAF’s’ undergoing wraparound training indicated that there was an unmet need for training on specific topics related to youth mental health, adolescent development, child protection guidelines, and local youth (mental health) services. In consultation with the WAF’s it was agreed that a new and innovative way to address this would be to organise a lunchtime lecture series. This could be open not only to WAF’s but also to other professionals working in the area.
The aim of the lecture series is to promote the Jigsaw model of well-being and resilience rather than the existing illness models of mental health. We also aim to provide a mental health educational resource for community practitioners by raising awareness of mental health topics and of local and regional services for young people, and associated referral pathways. We want to provide local practitioners with recommendations for resilience building and the promotion of well-being in young people, including specific guidelines for working with young people under various forms of stress and the provision of good-quality information and self-help resources to be disseminated by local practitioners to young people in Ballymun
The lectures have been run every 2 weeks form 12.30 – 1.30 and have encompassed a mix of topics suggested by the WAFs in the original consultation. The topics covered to date include:
- Schizophrenia - Olivia Murphy, MSc, BA
- Adolescent Depression - Dr. Graham Connon
- General Anxiety Disorder - Ted Tierney Mental Health Ireland
- Teenage Kicks - Adolescence and Drug Use - Dr. Paul Quigley Domville House
- Promoting Resilience in Young People - Helen Coughlan Headstrong
- The Samaritans – Patricia Byrne Samaritans
- Justice Services for Young People - Sergeant Seamus Tracey and Mary McGagh Senior Probation Officer
- The effects of parental separation on young people. What can we do to help? - Francesca McGuinn Coordinator Teen Between
- Self Injury - Dr Kay Inckle Trinity College Dublin
Our aim is to disseminate good-quality, up-to-date information in a presentation format of 1-hour duration. Emphasis is placed on self-help and constructive general guidelines for practitioners rather than on diagnostic labels or specialist techniques. We also evaluate every lecture to find out if people found the lecture useful and to get ideas for future lectures. Look out for our 2010 programme which is shaping up to be very interesting!
Lorna Powell, Ballymun Job Centre shares her thoughts on the subjects covered by the Jigsaw lunchtime lectures....
Since June 2009, there has been a very welcome educational opportunity being afforded to the practitioners of Ballymun, by way of a lunchtime lecture series. These lectures are free of charge and have the health and well being of young people as their main focus. They are organised by Catherine McGowan as part of the work of Jigsaw-youngballymun take place in the Axis Building between 1.30 and 2.30. The light lunch that is provided alongside definitely helps draw in the hungry crowds.
The lectures have been varied in their content, covering such topics as Self Injury and Self Harm in young people, Adolescent Depression, Justice Services for Young People and Adolescence and Drug Use. Also highly varied are the practitioners and local workers in attendance. The range includes representatives from the youth services, social work, An Garda Siochana, psychotherapists and local GP’s. Reaching out in a meaningful way to such a diverse group, with such different levels of education/ background is no mean feat. However, this lecture series has undoubtedly succeeded in the task. The high levels of attendance and the lively questions and answers section at the end of each lecture is definitive proof of this.
I am trained as a Social and Occupational psychologist and work on various projects in The Ballymun Job Centre (BJC). My work is both research based and applied. The applied work involves helping clients recovering from addiction (drugs or alcohol) to enter the world of training, education and employment. Much of the work of our research team, and our work in general in the Ballymun Job Centre, is rooted in the context of positive psychology, and assets, to help people become aware of their own abilities and competencies. Realising this often hidden potential and harnessing it in the direction of a sustainable career, can despite the adversity people who use our service often face, help transform their lives in a positive and meaningful way.
I have attended nearly every single one of the lunchtime lecture series thus far, but if asked to pick a favourite topic, it would be the lecture on resilience in young people. I found this topic most interesting and relevant to the work of the BJC. It was delivered by Helen Coughlan of Headstrong. She outlined resilience as the ability to ‘thrive, mature, and increase competence in the face of adverse circumstances’. This positive yet pragmatic lecture was highly insightful, astute and resounded well the philosophy that underpins much of the work of the Ballymun Job Centre.
Much of what I have learned through the Lunchtime Lecture Series has been relevant to my every day work in the BJC. On a concrete level, I have used the contacts I have met to help remove barriers to client progression. Also some the clients we engage with are very distanced from the labour market, and may have mental health issues, substance mis-use problems and criminal justice issues - for this reason the lectures on Depression (Dr. Graham Connon), Adolescence and Drug Use (Dr. Paul Quigley) and Justice (Sergeant Seamus Tracey & Mary McGagh, Probation Service) were particularly salient.
Overall the lectures are concise, topical and informative with just the correct amount of information. They have become a regular and anticipated element of my work diary. They provide me with a chance to learn more about carefully selected themes relevant to working with young people, to establish and maintain contacts with other local practitioners, to network formally and informally and to meet and ask questions of people who are experts in their field. They provide us working in the locality with a fixed means of meeting with each other on a social level. They are extremely well organised and excellently executed. They help us see outside of our specific area of expertise and put us into contact with experts and best practice from varying fields of study and research. As a practitioner, and on behalf of other practitioners working in the area of Ballymun, I would like to use this occasion to thank Jigsaw Youngballymun for affording us the regular opportunity to gain knowledge, socialise, and of course eat together in a learning environment.
