Five-week program targets mental health

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This article was published 06/09/2023 (1103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mental well-being isn’t something one Brandon mom thinks about for herself, and she says she doesn’t know how to make her own mental health a priority — but she would consider a program offered by Prairie Mountain Health (PMH).

Jill Beaton works full-time at Safeway and said with her husband and son, she’s too busy to stop and think about whether she’s holistically happy, let alone taking the time to work on it.

“I’d say it’s even what my husband and I do for our seven-year-old, but I still feel like I have to oversee the whole operation to make sure things go smoothly,” Beaton said as she laughed. “But for sure, that’s stressful, so, no, I don’t take time for my mental health, but I’d like to.”

The program called Strive to Thrive is a free, five-week interactive program offered by PMH with in-person sessions starting this month in Brandon, Killarney and Ste. Rose, as well as online sessions coming up in November.

It’s not individual therapy. Meetings are offered in a group setting to teach people how to use tools for their mental well being toolbox, said Melanie Hellyer, a healthy living facilitator and community liaison with PMH.

“It’s all about mental wellness,” Hellyer said. “So, we explore what’s right instead of going into what’s wrong. The goal of the program is to decrease mental health stigma and to provide tools and resources that promote mental wellness and helpful coping skills — ways that we can include more positives in our life.”

Strive to Thrive began as a one-time pilot project in 2019 as a collaboration between mental health and health promotion within PMH. But when the positive feedback started to come in, Hellyer said they decided to expand the program.

Each session builds on the next, so it’s recommended that people commit to all five. The first one begins with an overall explanation about mental health, distress and disorder so that everyone understands the definitions.

Week two, Hellyer said, is about thriving with the creation of an action plan to make a change in your life.

“At first when you hear it, you might think that sounds like work, but it really isn’t. You can have a goal to change something in your life, and it might seem overwhelming. But if you break it down into small steps, then it’s achievable. And it could be anything from changing your eating habits to getting more physical activity or cleaning out your closet. Who knows what it might be?” Hellyer said.

During the third week, the group addresses transitions, which people can experience at any age including graduation, retirement, divorce and having children.

The trained facilitators with PMH explain how a person’s thoughts contribute to feelings about those changes.

Self-compassion, resilience and five daily practices are introduced during the sessions in the fourth week, which include everything from physical activity to humour, savouring a special moment, being active or listening to music.

The last week, Hellyer said, ties all previous sessions together with discussions about finding connections and support.

“Who would you like in your circle of support, and what are the reasons that you feel comfortable in that circle? We also talk about building a community. Who are the people that you want to surround yourself with and why? And then we do a web of connectedness at the end, to show how we’re all tied together, that it takes a community,” Hellyer said.

More than 56 per cent of Canadians are not getting the mental help they need, and 33 per cent of the national population say they are burned out, according to polls conducted in 2022 by the Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC), a charitable organization that supports mental health research at universities, teaching hospitals and research institutions across the country.

Additionally, 10 per cent of Canadians report having accessed mental health services in 2021, with five per cent who said they believed they should be, but are not.

Manjit Malhotra a 36-year-old full-time operator at Koch Industries in Brandon, says he has “been in a funk lately,” but added he doesn’t want to be a burden to his friends who “have lives and problems of their own.”

“I’m single and I really don’t have an outlet, just the guys I work with, and guys usually keep stuff more to themselves, and just work it out that way, I guess,” Malhotra said.

The Strive to Thrive sessions are open to anyone aged 18 years and older, said Hellyer.

“We’re finding that, especially since the pandemic, it’s even more important to attend to our mental well-being. So, you can take something negative and focus it on something more positive and reframe our thoughts,” Hellyer said.

Brandon’s in-person sessions run from Sept. 14 to Oct. 12 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

Killarney’s first of five sessions starts today until Oct. 4 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at the Tri-Lake Health Centre.

On Sept. 28, the sessions begin in Ste. Rose at the Primary Health Care Centre from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The online sessions will be held from Nov. 9 to Dec. 7, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Registration for each location must be done in advance by calling 1-877-509-7852.

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