Supporting your mental health: two experts give their advice

This wellbeing programme has been developed for imaging and radiotherapy professionals who are members of the SoR.

Radiography staff working on the frontline have experienced and witnessed more than the physically devastating effects of Covid-19. The Society has now launched a programme to address the stress, fatigue and burnout of the last year. 

Part of the programme involves two workshops from speakers who have professional and personal experience of maintaining healthy mental wellbeing in challenging circumstances. Shahroo Izadi presents a workshop to offer a wellbeing action plan and Petra Velzeboer shares lessons from her unique life experiences. More information on both are below. 

The Kindness Method Workshop with Shahroo Izadi

Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 21 April

19:00-20:00

We’ve seen the kindness, support and compassion you’ve shown others over the past year. We see how you’ve championed your colleagues. We’d like to ensure that you’re giving yourself the same things and to give you an opportunity to turn more of that kindness on yourselves.

We know that you’ve been forced to create new routines in order to stay as productive, positive and empowered as you can during these ever-changing times, and that you’re probably already aware of which habits would help you to better manage your physical and mental wellbeing. That’s why we are delighted to give you this workshop, delivered by Shahroo Izadi, leading behavioural change specialist and bestselling author of The Kindness Method.

Shahroo provides simple, evidence-based strategies for habit change, with mental wellbeing in mind. Her work is inspired by the experience she gained as an NHS assistant psychologist, frontline community healthcare worker, and training consultant in the health and social care sector.

Whether it’s yoga classes, less time in front of screens, or a different sleep routine, her session will equip you with strategies to effectively embed new habits into a lasting routine for the benefit of your ongoing wellbeing. All you need to do is bring a notepad and pen, as well as some idea of a change you’d like to make.

Over the course of one fast-paced hour, Shahroo will guide you to complete a series of written exercises to create your bespoke wellbeing action plan and personalised motivational aids for staying on track. There won’t be any interaction until the Q&A at the end of the session, and you don’t need to tell anyone else what habits you’re using the workshop to create as there is no interaction between participants. You will come away with your morale, self-belief, and self-compassion supercharged. Once learned, you can use the exercises and approaches from Shahroo’s framework whenever you need them, to create new behaviours and boost your motivation.

Petra Velzeboer

Thursday 22 April

19:30-21:00

There’s a misconception that if we talk about our mental health at work we’ll open the floodgates of emotions and no one will ever get any work done. The reality is that the opposite is true.

Petra is an expert in helping people to empower themselves and those around them to improve their mental health, and in teaching others to embrace adversity and turn their biggest weakness into their greatest strength. She believes that if we utilise empathy and generate human connection at work we can create mentally healthy workplaces and enhance productivity.

She was born into the infamous Children of God cult where she was raised with the pressure of saving the world, with no formal education to speak of or resources on how to make it in the outside world. At 22 she moved to the UK, pregnant, isolated from her family, and without a support network, and tried to adapt to a normal way of life. At 25 she experienced chronic isolation, depression and sank into alcohol dependence leading to suicidal ideation and destructive behaviours.

There was a moment when she realised she had a choice. She could either end everything now or she could give herself a deadline to figure out if there was a way to be happy and fulfilled in life. She gave herself a secret deadline of one year to figure it out, and in that time she experimented on her own life in every form imaginable: exercise, learning, meditation, joining support groups, asking people questions, attending events and practising everything she learned on herself. At the end of that year, she realised everything wasn’t perfect but she no longer wanted to end it all, and in 2012 completed her MSc in Psychodynamics of Human Development. Her career has spanned working with young offenders, with mental health charities such as Young Minds, working as clinical director of an EAP and running her own thriving mental health consultancy since 2009.

On her podcast, ‘Adversity to Advantage’, Petra invites people from all walks of life to share their stories of resilience.

You can sign up and check out the classes at RADIATE.