Wednesday 26 September 2012

the brain quilt

christian holstad the brain quilt

I like the idea of a brain quilt, and not just because its a textile. It makes something mysterious and largely unknown, into something almost familiar and cloudlike. I am making a quilt, which is going to somehow demonstrate my social work practice frameworks. So its a framework quilt, not a patchwork quilt (they did say we could be creative). I will post a photo when its done.

In the meantime, I am almost finished at my lovely placement (see below). I still have two large assignments to write. The end of the semester is in sight, but since I am planning to dive straight into another placement over summer, that is fairly meaningless!




 

Dinner's ready. more later.

Thursday 13 September 2012

the power of 'no'!






photos from yesterday's huge Day of Action (12.9.12) at Parliament House. 

I don't work for the Public Service, but I supported it yesterday after 14,000 jobs were shed in the Queensland State Budget. The theme of this march was to say 'no, we won't accept this without a fight'. 

incidentally, the Rufus May 'Hearing Voices' workshop I wrote about two weeks ago had an activity based on saying 'no', to increase assertiveness and self-efficacy. 

And on the same theme: an excerpt from my placement blog post on resilience and self care:

For me, the topic of resilence and self-care is related to the concept of work-life balance, and being able to say 'no' instead of over-committing myself. I find it much easier to have a work-life balance when I am in a regular routine, so new situations (such as studying and being on placement) are definitely a challenge.

The great thing about being on placement is having many opportunities for learning and experiencing new things, which sees me starting with great enthusiasm and then collapsing exhausted in a heap a few weeks later. After going from one extreme to another, I find I can usually pick myself up again, establish some more realistic boundaries, and equilibrium is restored. This is where I am at at the moment. The last couple of weeks were stressful, with a sick child, an evening group to facilitate for my work, a Saturday workshop, and limited time for relaxation and self-care activities. I had a sick day on Thursday, and that has given me the breathing space I needed to recover, 'keep calm, and carry on'.

Ironically, I am facilitating an art therapy workshop on the theme of 'Self-care and Recovery' at A Place to Belong's Recovery Day this Saturday. I am really looking forward to this, and I am hoping that I can bring some honesty and authenticity to the workshop, based on my recent experience. I am planning to explore the barriers to self care as well as help participants identify positive ideas and strategies for their own well-being. My favourite self-care activity is going to the gym on Monday nights and doing a Body Combat class, followed by Flow Yoga. I then like to sit in my PJ's and watch 4 Corners, Media Watch and Q & A. Bliss!

Monday 10 September 2012

Queensland is where the hurt is...


felt patchwork heart

A short post only today, to say that I missed our annual Child Safety Week community development project at work, (see this link: Family Fun Day), on Saturday, to go to another uni workshop on....community development work!

(The felt heart (pun is intended) is related to one of the activities the therapy team did at the Fun Day.)

Anyway, as part of the workshop, we had to observe the local community, adjacent to QUT, at Kelvin Grove 'Urban Village' (that name just makes my fingernails curl), which was quite interesting, as I found out that the green corridor, that runs through the area from Victoria Park to McCaskie Park, has links with the local Indigenous population, who used the area for hunting, fishing, corroborrees and ceremonies, in the pre-'settlement' period, I presume. 

And I also reflected on what I valued as a student in the late 1970's, namely: subsidised cafes, non-commercial communal meeting spaces, and time to just be a student and stay up all night (well I did that once), talking and solving the world's problems. Those really were the days, my friend.

Tomorrow, we will hear the Queensland Liberal Governments' Budget, and I hope it won't cause too much chaos, anxiety, economic hardship and general destruction. But I am not holding my breath. 

And this link is to Susan Cain, talking about the power of introverts. 'ROWDIE!' Great stuff... 

more later.  





Tuesday 4 September 2012

letting things slide...and Rufus May


this is self-care? more like chaos-management...

'a place to belong - the uncentre game'

Its been another couple of full-on weeks on placement etc. The uncentre game is roughly based on the Ungame, a non-competitive board game about feelings and communication. This version incorporates the concept of a centre, which is not an activity-based centre, but which supports community inclusion and emotional safety. So there are no walls, and places you can go to for different feelings, and lots of pathways to those places. As with the collage above it, both seem pretty chaotic to me.

One bright spot in the past week, however, was a workshop with the inspiring Rufus May, who is a British psychologist (amongst others), who is pioneering non-medical and more humanistic approaches to working with people who hear voices. His approach is similar to other forms of trauma recovery, and it was a very practical, informative workshop, despite being in the somewhat surreal Broncos Leagues Club in Red Hill. (Large photos of rugby players, large statue of stallion displaying his crown jewels, a cavern full of pokie machines, etc. etc.).

Tonight I am finishing a parenting group, and will be handing in a major group assignment on Saturday, so things should start to look a little bit easier after that. Only five more weeks of placement to go, including this week. One day at a time...

more later.