Over the last few years, we have been on a journey to understand how we might best help our community through the mental health crisis that is being felt right throughout Aotearoa. We have been heartbroken at the detrimental effects of poor mental and emotional health for many Kiwis and are convinced that we must be part of the solution. We see two clear areas to focus our efforts on, preventative and responsive.
 
Preventatively, we believe the key is education and so the Feed Your Mind programme and resources were created. They focus on equipping whānau with key skills in emotional vocabulary, describing feelings and needs of real-life events, and debriefing the day. Which are all proven skills to help improve mental and emotional wellness in young people and adults.
 
Our second focus is to be responsive to the needs of our community in accessing professional help, primarily counselling. Ana van Elswijk, our primary facilitator and Mind Health Educator, is in the final stages of completing a Masters in Counselling which will position us with an NZAC accredited counsellor to serve our local community.
 
We truly see the Feed Your Mind initiative as a practical and accessible solution to the mental health crisis being felt in our community.
 
Feed Your Mind is brought to you by LifeSwitch - for more info about us, check out www.lifeswitch.org.nz