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Edinburgh psychology experts launch FREE winter webinars to help Scots manage mental health

Posted: 28th October 2020

First Psychology Scotland launches lunchtime webinars to cover coping with winter blues and getting ready for a socially distanced Christmas

Edinburgh based First Psychology Scotland (FPS) is launching a series of FREE lunchtime winter webinars to help Scots deal with the darker months and preparing for a very different Christmas.

Following on from the success of oversubscribed webinars in April and May, this is the second series of free webinars First Psychology’s team of experienced psychologists and counsellors has offered this year.

Starting on Friday, 6 November 2020, the team will present 30-minute webinars between 12 and 12.30pm. Additional webinars are scheduled for 20 and 27 November as well as 4 December 2020.

 First Psychology Clinical Director, Professor Ewan Gillon, said: “This second webinar series is all about helping people develop coping strategies for the months ahead.

“Winter is generally a time where we see an increase in mental health concerns such as anxiety and low mood, due to the shorter days. Reduced exposure to daylight can trigger depressive feelings in some, known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

“Combined with the recommendation to limit social contacts and the fact that this year has already been challenging for everyone and especially those with existing mental health problems, winter will be tough.

“In our webinar series we are hoping to give Scots concrete strategies as well as coping mechanisms they can easily integrate into their daily lives. They are accessible and free to anyone who feels they may benefit; all you need to do is register via the Edinburgh Therapy website – Winter Webinar page.”

The first webinar focuses on maintaining mental health whilst working from home. Subsequent sessions will cover staying connected during a potential winter lockdown, coping with SAD and how to have an enjoyable Christmas this year.

For anyone looking for more in-depth advice, the team at First Psychology is providing a specially compiled ‘Corona Toolkit’, downloadable from the organisation’s website and FREE OF CHARGE. The toolkit is packed with more easy to follow coping strategies and also covers advice on what to avoid to stay calm.

First Psychology Scotland also launched firstpsychology-online.co.uk earlier this year to provide extra, more accessible support during the first Covid-19 lockdown period. The service provides a comprehensive online and phoned-based counselling and therapy service and allows clients to access one-to-one sessions with nearly 50 trained psychologists, psychiatrists and counsellors from anywhere in the world.

First Psychology Scotland is an independent provider of psychological services throughout Scotland with centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow Aberdeen, Inverness,  Perth, Dundee and Borders. Services provided for families, couples, individuals and young people include counselling, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), psychotherapy, relationship/couples counselling and coaching services.  Professor Gillon is also the founder and director of Glasgow Caledonian University’s D.Psych programme in Counselling Psychology, the only programme of its kind in Scotland.

Webinar Details:

1 .Maintaining Well-being while Working from Home – Friday 6 November 2020, 12-12.30pm (GMT)

The aim of this webinar is to increase your awareness of some of the elements of working from home that may negatively impact your mental health, especially as we move into winter, and how to adapt your working from home practices to best manage these. We will also look at how to recognise when you or others might be struggling and how to put a plan in place to manage this and get support. https://www.firstpsychology.co.uk/news-detail.php?ID=84

2. Staying Connected During a Winter Lockdown – Friday 20 November 2020, 12-12.30pm (GMT)

The autumn/winter season is usually one for lots of celebrations with friends and family, celebrating Halloween, birthdays, bonfire night, Christmas, work nights out and New Year’s Eve. Seeing friends and family that you don’t see much of the rest of the year or spending quality time at home with your closest loved ones. However, this winter lockdown restrictions are likely to prevent our usual celebrations and opportunities for connecting with others. Accordingly, the aim of this webinar is to explore how we can adapt to these restrictions whilst keeping connected with our loved ones and battling the onset of winter loneliness. https://www.firstpsychology.co.uk/news-detail.php?ID=85

3. Coping with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) During Lockdown Friday 27 November 2020, 12-12.30pm (GMT)

It’s common for your mental health to be affected by changing seasons and weather, or to have times of year when you feel more or less comfortable. But if your feelings are interfering with your day to day life, and keep coming back at the same time of year, it could be a sign that you have seasonal affective disorder or SAD. The aim of this webinar is to explain more about SAD, what causes SAD and tips to help you manage your mental health this winter, particularly focusing on coping with SAD during lockdown. https://www.firstpsychology.co.uk/news-detail.php?ID=86

4. How to Have a Merry Lockdown Christmas – Wednesday 4 December 2020, 12-12.30pm (GMT)

Christmas this year is likely to be a strange and different event for all of us: with lots of indoor and outdoor events not going ahead and restrictions on travelling and meeting up with friends and family, you might expect this Christmas to be rather miserable. Accordingly, the aim of this webinar is to help you explore creative ways of making the most out of this Christmas season so that you can still experience the excitement, entertainment and connectedness that you have come to know and love, without leaving your house (much)!

https://www.firstpsychology.co.uk/news-detail.php?ID=87

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