'Anxiety' - from enemy to friend. Exploring a different relationship.

When our anxiety is labelled as a disorder, a mental health problem or any other negative term we risk absorbing the messages that we can't trust ourselves and that we have no autonomy. We are its victim and it is happening 'to' us. Breaking away from this deficit veiw of our own minds that has been imposed on us by the medical model is one of the most important things we can do. Ray's workshop will help us to do just this. (AD4E)

In this workshop we will reflect, think together, discuss and explore practical ways in which we can learn to live well with a different relationship with anxiety and help others to do the same. This is a strengths and rights based non-pathologising, trauma-informed approach that does not use the Bio-medical approach of diagnosing people with anxiety disorders. Diagnosis of such disorders can increase people’s anxiety and reduce their sense of personal agency that they can do soemthing about it.

Ray will outline a number simple techniques that can help. One set of skills involve “Zooming out” and putting anxiety in the bigger context of our life-journey - or quest narratives - so it makes sense. Ray also introduces some ideas about how different kinds of power work to increase or decrease anxiety, drawing on the Power Threat Meaning framework - including economic and material power, interpersonal and the power of belonging to a group, and how powerful sets of ideas (ideology) and the fear of social judgement / social comparison can influence our anxiety experience.

Ray also looks at ways to “Zoom in” and dissect our experience of anxiety into 9 parts in order to gain a sense of mastery or agency over.

BIO

Ray has lived experience of surviving both childhood trauma and the psychiatric system and recovery from problematic substance use in the 1990’s. He has since worked in a variety of roles including managing services for people facing multiple disadvantages and being a care co-ordinator in an Early Intervention in Psychosis Service. He is an independent consultant and trainer delivering a 5 day strengths and rights based non-pathologising, trauma-informed Workforce Development programme which he has written. The programme has been very positively externally evaluated by the University of Lincoln. A selection of the organisions for whom Ray has devised and delivere training are below.

Ray is also a member of the Power Threat Meaning Framework steering committee.

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