Run over a 7 week period, the innaugral Building Resilience Towards depression course consited of an educational stream and an activity stream.

Educational Stream

09:00 Registration and Coffee

Week 1 – 24th August 2010: Starting on the path to wellbeing

• Aims of the course and housekeeping
• A fresh perspective on depression
• Creating an awareness about oneself
• About meditation
• What is meditation?
• Benefits of meditating
• Where should you start from?  

Judi Shearer, Counsellor
Julie Weston, Experienced Meditation Practitioner

Week 2 – 31st August 2010: A naturopathic view to well being and nutrition

• The difference in approach between natural and traditional medicine
• Using naturopathy to build resilience towards depression
• Understanding serotonin
• Improving well being through herbs and supplements
• Herbal safety in combination therapy
• Nutrition as a key to a well balanced body
• How do different foods affect you?
• What should you keep away from and eat more of?
• Using a food diary

David Casteleijn, Naturopath & Herbalist

Week 3 – 7th September 2010: Depression from the Perspective of a Holistic GP

• A medical perspective to depression
• Physical symptoms of depression
• Taking a nutritional and environmental approach:
• The philosophy
• The assessment
• The potential treatment
• The Pfeiffer method:
• How does it work
• Current results
• Scientific evidence of an integrated approach

Dr Mike Woodbridge, MB ChB FRACGP MACNEM B SC Dip MSM Dip Obs

Week 4 – 14th September: Using exercise as a tool to lift your moods

• Exercise and its affect on your moods
• Understanding different exercise forms and how they work
• Team sports vs. individual activity
• Developing an exercise programme to get you moving
• How to get active whilst feeling low
• Understanding and accepting your physical limitations
• The importance of routine and discipline

Rebecca Shadbolt, Educator & Personal Trainer

Week 5 – 21st September 2010: How does talking help? A look into psychology

• What does a psychologist do?
• What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist
• How does talking help to build resilience towards depression?
• Understanding the basic therapies and what they are used for:
• Cognitive behavior therapy
• Positive psychology
• Process psychology
• Accessing the Medicare benefits scheme

Wade Jacklin, Clinical Psychologist

Week 6 – 28th September 2010: The theories and practical applications of Chinese Medicine

• What is Chinese Medicine
• How can it help to relief the symptoms of depression
• What happens in an acupuncture session
• Getting over the fear of needles
• Practicing Qi Gong

Jeff Shearer, Chinese Medicine Practitioner

Week 7 – 5th October 2010: Creative therapies – an introduction to art therapy

• Linking art therapy to mental health
• The advantages of getting creative
• How can art therapy help?
• Giving it a try

Virginia Woods, Psychologist and Art Therapist

Note: We endeavour to keep this version of the programme as updated as possible, however changes might occur so we do suggest you check in regularly or drop us an email for updates.

Activity Stream

'Activity and exercise has many psychological benefits. It can help reduce anxiety. People who exercise repeatedly feel less stressed or nervous. Physical exercise helps to counteract the withdrawal, inactivity and feelings of hopeless that are a feature of depression. Mental Health Council of Australia

Listening, learning and discussing issues in the educational stream is definitely the main focus of the Building Resilience programme, however there are plenty of benefits which come with actually engaging in some stress reducing activities.

For this reason we are also offering participants the option to attend four sessions in one of three mind/body activities:

• Exercise
• Yoga
• Meditation

Each participant can make their preference based on what they think they will enjoy best and how it fits in with their schedule. The courses are offered by schools that specialise in the particular area.