Wellbeing Programs

PB_Wellbeing

We believe that personal wellbeing underpins all other elements of our lives. If our wellbeing is low then it is very difficult for us to take advantage of life’s opportunities. FYI encourages all young people to embrace a wellbeing challenge.

The PERMA Challenge (Positive Psychology)

Martin Seligman’s PERMA model uses positive psychology to improve wellbeing and a sense of happiness. The wellbeing PERMA Challenge program works with students to develop opportunities for:

P= positive emotions,
E= engagement in activities they enjoy,
R= positive relationships,
M= life meaning through community activities,
A = achievements through activities in which they excel.

Our staff supports young people to develop a Wellbeing PERMA Challenge Plan. Some young people may like to take part in a more intensive understanding of PERMA and choose this topic as a weekly session. The PERMA Challenge works with students to continuously build each of the 5 zones of PERMA.

Mindfulness Sessions

Mindfulness is about being present; focusing only on what is happening right now. It helps us to regulate our mood and manage worry. Mindfulness sessions are run daily at the FYI Hub. Students can choose to take one session a week, or one a day, depending on their enrolment. The Smiling Minds website is used for the sessions, students can also download the app onto their personal devices to use anytime.

Personal Trainer and Nutrition Sessions

FYI works with personal trainers to develop fitness plans for participants interested in improving their overall fitness and physical health. Small groups are offered at the FYI Hub and out in the community. Nutrition is also included in these sessions, with food preparation and cooking classes on offer through our Living Skills course.

Gradual Exposure Tasks

Our Gradual Exposure Tasks are a ‘challenge by choice’ program. Young people decide on how they will manage any areas they find difficult. This program introduces participants to safe, agreed outings, gradually building the exposure challenges and linking participants to our other courses.

Sessions are offered in small groups for young people who live with anxiety and who need support reconnecting with their community. If the person struggles to do any of the following, then gradual exposure sessions may be a good option:

leave the house or
bedroom,
disengage from screens, or
engage in life outside.

Value Me

The Value Me program is for young people aged between 12 and 16 years of age. Value Me is a response to the new age social network environment that requires individuals to develop and maintain a high level of mental resilience.

Skills in self-regulation and impulse control have become crucial at a time when one’s reputation is so public and permanent and yet the ability to damage it so accessible and immediate.

Value Me challenges young people to hold onto a sense of value for physical safety and physical health, mental health and mental safety and value for our private and public reputations. The program is a skills education program integrated with therapeutic conversations. Over 15 weeks, one school semester, students work with program coordinators and guest speakers discussing self-protection, fitness and nutrition, normal development, social networking and self-marketing (branding).

4Rs Program

This is an outdoor adventure education program that combines adventure activities with therapeutic conversations. 4Rs aims to build successful relationships between students, peers and supporting adults while exploring the benefits of positive risk taking, self-regulation and reputations.

The activities include a high ropes course, mountain biking, kayaking, rock climbing, hiking and other adrenaline pumping events. The 4Rs program is a combination of whole day activities twice a term and smaller therapeutic group sessions of up to two hours in the weeks in between. The smaller group sessions concentrate on executive functioning skills that introduce the students to the themes of self-regulation, analysis of risk taking and the impact of a reputation. The ‘4RS’ was a pilot project funded by the Department of Education and Child Development (DECD) and is now an ongoing program of FYI.

Download the 4Rs Program Brochure here.

Counselling Sessions

The FYI Hub has counsellors on site throughout the day with step-out rooms available for one-to-one sessions. Students who feel they would benefit from individual sessions with a counsellor can book appointments in advance or ask to see the duty counsellor on the days they attend the Hub.

Interest Groups

You decide! If we have enough interest for a particular activity we will work with students to organise and implement a program. Making decisions and taking ownership helps to develop employability skills. Examples of possible programs include: