In this episode, Rachel is joined by Ruth Cocksedge a Practitioner Psychologist who started her career as a mental health nurse. She practices in Cambridge and has a particular interest in EMDR for PTSD and creative writing as a way to improve mental health and wellbeing. 

We chat about EMDR and how it can help with PTSD, and discuss some antidotes to anxiety and stress such as mindfulness and self-compassion. So much of how we feel is a result of our own self-talk and learning to be kind to ourselves and treat ourselves how we would treat our best friend will help alleviate anxiety. 

We discuss how Ruth discovered creative writing as a way to good mental wellbeing and her journey into teaching creative writing for wellbeing. Learning and playing is one of the ways to wellbeing and anything which helps us get into flow and express what we are thinking and feeling can be extremely powerful in relieving feelings of stress and anxiety. 

Ruth’s top tips:

1. Be kind to yourself
2. Recognise you are human
3. Treat yourself how you would treat your best friend

Extra info:

Ruth plans to run a Creative Writing for Well-being group for six weeks in the Spring. This will run on a Saturday morning or an evening for 2 hours in Cambridge, start date to be confirmed. Course aim: to improve the well-being of participants by giving them opportunities to write creatively and develop their ability to express themselves in writing, for enjoyment, personal development and to tell their stories. 

Do email Ruth for more information and to express an interest.

Podcast links

Mindfulness meditations from Jon Kabat-Zinn https://www.mindfulnesscds.com 

Breaking and mending by Joanna Cannon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breaking-Mending-doctors-stories-compassion/dp/1788160576/ 

Find out more about Ruth http://www.cambridgecbt.com/our-therapists/ruth-cocksedge/ 

Contact Ruth [email protected] 

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For more episodes of You are not a frog, check out our website www.shapesfordoctors.com/podcasts and sign up to our mailing list here for loads of useful resources about thriving at work. 

Follow Rachel on twitter @DrRachelMorris or LinkedIn and find out more about her online and face to face courses for doctors on surviving and thriving at work at www.shapesfordoctors.com or for other organisations at www.wildmonday.co.uk

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