different size pebbles in a tower

Skills for Life Workshops 2022-23

Stress Less for Exam Success

Are you feeling stressed regarding your exams and have difficulties concentrating and relaxing? Well, this webinar might be the right one for you. In this one-hour live webinar, we will focus on the negative impact of stress and anxiety on our mental and physical health and understand how this can impact revision and performance in exams. We will discuss ways to improve your study routine and reduce your level of stress and help you feel more prepared for exams.

There will be a Question & Answer session at the end of the workshop, so we encourage you to send in all your questions using the chat function throughout the webinar and they will be answered at the end. Please note these can be sent in anonymously. 

Below are the dates for our upcoming workshops:

Wednesday 2nd August 2023 - Resit edition register here

All workshops will take place from 10-11am online via Microsoft Teams.

 

Please note running this event will be dependent on sign ups so we may need to cancel on short notice if not enough people have registered. We will let you know by the 31st July whether the webinar will go ahead.

Sleep Well

Difficulty falling asleep? Waking in the night? Regularly getting less sleep than you need? If lack of sleep is affecting your health and wellbeing or your ability to study, then this may be the workshop for you. This workshop will provide students with general knowledge on the biology of sleep and will aim to help students increase their understanding of why they may be struggling with sleep as well as learn more about sleep hygiene and ways to improve sleep using practical techniques.

Below are the dates for our upcoming workshops:

Wednesday 24th May 2023 -  from 10.30am - 12 midday in SALC 6, Level 5, Sherfield Building - Register here

 

Procrastination to Productivity

Many of us put off important tasks and end up rushing towards (or missing) deadlines and we just don’t know why. Why can’t we just ‘get it done’? The reasons for and methods we use to procrastinate are often varied and individual. There is no straightforward answer, but this workshop aims to give you the space to begin to understand the causes of procrastination and learn practical ways to address these behaviours.

Below are the dates for our upcoming workshops: 

Wednesday 14th June 2023 from 10:30am - 12pm in SALC 10, Level 5, Sherfield Building - register here

Introduction to Mindfulness

Do you want to learn a way to increase self-awareness and resilience? Improve your working memory? Improve sleep? Reduce anxiety & depression? Research studies indicate that Mindfulness does all of this and more. Come along and try it out at this experiential workshop.

“The present is the only time that any of us have to be alive - to know anything - to perceive - to learn - to change - to heal.  Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally, to the unfolding of experience, moment by moment.” Jon Kabat Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living.

Below are the dates for our upcoming workshops:

Monday 22nd May 2023 Register here

All workshops will run from 4-6pm at the Chaplaincy Multi-Faith Centre.

Introduction to Self-Compassion

Do you find yourself experiencing high levels of self-criticism and blame yourself for things that are not your fault? Do you regularly compare yourself to others and experience low self-esteem? Research has demonstrated that developing self-compassion can improve emotional wellbeing, enhance your ability to cope with life challenges and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. This workshop introduces the ideas and approaches of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), developed by Professor Paul Gilbert. We will explore common fears and blocks to self-compassion and introduce some simple ways of cultivating a more compassionate relationship with ourselves.

Below are the dates for our upcoming workshops:

Tuesday 30th May 2023Register here

All workshops will take place from 12:30 - 2:30pm at the Chaplaincy Multi-Faith Centre.

Mood Boost

The Student Counselling & Mental Health Advice Service will be running our Mood Boost course again this academic year.

This 4-week course is designed for people who experience low mood and would like to learn techniques to manage it better, whilst connecting with otherhand holding daisies students who are experiencing similar challenges. 

The Mood Boost course is an opportunity to learn new skills and tools which you can use to feel happier, more relaxed and confident, and less sad, irritated, or worried. The course includes information about low mood, how to set realistic goals, ways to get a better balance of activities in your life, ways to manage unhelpful thoughts, and how to improve your general wellbeing. 

The course is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which is an effective evidence-based intervention for low mood and will be led by two of our Student Counsellors.

This is a 4-week course and participants will need to commit to attending all four sessions in order to fully benefit from and complete the course. If you are unable to attend all 4 dates listed below, please wait until the next course is delivered.

What students are saying:

‘The two instructors are lovely, calm, open to answering all questions and very comforting’

‘Hearing everyone’s experiences really did make me feel like I’m not alone’

‘The course had a welcoming and feel good vibe’

‘I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn techniques on how to improve their mood’

‘I always knew I wasn’t the only one struggling with low mood at Imperial, but there’s a big difference between knowing that you’re not alone and feeling like you’re not alone’

Course dates

Upcoming course dates:

Autumn Term 2023

  • Tuesday 24th October
  • Tuesday 31st October
  • Tuesday 7th November
  • Tuesday 14th November

Register here

All sessions will run from 12:15 - 1:45pm at Bernard Sunley Hall, 44 Evelyn Gardens, Queensgate, SW7 3BJ. This location is a 15-20 minute walk from South Kensington Campus, or a 10 minute walk from Gloucester Road tube station. 

 

Upcoming course dates:

Spring Term

  • Tuesday 30th January
  • Tuesday 6th February
  • Tuesday 13th February
  • Tuesday 20th February

Registration will open in December.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction; 4-week bespoke course

This 4 week bespoke course is aimed at decreasing stress, anxiety, pain and low mood; combining both Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. This course will help you develop a daily Mindfulness practice. Evidence suggests MBSR can increase resilience and creativity, improve relationships and communication. Studies also evidence an improvement in health, well-being, self-esteem, sleep, concentration and memory.

In this course, we will learn to turn towards difficult feelings and aspects of experience, accepting and befriending them, rather than turning away from them. We will aim to recognise how we habitually avoid unwanted emotions, becoming self-critical and judgemental, and instead begin to embrace, accept and welcome our experience with compassion and interest. 

The course is experiential, and will help you get into your body, recognise your thoughts and feelings, learn to regulate your nervous system, increase resilience and reduce shame, suffering and disconnection. We will distinguish between nourishing and depleting activities and begin making conscious choices, so that you are best prepared to look after yourself.

This is a 4-week course and participants will need to commit to attending all four sessions in order to fully benefit from the course as each session builds on the previous session. If you are unable to attend all 4 dates listed below, please wait until the next course is next delivered.

 

Course dates

Upcoming course dates:

Autumn Term 2023

All sessions run from 12:00-13:45

  • Tuesday 21st November
  • Tuesday 28th November
  • Tuesday 5th December
  • Tuesday 12th December

Register here

 Further dates to come.