Wellbeing Cafe: The Worry Workshop

‘I’m a worrier’ is a phrase a lot of people say, and truly think about themselves. We aren’t born worriers, so when do we become worriers? Is it learned, or is there something inside us that makes it part of our personality?

Overview of the session

The Worry Workshop is an interactive session that takes people on a journey through psychology and mental health, starting with the theories behind worry, and moving onto practical exercises that can be used to replace it with adaptive coping strategies.

The session will explore why we worry, how we worry, and how we stop worrying. It has been designed to teach people about emerging research, and to give them the skills to stop worrying.

Worry is a huge part of our lives, and it is so normalised we don’t realise the impact it has on our day-to-day lives. This will be a space to explore what worry is, and how to change our relationship with something that can cause a lot of challenges on a daily basis. 

About Our Guest Facilitator

"Hi, I'm Dr Cameron Pattinson (call me Cam!), and I was a client of SRASAC off and on for about five years. I had individual and group counselling, and now I have the privilege of working with the SRASAC team with this workshop! I'm a psychologist, and currently I work in social care research focusing on the experiences of minoritised groups, but I also run the Worry Workshop several times a year for different groups. In my personal life, I'm an avid gardener, I write LGBTQ+ fiction, and I spend far too much time making my house cosy for my cats.

I developed The Worry Workshop during my PhD, which focused on looking at mental health and the ways in which it is impacted during periods of big changes. Counselling can be a really big change, and stir up a lot of different emotions, so it's good to be prepared for that. I found counselling with SRASAC a wonderful and transformative time, but even good changes in life can be hard to navigate at times.

The Worry Workshop is designed to be applicable to anyone, because it focuses on your day-to-day experiences and worries. I will present slides to you involving psychoeducation on worry, stress, anxiety, and the impact that has on the brain and body. We'll also look at some of the theories as to why we worry, and why some people worry more than others. Then we'll cover some coping strategies and tools you can use to manage worry in a healthier way. There can be discussions if people want to discuss parts of the presentation, but that's entirely up to the group on the day.

Just to reassure everyone - you will not be asked to share anything about yourself, or your worries, or your experiences that brought you to SRASAC. You can contribute as much as you like to the session - it's up to you, and I won't pressure anyone to talk. Additionally, if you have any further requirements, such as accessibility concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to SRASAC so they can let me know."