Following recent shows at the Horsforth Walk of Art and Love Arts Festival, Leeds artist Helen Gibson – professionally known as The Perky Painter – is taking her first solo exhibition on tour to Touchstone IAPT. The exhibition’s title, “It’s OK not to be Perky”, reminds us it's OK not to be OK and that we can share these feelings. Art helps Helen communicate her experiences. She says: “I use painting to express and deal with
THE WELL-BEAN CRISIS CAFÉ – HOPE IN A CRISIS BLOG – November ’18: TWO YEARS OF THE WELL-BEAN CAFÉ: HOPE IN A CRISIS (Written by Matthew Hall – Crisis Support Worker at WBC) On 12 November 2016 the Well-Bean Café (WBC) opened, having our first visitor on that same evening. Now nearly two years on – we have had over 175 individual visitors to the service, and overall visits well
The Touchstone IAPT team have been fortunate to share our offices with the work of Alisia Casper this Summer and Autumn. Alisia is a Leeds based artist who draws on her experiences of long term health conditions (including chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia) when making drawings, paintings, photography, writing and music. As we have begun offering new online treatments for people living with diabetes, heart and lung conditions her work
On Armistice Day I remembered my mum’s dad; a well-read and well-loved man, amateur actor and architect, who ended up spending most of his life in Zambia, Central Africa. He was somewhat of a raconteur; telling tales of joining an army regiment based on which one wore the most eye catching hats on parade and drank at a club for veterans called the MOTH club. The Memorable Order of Tin
For International Stress Awareness Day, Touchstone IAPT have compiled a list of our best stress-busting songs! Here they are in no particular order... Dance With Me - Olly Murs Happy - Pharrell Williams Pata Pata - Miriam Makebe Good Times - Chic Don't Stop Believing - Journey One Day Like This - Elbow Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry Don’t You Worry 'Bout a
Wear Red Day: October 19th Show Racism the Red Card is holding its annual 'Wear Red Day' on October 19th. Show Racism the Red Card is an anti-racism educational charity and you can find out more about the work they do here: http://www.theredcard.org/about/Richard GarlandSally PoyserGeraldine Montgomerie-GreenwoodSimone Stephenson-BellwoodRuqayyah GhaniLouise AaronStephen Green
October 10th is World Mental Health Day. Here are 5 top tips for maintaining good mental health from Touchstone IAPT: Create a protected space in the week to be spontaneous. Be kind to yourself no matter how you think you have done that day. Don't put off doing the things that really matter to you. Remember it is OK not to be OK sometimes. We all have mental health in
Old approach I don't know about you, but where I went to school there was very little taught about Black History other than slavery. Forgive me, but as a black female born to parents from the Caribbean, I know I am a descendant from slaves. The world does not let us forget. Those black history lessons were painful and uncomfortable to sit through, my only consolation was seeing 2 other black faces in the room looking
Pat Regan When I think about black history my thoughts usually look to the American Civil Rights movement and as my daughter has started school I see her studying the same heroic American figures, like Rosa Parks, that would also come into my mind... but Black History Month is not about this. Thirty years ago as part of a London council initiative, Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, proposed to introduce the American idea
Growing up I realised early on I was drawn to both men and women. At 13 I came out as bisexual to close friends and family, this is where I realised how difficult being a bisexual woman could be. I have had several challenges during my life including being locked out of the girls locker room at school, family members being unaccepting of my sexuality and bullying. This became very