The SEJ Process, which provides the foundation to the ‘Stay Mentally Healthy Campaign’ was born out of my own personal mental health challenges.
I began to suffer with depression from the age of fourteen, and although I was in the system and receiving help by my early twenties; recurring bouts of depression had already become an established pattern due to no appropriate early intervention.
I spent the next few years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, given various medications and treatments, all of which only served to manage my depression, I was never truly free of it. By my late twenties, I was in hospital again, and after over fourteen years of suffering recurring bouts of depression, to which I could see no end, my experiences culminated in my attempted suicide in my late twenties.
After this time, I came to see the answer to being depression free was in my ability to ‘stay mentally healthy’ despite being told by my psychiatrist I would most likely suffer with recurring bouts of depression for the rest of my life, and the best I could hope for was to learn how to manage it. When I realised exactly how to stay mentally healthy, I was able to free myself of depression and, as a consequence, a future where suicide would have always been an option.
I have now been depression free with no recurring bouts of depression for over twenty-six years, during which time I have experienced the challenges of life, but still, I have maintained the ability to stay mentally healthy. I have changed myself in such a way that no matter what life brings my way, I can manage myself; this self-management equally empowers me to know when and how to ask for help if needed. My awareness and understanding of how we all have the power within us to stay mentally healthy has now been formulated into the SEJ Process which is the cornerstone of the Stay Mentally Healthy Campaign and SEJ Training Programme.
As I said previously, my experiences escalated to the point of suicide due to a lack of early intervention, and unfortunately, even though this was over twenty-six years ago, it is still a common experience for many today. Effective early intervention, as we know, works to prevent problems from re-occurring and to stop patterns of behaviour from establishing and becoming more rigid with age, as they did for me. Through early intervention, we can tackle problems head-on, which helps to foster a whole set of personal strengths and skills.
We must, therefore, surely ask ourselves what is appropriate early intervention? Is it enough to put a young person or adult on a waiting list? No, not in my experience, for me early intervention provides an opportunity to share the skills required to enable prevention, we must empower our students with the skills to help themselves. I believe that knowledge is power and have often contemplated that if someone had taught me the SEJ Process when I was at school my life might have taken a very different path. Indeed, one university student, having just learnt the SEJ, said, ‘This is amazing; why were we never taught this in school?’
My hope is that every educational setting will answer this student with the response, ‘it is now’.
Why not join our campaign to ‘stay mentally healthy’. Learn the SEJ for yourself or introduce it to your setting, enabling the whole setting community, educators, staff, students, and families to learn the tools required through the SEJ Process, to ‘stay mentally healthy’. Thank you.
Testimonials
“Jacqueline Mary and the Process have undoubtedly helped me feel the most in control of my mind and mental health in my life. Her sessions were full of joy and really helped me cut straight to the core of why I carried out certain patterns of behaviour and thought. I feel completely renewed and ready to take on life again!”
University Student
Testimonial from a School SENCo
“…an amazing, valuable, and essential resource in supporting us with vulnerable pupils and enabling us to provide early intervention…, has enabled pupils to develop strategies and resilience to cope with issues that are causing anxiety in their emotional lives.”
School SENCo