At the Foundation of Liver Research, there is a warm, community feeling, and people meet regularly, not only to be kept up to date and learn new things but also as an opportunity to keep that connection bubbling away nicely.
Earlier this month, Laura Drury was invited along to be part of one of their meetings to continue to build upon that collaboration and provide some tools for resilience, as well as plenty of laughs, along the way.
So equipped with plenty of practical tools in the FLIP-it Thinking toolbox, Laura kicked off the session by asking everyone to pair up and draw each other’s faces. An unusual way to start a session on resilience, you might think… made more so by the rule that when drawing, you aren’t allowed to look down at your paper!
Not only did this bring about much hilarity, but we had a couple of portraits that have since sold for several million pounds at Sotheby’s…
However, the activity was also beneficial because it created awareness of automatic thoughts when put under stress or in an uncomfortable situation. Therefore, to build resilience, awareness of one’s wonky thinking, as a first step, is key!
The session continued with lots of activity and discussions based on the structure of the FLIP-it Thinking tool – Focus, Language, Imagination and Pattern Breaking. Underpinned by our understanding of cognitive behavioural therapy, this efficient, tangible tool can help each individual recognise their triggers to negative stress and how to manage their response. Of course, the accompanying laughter releases all sorts of happy hormones to help you feel better too!
And there was plenty of laughter to be had with the whole team at the Foundation of Liver Research, who embraced the session with open-mindedness and warm-heartedness; thanks so much for having us along.
Want to find out more about the FLIP it Thinking session? Click the link to take you to the website. …or even better, contact Doug to find out more at doug@laughology.co.uk …whose drawing of Laura’s face (when he did the art exercise) made a grand total of £350.00. The amount she was prepared to part with, to make sure no one else would ever see it…
