Nurturing mental wellbeing: It's ok not to be ok

Our mental health is made up of a combination of our psychological, and social wellbeing. It influences how we handle stress, relate to others, and make decisions.

Mental health and wellbeing are important in nurturing our emotional wellbeing, which plays a huge role in our daily lives. Our Psychological First Aid Team Lead, Alistair Souch, says, " It's okay not to be okay.” 

“Having awareness of our mental health at all times is vital. Our mental health is our internal capacity to deal with the world around us. Sometimes we'll be at the healthier end of that scale and sometimes we'll be more at the ill end of that scale. I think it's that understanding and recognition that all of us are always on that journey.”

New Zealand Red Cross delivers a range of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support courses. These courses equip people with skills that are needed to support others in their family, friendship circle, workmates and in the community. Alistair says, “The courses are for anybody who wants to support other people who may be going through distress.” 

Our Psychological First Aid Team Lead, Alistair Souch 

“They are particularly helpful for people who may be in a professional capacity where they’re public-facing, or in a wellbeing role, or if you want to learn how to support friends and whānau. It's a great resource to be able to have those tools in your pocket to know how to support someone in distress.” 

Being there for someone in distress is not about having all the answers or fixing their problems. There is great benefit in being able to emphasise and support someone on a psychosocial level when supporting someone in distress, and there are tools and skills that can be developed to do this.  
 
 All the courses that New Zealand Red Cross deliver cover managing our own wellbeing. Alistair says, “Whenever we talk about supporting someone else, we always need to make sure that we are ok ourselves first.” 

Psychological First Aid and mental health

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is about providing initial support to someone experiencing a crisis, trauma, or distress. New Zealand Red Cross delivers Psychological First Aid training to community organisations, local councils, marae, and other professional organisations and anyone interested in developing their skills. The skills prepare the communities to respond, not only in disasters or other unusual events but also to help regularly check on community members. 
 
Tasi Sua belongs to Waitangi Marae and is a member of the Waimārama community in Hawke's Bay. Tasi recently completed our PFA course held at Waimārama Marae and now feels comfortable and confident in checking in with marae whānau about their mental wellbeing.  
 
“There may be some underlying distress even if they don’t show or it’s not obvious, but reaching out and having the opportunity to sit down and engage in more meaningful conversations with them is important. I feel more equipped to connect without worrying about what to say. It has provided me with the tools to approach these situations confidently,’ says Tasi.

Supporting colleagues in the workplace

Heather Bruce works at Thames-Coromandel District Council and deals with people – sometimes in distress – as part of her role. Heather believes that the Psychological First Aid training has given her the tools to be able to recognise peoples’ distress and deal with it appropriately.  
  
“People might come in and say they're really angry about a situation, but there may be something else going on in the background which might be triggering a reaction at that time and that needs to be recognised” 
  
To Heather, the skills learned from PFA training are not only useful in her professional life but also in her daily life at home. 
 
With skills and knowledge of Psychological First Aid, we can help reduce the risk of long-term ill mental health and enhance emotional recovery. It’s about having the confidence to be there for someone when they are experiencing distress.  

Building resilience in communities

This week, we are acknowledging Mental Health Awareness Week with the theme, “Community is... what we create together.” Communities play a crucial role in promoting mental health awareness and providing support to people facing distress and ill mental health. 

The collective actions of the community are crucial in times of crisis, whether it's a natural disaster, conflict, or personal events. Effective psychosocial support can help the community achieve a smooth recovery and positive long-term outcomes. Having access to the right tools, community members can provide initial support and resources to ensure that everyone has what they need to adapt, cope and recover.

The Psychological First Aid training enhances peer-to-peer community level support for psychosocial wellbeing in the community during distress situations. Alistair believes that as more people are trained and confident in providing that first level of support, communities will be better prepared to respond to those events.

“It's the best practice for building that community-level preparedness and response. The key message is that you don't need to, and often won't be able to, solve someone's problem. But you can still meet a lot of their psychological needs to help them feel supported throughout distress and help to link them to further support where needed.” 

Our Psychosocial First Aid Advisor Sarah Gribbin with Pimia Wehi (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki), Community Co-lead for Te Karaka’s recovery after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Heather has been involved in Civil Defence, including assisting with recovery efforts after the   Christchurch earthquake in 2011. She believes that if she had learned PFA skills back then, it would have helped in understanding and responding to people and their distress. She says, “Listening to people, understanding what they are saying, and paying attention to what's not being said is important.”

Jason Brand, who is a volunteer firefighter and is also leading his local community resilience team feels his PFA skills are positive additions for him. He now wishes that he had some of the tools and skill sets while working in different situations and with distressed people.

“When somebody is distressed, the problem is not necessarily what they are talking about. You need to stay calm and listen. That gives hope to them; that’s the key thing. I never would have really done that before. I have learned to look and listen more to people rather than the situation that’s happening.” 

The Community Resilience team was established and assisted by Auckland Emergency Management after the weather event in early 2023. 

For more information  

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