Our Mission:

Empowerment

Cognitive therapies and coaching for permanent recovery from mental illness

Philosophy…      

‘My Perfect Mind’ has been created to support people suffering from trauma; mental distress; drug and substance dependencies; and adverse childhood experiences, who have not yet found the professional support that they so desperately need. At ‘My Perfect Mind’ we do not approach such experiences as an ‘illness’ or ‘sickness’. Instead of presuming ‘disease’ as our starting point, we identify the unique factors that have resulted in distress, and then empower clients to challenge and change each of these, - to fulfil the unique potential of the mind.

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Our Mission…

Our MISSION is to deliver EFFECTIVE support to all sufferers of mental distress through ACCURATE knowledge and understanding.

Let me explain.

In the western world we largely follow an understanding of mental distress as being SICKNESS; DISEASE; INFIRMITY; PROBLEM.  This is known as the BIOMEDICAL MODEL.  This understanding suggests that treatment paths should typically consist of ‘MEDICINE’ and possibly ‘TALKING THERAPIES’ to help you manage your ‘ILLNESS’.

That’s one way of considering mental distress.

However, there are other ways of understanding mental distress.

For example, you may suffer mental distress as a result of how you’ve learnt to interpret your world, -  through what’s happened to you; experiences you’ve had; your early home life; your relationships.  Early traumas you may have experienced.  This is not an illness.  These are your body trying to apply developed evolutionary skills.  To survive.

Or, if either of your parents were experiencing heightened emotional states before you were born, then you may have been born with the genetic propensities that they had developed, at that time, to best help you survive in the world to which you were to be born.  This is evolution.  These are not inevitabilities.  This is nature giving you skill sets that you may later need to survive, - based on genetic traits that your parents had developed.  This is not an illness. This is a skill set.  However, it could become toxic to you, and even diagnosed as a mental illness, - say for example, ADHD, - if you should then find yourself hyperactive; struggling to pay attention; forgetful. 

Or you may have struggled to cope with adolescence,  and possibly used drugs – maybe cannabis – or prescription drugs -  to cope with how you felt at that time.  And it may have worked!  And you felt calm when you used those drugs.  But now you find that you get angry easily.  And you say things to people you love that you later regret.  And you do things that you later regret.   You get insecure and jealous. You feel different.  Like you don’t ‘belong’.  This is not an illness.  This is the sensitisation of the brain to substances which result in neurological changes during adolescent cortex development.  This needn’t be permanent.  The brain, and the body are designed to heal and survive.

Or you may have learnt to interpret your world through the prism of culture; family pressures; dysfunctional relationships; bullying; belief systems; work pressures; school pressures; societal expectations.  And this results in constant feelings of anxiety; depression; anger.  This is not an illness.  This is your mind and body struggling to find equilibrium – to survive.

And, in reality, your experiences of mental distress may well consist of a combination of all of these factors!

At ‘My Perfect Mind’ we work solely with clients assuming that they are individually utterly unique and that whatever experiences they may have had, and however they may understand their feelings of mental distress, - that they all exist on a wide spectrum of suffering, - all of which are subject to constant, daily, dynamic change – and we work with individuals and groups in that place. 

We constantly review that throughout our work with you.  This is not a BIOMEDICAL MODEL. 

This approach does not assume mental distress is an illness.  This approach considers all of the many factors that affect the way you interpret and live in your world:

·         Biological

·         Psychological

·         Societal

·         Philosophical

·         Pharmacological

·         Environmental

·         Cultural

-          And works with clients to help understand and make sense of all of these factors.  We then teach the skills to transform historic distress into potential for the future.

We have grown accustomed to hearing many myths surrounding mental illness. For example……

Myth No.1

I suffer from mental illness because of a chemical imbalance in my brain, - right? 

Actually no…

Myth No.2

I’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness, so that means I’m sick and need treatment, - right? 

Actually no…

Myth No.3

I’ve always suffered from anxiety, and now I’ve got heart disease and IBS too!  Surely  anxiety can’t cause physical problems, - right? 

Actually no…

Myth No.4

I’ve been diagnosed with a personality disorder, - so that’s a mental illness, right?

Actually no…

Myth No.5

I’ve always suffered from depression, so I will always need to take antidepressant medication to balance my mood, right?

Actually no…

MYTH No.6

I suffer from ADHD, - so I must manage that with medications, right?

Actually no…

FREE Downloadable Information Sheets

Brain Executive Skills

Information sheet highlighting key skills developed throughout adolescence as the cortex (outer layer) matures

emotional thermometer

Information sheet illustrating the escalating emotional changes experienced when the mind interprets good and bad events

Chemical imbalance explained

Information sheet explaining some facts surrounding the myth of ‘chemical imbalances’ of the mind being involved in the development of mental distress

cognitive bias

Information sheet listing different kinds of cognitive bias - how we all interpret events and situations differently based on our unique lives - and how that can then result in mental distress

chain analysis - creating toxic emotions

Information worksheet to illustrate how the mind fuels emotional states through bias and inference, - nobody can make us angry - we make ourselves angry….

cannabis use in adolescence

Information sheet detailing the cognitive implications of regular cannabis use during teenage years

triune brain - how do you think?

Information sheet to guide a simple understanding of the complexities of the brain. Highlights the ‘autonomic’; the emotional, and the rational hierarchical structures

Cognitive Bias Funnel

Information sheet highlighting the transition from unbiased thinking and clarity of thought to cognitive distortions and consequent struggles with understanding ‘reality as it really is’

Mindfulness Principles

Information sheet highlighting the key principles of mindful meditation

EGO and the World

Information sheet illustrating the conflicting influences in play between our individual EGO’s, (sense of being), and our unique social strata

Emotional mirror

Information worksheet to chart our cognitive responses to daily problematic life events, and then to observe and challenge our consequent emotions experienced

EGO Cage

Information worksheet to help us list ‘identifications’ - how we see ourselves - husband/wife/father/mother/electrician/ friend, etc - and conditioned assumptions we consequently have around those identifications

Factors Involved In Addiction

Information sheet explaining that it’s not the drug that’s important in drug addictions - but its what your body has to do to adapt to that drug that affects mental health

stress and allostasis

Information sheet listing the many physiological consequences of sustained stress and anxiety

anxiety, disease and medications

Information sheet illustrating potential physiological disease states resulting from sustained anxiety or depression, and typical medications used to treat those conditions - each with their own side effect profile

Biopsychosocial Model

Information sheet describing the various factors that contribute to mental illness. The current notion of mental illness as being primarily BIOLOGICAL in nature is challenged with the dynamic influences of the BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL model

Drug Effects on the brain

Information sheet listing the action of common recreational and prescription drugs on the brain

Neurotransmitter outcomes

Information sheet listing 5 common neurotransmitters (brain chemicals); what their functions are in the brain, and how various recreational and prescription drugs can affect those functions

understanding allostatic load

Allostatic load is experienced as a daily struggle to find inner peace.  It often results in attempts like daily use of recreational drugs, alcohol or prescription
medications, or compulsive ‘addictions’ like gambling to try to restore this feeling.
 It comes from an altered physiological
and neurological ‘stress response’ which occurs because of exposure to long
term life stressors.  This information leaflet outlines this process.

sensitisation aND ADDICTION

This leaflet describes the process of how the brain has to sensitise itself to regular use of psychoactive drugs - that’s any recreational or prescription drug that alters how you think or feel - resulting in gradual dependence to be able to feel NORMAL again - ADDICTION!

understanding chronic stress

This five page booklet explains the psychological and physiological basis and mechanisms of action of chronic stress, particularly relating to the action of coronavirus’ on respiratory and immune systems. It suggests 4 disciplines to manage pathogenic vulnerability.

Managing Anxiety - breathing

This leaflet is designed to help you manage the effects of acute and chronic stress through controlled breathing exercises. These simple exercises can natural and quickly calm and sedate the body.

Using ‘chime’ to counter stress

The acronym ‘CHIME’ relates to a conceptual framework that targets mental
illnesses arising from exposure to chronic stress (Leamy M. et al, 2011). This leaflet gives advice on putting this model into practice, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

down the rabbit hole

An analogy comparing ‘Alice in Wonderland' entering the rabbit hole to the effects of adolescent drug misuse reducing life trajectory from broad opportunities into narrow inevitabilities.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s)

What do we mean by ACE’s?…

Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years) such as experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect; witnessing violence in the home; and having a family member attempt or die by suicide. Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding such as growing up in a household with substance misuse, mental health problems, or instability due to parental separation or incarceration of a parent, sibling or other member of the household. Traumatic events in childhood can be emotionally painful or distressing and can have effects that persist for years. Factors such as the nature, frequency and seriousness of the traumatic event, prior history of trauma, and available family and community supports can shape a child’s response to trauma.

To obtain a wide range of free downloadable information about ACE’s, please use the ‘free downloads’ button on the home page and scroll down to the ACE’s section. These free downloads give extensive information regarding ACE’s, from the original research in 1998, to the present day. Numerous ‘infographic’ sheets are included which can be used as posters to promote this knowledge, along with research findings from the USA and the UK. A 5 week educational programme is also included to promote this essential knowledge in a group or 1:1 setting.

ACE’s pyramid

This simple infographic illustrates the life trajectory and mechanism by which adverse childhood experiences affect health and wellbeing throughout life.

ACE’s and Chronic Disease

This is a 28 page booklet produced in 2016 by the Public Health Wales NHS Trust which reports findings on the profound effects of ACE’s on health and wellbeing. The study involved 2000 adult participants.

ace’s and increased risks

This simple infographic gives statistically verified comparisons of heightened risk outcomes suffered by people with 4 + ACE’s compared to those with none.

Aces stress and early brain growth

This two page information factsheet lists risk factors for experiencing trauma during childhood development, and resilience factors that can counter those toxic effects.

Aces prisoner survey findings

This is a 46 page document detailing the results of a survey held with 468 prison inmates in Wales in 2018 into the origins and effects of ACE’s. It builds on other historic ACE’s research by expanding on social demographics and risks of criminality.

Introduction To ACE’s

This is a 30 x slide Powerpoint presentation ‘Introduction To Adverse Childhood Experiences’. It outlines key consequences of ACE’s (psychological; behavioural; physiological and pharmacological), and illustrates representative statistics.

Adverse Childhood experiences 1

This is week one of a five week programme teaching us about the dramatic psychological; physical and behavioural effects of ACE’s on all of us

Adverse Childhood experiences 2

This is week two of a five week programme teaching us about the dramatic psychological; physical and behavioural effects of ACE’s on all of us

Adverse Childhood experiences 3

This is week three of a five week programme teaching us about the dramatic psychological; physical and behavioural effects of ACE’s on all of us

adverse childhood experiences 4

This is week four of a five week programme teaching us about the dramatic psychological; physical and behavioural effects of ACE’s on all of us

adverse childhood experiences 5

This is week five of a five week programme teaching us about the dramatic psychological; physical and behavioural effects of ACE’s on all of us

Facts about your body

This is an information sheet giving some information about the body that you may not be aware of. The purpose of this is to help us understand that we are NOT the body, but rather that we HAVE a body.