What is the WISH group?
The clinician who assessed your child/young person thought that they might benefit from attending the WISH group. The group explores the topic of self-harm and considers alternative coping strategies. This group is based on dialectal behavioural therapy (DBT) informed skills and aims to teach skills in:
- Distress tolerance
- Emotional regulation
- Mindfulness
What does the group involve?
Your young person will be part of a group with other young people with two to three facilitators. The programme consists of four sessions for young people.
- Your young person will be encouraged to participate as much as they can in the group. We won’t ask them to share anything that they’re not comfortable sharing. We know it can be hard but all attendees are encouraged to think of the group as a safe environment to challenge themselves.
- Whilst taking part in the group, it is expected that a young person will still feel some anxiety. This will not completely disappear after one or two sessions and this is perfectly normal. We need to explore our anxiety so we can learn how to manage it.
- Keep to your routine as much as possible; continue to do the things you enjoy and don’t let attending the group be used as an excuse to avoid things.
- You will only be in the group for up to two hours a week, but you will need to practice the techniques and the strategies as much as you can; practice makes perfect.
What can be expected after attending the group?
Once the group has been completed, there will be a review with one of the group facilitators to discuss how your young person found the group and what they learned. Following the review, a decision about the next steps of the care plan will be made.
Where will the group be held?
The group will be held face-to-face and virtually in some circumstances.
Group Attendance:
We would expect your young person to be able to attend all the group sessions, however, we appreciate people can be unwell and have circumstances that make it difficult to attend.