RECONNECTING?The Flourish Project in Castlebar can help people connect with social activities in their area.
Reach out to Flourish
Mental Matters
Jannah Walsh
Do you ever feel anxious socially? Are you unemployed? Are you recovering from a health crisis? Are you wondering what to do when the children are in school or college? Are you struggling with retirement? Do you lack confidence to do something you always wanted to do? Do you feel stuck in a rut? If you can relate to any of the above, there is a new service based in Castlebar that aims to help you tackle such issues.
Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with Maura Horkan of The Flourish Project to learn more about this new free and confidential service for adults, which is based The Family Centre in Castlebar.
“It’s a ‘social prescribing project’, which links people with non-medical sources of support in the community,” Maura explained. “This project is similar to a project run very successfully in the Erris area for the past three years. The Family Centre is delighted to now be offering this service in Castlebar and surrounding areas.”
The Flourish Project is primarily aimed at anyone who would like to develop more interests and hobbies, who may be isolated, lacking in confidence or coping with mild anxiety or depression. Social anxiety and social shyness are extremely common, but they can be overcome. The Flourish Project aims to help people to deal with these types of issues.
So how does someone contact this service? The first step is to call Maura on 087 1857280 or contact The Family Centre on 094 9025900 and ask for her. A person can also be referred by their doctor or other members of the primary care team such as their public health nurse or other professionals.
“Once someone has made contact with me, I will offer them an initial appointment with myself where we will have the opportunity to chat about what is going on for them and why they contacted the service,” said Maura. “We will also look at how The Flourish Project can be of assistance with this.
“Often people are so busy or occupied that it is hard to even find the time to examine what they like to do, what obstacles are in place and what can be done to overcome these obstacles. That is what we aim to do at The Flourish Project. I would hope that in working with me a person could identify what is currently lacking for them in their lives and that they would find the support in the project to become involved in activities within the community that bring about positive change and ensure that life is more enjoyable for them. Often people even find the first meeting alone helpful for looking at their lives and exploring ways in which life could be better for them.”
A person is never put under any pressure to become involved in anything they find uncomfortable. If they decide to not take any further part in the project after the initial meeting, that decision will be respected.
“A person can meet with me once or a few times. Once we have identified what changes the person would like to make, the project becomes like a signpost. I then become the link to the wider community, identifying for the person classes, courses, activities, groups, supports etc that are available in the area,” Maura explained. People often choose to join the project’s course ‘Discover Your Interests’, where they can meet others and take time to tease out all the things they may never have had the chance to do. It can be hugely beneficial.
Maura is particularly happy with the way the project enables people to overcome their challenges and move on to reaching their full potential: “I love it because I see that everyone has their own struggles in life that are not usually said to anyone,” she said. “It’s great when they feel they can talk about these struggles with someone and find ways to gradually overcome them. I love to see when people reconnect back to what they love doing and are passionate about.”
As Maura says, Maria Robinson’s words are particularly apt: ‘Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending’.
For more information, visit www.thefamilycentre.com/hopeproject. An article with more information regarding social prescribing can be found at www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/05/social-prescribing-fishing-group-doctor-ordered. Maureen Gaffney’s book ‘Flourishing’ in many ways relates to what The Flourish Project aims to provide.
Jannah Walshe is a counsellor and psychotherapist based in Castlebar and Westport. A pre-accredited member of The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, she can be contacted via www.jannahwalshe.ie or at 085 1372528.
