Wellbeing & Re-engaging

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Programme

This is a draft programme and subject to change.

Day 1 - Thursday 20 April 2023

Day 2 - Friday 21 April 2023

Speakers

Professor Finian Buckley

"Trust is not an end, it's a process": Being more thoughtful and proactive about trusting and being trusted.

Why is it we trust some people more than others? What are the cues or behaviours that influence how we decide whether or not a work colleague is trustworthy? How come some workplaces develop a strong supportive trusting climate, while others fail to?

As working in an environment where trust is high can be a fulfilling and motivating part of work life, Prof. Buckley will share some of his recent research, and those of other trust scholars, on everyday behaviour cues that signal & build trustworthiness with others but also the behavioural and non-verbal cues we unconsciously reveal that may erode trust in us. 

With more remote working, the interest in maintaining trust while communicating and leading remotely has attracted the focused attention of trust researchers. Leaders have been urged to avoid micro-managing and give staff more autonomy to craft their working time to suit their working from home rhythms. But it is emerging that the experience of "being trusted", while mostly positive, also has a dark side, with some staff reporting a sense of self-induced work intensification and guilt associated with remote working. Prof. Buckley will assist with a deeper understanding of this 'trusting' and 'being trusted' (felt trust), interplay in contemporary working and isolate some useful strategies and insights.

Dr Finian Buckley is the Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at Dublin City University (DCU) Business School.  An expert on 'Trust in the Workplace', Finian's research has been published in top tier international journals including Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Human Resource Management, to mention a few. He has delivered keynotes and led workshops worldwide on trust to a wide variety of organizations and bodies. He currently leads, for DCU, a suite of executive programmes in NI and the ROI that assist the senior teams of small to medium sized firms to build strong top team trust and adopt strategies for firm growth and internationalisation.

Professor Ciaran O'Boyle 

The RCSI Centre for Positive Health Sciences - a journey in time

This presentation will describe the ongoing evolution of the construct of "positive health" and explore the contribution of positive psychology and lifestyle medicine to it. It will also describe the establishment of the new Centre for Positive Health Sciences in the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Professor Ciaran Boyle is a Professor of Psychology at the RCSI and is the Founding Director of the RCSI Centre for Positive Psychology and Health. He is also the Founding Director of the RCSI Institute of Leadership which he managed from 2005 to 2019. He established the first Department of Psychology in an Irish Medical School in 1985 and was its Chairman until 2005. He has also been a Visiting Professor of Behavioural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, Vice Dean for Quality and Strategy of the RCSI Faculty of Medicine and a member of the RCSI Senior Management Team. Since 2001, he has been the National Educator for the RCSI Advanced Trauma and Life Support (ATLS) Programme. Before joining the RCSI, he was a senior research psychologist at the Irish Foundation for human Development/UCD Department of Psychiatry and a psychopharmacologist at the Psychosomatic Research Unit, both at St James's Hospital in Dublin.

He holds a BSc & a PhD, both from UCD, a Diploma in Theology from the Milltown Institute of Theology & Philosophy and a Diploma in Organisational Leadership from the University of Oxford. He lectures extensively in Ireland and internationally and he has published over 70 peer reviewed papers, two books and numerous book chapters. He has been a consultant psychologist to a range of national and international public and private sector organisations in the military, aviation, financial services and healthcare sectors.

Mark O'Hara 

Applying psychology to achieve organisational and individual wellbeing outcomes

Mark will share his story of how Department for Communities' Psychologists have co-designed a wellbeing strategy and service within Northern Ireland's largest civil service department, collaborating with a diverse range of stakeholders across over 50 locations.  He will explain how he led a team to operationalise the Wellbeing Service utilising an evidence-based approach and activated a whole organisation approach to enhance employee wellbeing.  Mark will illustrate how the service deploys health behavioural change models and provide real-life examples of good practice.  Mark will share lessons learned in embedding wellbeing within a large organisation and highlight next steps for making wellbeing support available for all. 

Mark O Hara is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. Mark works as Principal Work Psychologist with the Department for Communities, NI where he leads a team of Work Psychologists and manages the Department's Wellbeing Service for their 10,000 staff. In 2022 the service was shortlisted for the NI CIPD and UK IIP employer awards. Mark has worked for over 25 years in the public and private sector as a driving force for change in developing inclusive workplace practices, supporting underrepresented groups access employment, and embedding wellbeing in the workplace. Mark also applies a background in Sports & Exercise Psychology to his practice and has a strong interest in using sport and exercise to support mental wellbeing in the community. 

Leisha McGrath

"How to live from the Inside Out"

(Day 1) – based on retrospective research of over 10+ years client engagements, Leisha uncovered repeated themes that seemed to consistently arise for clients, who seemingly "had it all". These were – Energy Management, Thinking Styles, Boundaries, Relationships, Resilience. She coined her theory that most people are living life "from the outside in," rather than from "the inside out", and that this outside in approach was having disastrous effects, in both personal and professional domains. Join Leisha for this practical workshop where she will support you, each as individuals, to unpick where you might be living life from the outside in. Drawing on the wisdom of positive psychology and taking a wholly compassionate approach, let Leisha guide you in some small steps that you can take to change your life for the better. Without our own wellbeing, we simply cannot support others. 

Leisha McGrath Interview 

Join Leisha and Rachel to hear about growing up in a house with Ireland's first ever Work and Organisational/Occupational Psychologist. To hear about her 20+ years working in organisations, and her personal story about recovering from years of chronic fatigue. Leisha is also a Professional Level Executive Coach and Irish Celtic Shaman, and Rachel will tease out with Leisha how these insights have supported her own personal recovery, and her work as a Work and Organisational/Occupational Psychologist with her clients.

Leisha is a Chartered Work and Organisational Psychologist and Associate Fellow with the Psychological Society of Ireland, and she is a member of their Division of Work and Organisational Psychology, and Coaching groups. Leisha is also a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society, and she is a member of their Occupational Psychology and Coaching groups. She has a Masters in Occupational Psychology from Goldsmiths College, London, and a first-class-honours international degree from UCD and Université de Lille 3. She also has a diploma in Business, Executive and Life Coaching, from the Coach Institute of Ireland, a programme on which she now teaches. She is a Professional level Accredited Executive Coach with the Association for Coaching. Leisha is level A and B qualified and is an accredited user of many Personality, Cognitive Reasoning and Emotional Intelligence measures. She has over twenty years' experience administering, interpreting and harnessing psychometric data for use in commercial settings.

Leisha has worked with organisations and the people in them for over two decades now. She began her career in internal HR Management roles, which saw her champion best practice initiatives across selection, coaching and development, business planning, strategy generation and performance management. She understands the challenges that businesses face, and having spent her entire career working in business herself, she is well placed to understand the contexts in which her clients operate. Leisha has a reputation for deep listening, and she prides herself on supporting the delivery of exceptional results within complex, diverse and varying organisational and personal landscapes. Her long and varied career experience means that she is best placed to offer effective, safe and practical support, no matter the issue or context. She believes strongly in supporting her clients to solve their issues "from the inside out", meaning that she facilitates solutions which are practical, accessible, and long-lasting.

Leisha's professional passions include Psychometric testing, Leadership development, Change Management, Culture and Wellbeing for all.

She regularly contributes to various national print and radio outlets as a subject matter expert, and she is a regular guest lecturer and speaker. Leisha is married and lives in Dublin with her husband and two children.

Dr Liz Simpson

Nutrition in menopause

This talk will provide an overview of what the menopause is, why is it important to health and well-being, the need for a healthy diet, what we can do to promote health through our diet and how plant-based phytoestrogens might help with menopausal symptoms and psychological well-being.

Dr Liz Simpson is a Senior Lecturer at Ulster University, a registered Health Psychologist (HCPC), a Chartered Psychologist (BPS), a member of the School of Psychology Research. She is Course Director of the online BPS accredited MSc in Health Psychology. She is past chair of the Division of Health Psychology Northern Ireland Branch and chair of the Division of Health Psychology Training Committee, she sits on the Partnership and Accreditation Committee and is a committee member of the Northern Ireland Branch of the British Psychological Society.  She has over 25 years' experience of research in health psychology and menopause and has supervised several PhD projects investigating factors that contribute to health and wellbeing with age. She has published high quality papers (n=40) on psychological well-being and health, presenting her work at national and international conferences. She has worked in the area of healthy cognitive ageing, looking at lifestyle factors that may impact on this such as dietary intake and physical activity. She is interested in biological mechanisms and their interplay with psychological and social factors such as immune function and cognition, HRT use and psychological well-being during the menopausal transition. She has collaborated on funded projects on menopause, one for the Alpro Foundation (The health benefits of soy drinks on menopausal symptoms, mood and cognitive function), and has currently a number of PhD and MSc students working in the area of menopause. The focus of this work is to gain a better understanding of menopause and health needs of women during this time, and to design and implement more effective interventions to promote well-being in menopausal women. She has hosted a number of menopause cafes and public lectures for organisations and community groups within the UK.

Dr Sarah Meekin 

Schwartz Round: "Why I am a Psychologist?"

The Schwartz Centre for Compassionate Healthcare was imagined and created by the vision of Ken Schwartz. He was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 40 and throughout his 10 month healthcare experience, realised that what matters most during illness is the human connection between patients and caregivers. He described how "small acts of kindness" make "the unbearable bearable." Ken founded the Schwartz Centre in 1995, just days before his death, with a clear vision of nurturing compassion in healthcare, to support the sort of caregiver-patient relationship which had so positively impacted on him. The Schwartz Centre USA continues to work to support caregivers, healthcare leaders and others to bring compassion to every healthcare experience. One aspect of this work has been in the development and delivery of Schwartz Rounds. 

In 2008 Schwartz Rounds were brought to the UK by the Point of Care programme at the Kings Fund and they continue to be implemented by the Point of Care Foundation. 

Schwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare. 

The purpose of Schwartz is to understand the challenges and rewards that are intrinsic to providing care, not to solve problems or to focus on the clinical aspects of patient care. 

Rounds can help staff feel more supported in their jobs, allowing them the time and space to reflect on their roles. 

Evidence shows that staff who attend Schwartz Rounds feel less stressed and isolated, with increased insight and appreciation for each other's roles. They also help to reduce hierarchies between staff and to focus attention on relational aspects of care. 

The underlying premise for Rounds is that the compassion shown by staff can make all the difference to a patient's experience of care, but in order to provide compassionate care staff must, in turn, feel supported in their work. 

Psychologists, by the nature of their jobs, work in emotionally charged and impactful situations and areas; and these are not exceptional to health and social care arenas. This round is hoped to introduce the concept of Schwartz to a wider audience of Psychologists and explore how the concept might be useful in other settings.

The round is set up in a theme – and 3-4 people volunteer to tell their stories around that theme – they have around 5minutes each and the round is then opened for comments/ sharing from the audience. 

Prior to the round each volunteer will have a conversation with a facilitator to discuss the theme and their proposed story, to allow some time of preparation and reflection prior to the telling of their story.

Dr Sarah Meekin is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and has been Head of Psychological Services in Belfast Health & Social Care Trust since 2010. She has an interest in developing psychologically informed systems and psychologically evidenced interventions, and champions the need for both a psychologically informed workforce and for specialist psychological therapists to deliver care and support, at varying levels of intervention. She has an interest in promoting psychological knowledge, principles and practice across communities and services, believing that the better we understand ourselves and each other, the better we can build societies which promote growth and wellbeing.

Dr Meekin has specific interest and expertise in the importance of a psychological perspective within physical healthcare and experience in working across Paediatric and Adult Physical Healthcare systems, providing both clinical interventions to patients and families, and supporting staff working within physical healthcare environments. She also has a specialist interest in bereavement and grief and the prevention of additional distress and trauma by preventative actions.

Dr Meekin has been actively involved in the delivery and development of staff support systems and practices throughout her clinical career. She is a trained Schwartz and Team Time facilitator. She is an enthusiastic user, advocate and facilitator/trainer for a Compassion Focused Approach towards self-care and care for colleagues, and the importance of promoting self-regulation as a core skill within the Health & Social Care workforce; working both within the BHSCT trust and with colleagues in civil service and Leadership Centre to promote these areas. The importance of psychological safety is key to the development and promotion of these skills.  Dr Meekin currently chairs the Regional Workforce Wellbeing Network, which aims to promote and support staff wellbeing messages and initiatives across the breadth of organisations working across Health & Social Care Delivery and has just taken up Chair of Division of Clinical Psychology NI.

Dr Mary Collins 

'Mind the Gap': Reverse Mentoring to Connect an Intergenerational Workplace

For the first time in working history there are now 3, 4 if not 5 generations working side by side in most organisations.  The youngest of these generations is experiencing the highest levels of stress, anxiety & depression than previous generations. There is an imperative for organisations to provide support in the workplace around developing resilience and wellbeing.  Mentoring has significant organisational benefits for all stakeholders.  In this presentation, a case study of a particular form of mentoring, reverse mentoring, will be shared as an example of a low cost, high impact initiative to improve intergenerational relationships and employee wellbeing.

Dr Mary Collins is a Coaching Psychologist with over 15 years of experience in the field of Leadership Development & Talent Management. Her current role as Senior Executive Development Specialist with RCSI Institute of Leadership involves working with senior leaders in the healthcare sector to develop their management and leadership capabilities through a range of executive development and academic programmes.

Dr Mary is a Coaching Psychologist with over 15 years of experience in the field of Leadership Development & Talent Management. Her current role as Senior Executive Development Specialist with RCSI Institute of Leadership involves working with senior leaders in the healthcare sector to develop their management and leadership capabilities through a range of executive development and academic programmes.

Dr Karen Hagan 

Positive psychology and impact in Northern Ireland

Psychologists and psychology in Northern Ireland seem to be, if I may borrow from my colleague Professor Paul Stenner, in a liminal space awash with possibility.  Within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and various points of disruption at the political level, psychologists across Northern Ireland have demonstrated commitment, creativity and resourcefulness. 

The 2022 Annual NIBPS Conference in October 2022 provided opportunity to showcase their endeavours and to develop positive, collaborative discussions.  The theme of Creativity at the conference was so successful that NIBPS hosted a follow up Workshop in February 2023 'Creative Psychology for a Future Northern Ireland', bringing together psychologists from the Professional Divisions, Health and Social Care, Higher Education, Psychologists for Social Change, BPS and the student body.  The Workshop, with Professor Kamal Birdi, drew on his CLEAR IDEAS model to facilitate the generation of impact. 

This April 2023 session explores the ideas generated and aims to stimulate further discussion, and maybe some actions, regarding the future directions of psychology in Northern Ireland.

Dr Karen Hagan is a Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor in the School of Psychology and Counselling at The Open University.  Within the University her main focus is on delivering courses and qualifications in Ireland and the UK, working on module teams and with the Student Support Team.   She is a qualitative researcher, applying mainly critical discursive psychology to topics around autism assessment processes and practices of bullying, manipulation, coercion and abuse.  

She is current Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the British Psychological Society. 

Dr Sinéad Eccles 

Brain Health

The brain is a complex yet essential organ in the body.  We know that it is the most important organ in relation to mental health but do we really know how it works.  Join me for a workshop where I will outline the brain structure and show you a very cool 3D model of the brain that the OU have developed.  I will also explain how important a holistic approach to your overall health is and this includes the biopsychosocial approach to mental health.  Lastly, I will outline how your beautiful brain produces happy hormones (DOSE- Dopamine-Oxytocin-Serotonin-Endorphins), and I will show you ways that you can increase these hormones on a daily basis.

'Take a break from your keyboard and join me for an interactive workshop that will make you feel like you are hugging your brain'.

Dr Sinéad Eccles is a Chartered Neuropsychologist and Staff Tutor in the School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University.  Sinéad has worked within academia for over 20 years and has a background in Neuropsychology with a focus on the Biological Basis of eating disorders.  Sinead is also interested in promoting your own brain health by understanding a little more about how the brain works.  She is currently working on research with a focus on the promotion of brain health and disordered eating. 

Dr Margaret McLafferty & Dr Rachel McHugh 

Student Mental Health and Wellbeing

Dr Margaret McLafferty and Dr Rachel McHugh will discuss their research into college student mental health and wellbeing. This includes the running of a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of an online, CBT based, guided intervention, for students with mild to moderate levels of depression and/or anxiety, and a largescale longitudinal survey which was conducted as part of the World Mental Health International College Student Initiative. The Student Psychological Intervention Trial (SPIT) collected data from over 1,800 students in 2019, prior to the pandemic, and followed them up throughout their time at university.  Margaret is currently working on the recently launched Irish Student Wellbeing and ADHD project (I-SWAP) which involves the co-development of wellbeing sessions for students living with ADHD.  Preliminary findings from I-SWAP will be discussed. Rachel will then deliver a short wellbeing session aimed at helping participants to look after their own mental health and wellbeing.

Dr Margaret McLafferty is a Research Fellow in mental health at Ulster University. Margaret's PhD examined the impact of childhood adversities on future psychopathology and suicidal behaviour in Northern Ireland, focusing on factors which promote psychological wellbeing and the development of adaptive emotion regulation and coping strategies.  She helped co-ordinate a large-scale longitudinal study to identify risk and protective factors for suicidal behaviour, mental health and wellbeing, among Ulster University students. The Ulster University Student Wellbeing Study was conducted as part of the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative.  Margaret also worked on the Student Psychological Intervention Trial (SPIT), a Chitin funded, cross-border project, which included a randomised control trial to test the effectiveness of an online CBT based guided intervention for students with mild to moderate levels of depression and/or anxiety. She is currently working on the Irish Student Wellbeing and ADHD Project (I-SWAP) which includes the development and rollout of a mental health literacy and wellbeing programme for student living with ADHD.

Follow Margaret on Twitter @McLaffertyMT or find out more about her research here https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/persons/margaret-mc-lafferty

Dr Rachel Mc Hugh is a Lecturer in Psychology at Ulster University and a BPS accredited Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner from 2015, working one to one with clients using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques. Rachel teaches on both the BSc Hons Psychology and the MSc Applied Psychology programme at Ulster. She has been involved in the Student Psychological Intervention Trial (SPIT), an EU funded research project focusing on student mental health and the trial of an online CBT intervention for college students. Rachel's main research interests include the relationship between mental health and physical health and coping with long term health conditions, as well as comorbidity; anxiety and depressive disorders, addiction and risky behaviour. 

Dr Gavin Breslin & Dr Noel Brick 

The benefits of sports and fitness to health

Dr Gavin Breslin is the Interim Research Director for the Psychology Research Institute at Ulster University. He is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Psychology, and a member of the Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Gavin is a British Psychological Society (BPS) Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, a Registered Practitioner of the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC), and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He completed his BSc and PhD in Psychology at Queens University Belfast, the Aspiring Academic Leadership and Management Programme at Ulster, and studied International Business in the USA.

Along with teaching and research responsibilities, he has worked with national and international athletes and teams in sport psychology, he has advised various sport associations on how to develop actions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their organisations.

Dr Noel Brick is a lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Ulster University. He is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. Noel's research interests include the psychology of endurance performance, with an emphasis on the psychology of long-distance running. His research also focuses on mental health in sport. Noel has completed over 30 marathons and ultramarathons including the Marathon des Sables in 2012 and the Boston Marathon in 2022.

Dr Lorraine McGurk 

"Go boldly but tread gently": Using compassion-focused therapy principles to enhance the wellbeing of ourselves and each other.  

Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) is rooted in an evolutionary psychology framework and incorporates both attachment theory and current neuroscience. It was originally developed by Professor Paul Gilbert for clients who experienced a high level of shame and self-criticism and is now widely used to understand and help with the suffering all human beings experience because of our brain design. This presentation considers the barriers and challenges in applying this model to ourselves as professional helpers. It also aims to offer some ways that the model can be used to enhance our emotional wellbeing as Psychologists. 

Dr Lorraine McGurk is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist who was awarded her Doctorate degree at Trinity College, Dublin. She is the Assistant Head of the Psychological Services Department in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. As lead for the Trust's Staff Psychological Wellbeing Service, her clinical work centres on offering psychological assessment and intervention to healthcare staff who experience psychological distress. Lorraine is passionate about the need to care for and support the psychological wellbeing of healthcare professionals.  She is also involved in teaching, training and supporting staff at all levels to utilise compassionate leadership principles in their role. Lorraine is a committee member of Compassionate Mind Ireland, which is affiliated to The Compassionate Mind Foundation.  

Lorraine aims to make all her training events a compassionate learning experience. She has a warm, authentic and compassionate approach to teaching and training and regularly applies the model she teaches in her own personal and work life. 

 

Location

Portrush Atlantic Hotel

73 Main St

Portrush

BT56 8BN

Contact

If you have any questions, email [email protected]