To mark the launch of our book we want to take this opportunity to tell you where it came from.
More than 10 years ago we were at the gym – in the café having a coffee and a catch up not actually working out! Karen asked Chrissie for some physio advice about a patient with chronic pain. Chrissie replied “I give my patients a Five-Point Rescue Plan.” Karen was intrigued by this and asked more. Soon we were discussing how we could adapt Five-Point Rescue Plans for any problem. We started to use them in our own lives and with people who came to see us. Finally in 2017 we decided to write it down self-publishing ‘The Five-Point Rescue Plan.’
From there we started to explore other wellbeing strategies such as mindfulness and meditation. These were things Chrissie had been engaging in for many years but were new to Karen. As we talked we soon recognised the need for practical tools and techniques. We kept coming back to the question – but how to we do that?
Many self-help resources outline where the problems are, readers are left with the knowledge of where they need change but not how to make it happen.
We wanted to show people how to! A Resilience Toolkit for everyday use.
We developed a resilience training programme for GPs. We pitched it to The Royal College of General Practice and Health Education England. We are now part of the RCGP wellbeing programme through training sessions and the RCGP blog. We teach at the biannual HEE GP Trainer School. We write a monthly wellbeing column for The Bradford VTS website and we have collaborated with NHS Practitioner health and The Neurology Academy to provide webinars.
Our ethos has always been about support, for each other, our families and the people we work with, and the process is ongoing. Whenever something happens we come together to work out how to process it and what we can learn from the experience. Usually a new tool is born.
We share everything we have learned with our patients in a 1-1 setting, with groups of delegates on our courses and more widely with those who access our website. Now thanks to the fantastic team at Sheldon Press we can share it with the world.
We hope that you will enjoy ‘How to Rise’ we want you to read it, love it, live it and pass it on. We are all on a path to enlightenment let this be your guide.
Thank you to all our supporters and the wonderful people in our lives (both here and passed) who have helped shape us and have thereby contributed to our work.
We will never stop learning and sharing so watch this space.
‘How to Rise’ just started reading this book and it’s great. The words are powerful and explain why you feel a certain way but more importantly that you can change and reframe those thoughts. Within the pages of this book there are insights into questions I have pondered but rather than just being an answer it explains the depth of why you may feel how you feel and these insights help you to feel empowered enough to make changes. Thank you so much.