Talking wellbeing with Katie Goodacre

Why the small things matter. 

This month we’re sharing wellbeing stories from people across the business to help inspire and give you a few ideas of how to prioritise your own wellbeing as well as support others. 

We caught up with Katie Goodacre, Youth Staff, P&O Cruises who’s been using lockdown in the UK as an opportunity to help children experiencing mental health issues. 

I know, first-hand, that poor physical or mental wellbeing can limit what you believe you can do. I’m passionate about the importance of wellbeing as I think everyone should have the right to believe they can achieve what they want to achieve. That sounds really cheesy, I know. But it’s true!

The last 12 months in particular have taught me that science is amazing! I’ve always been appreciative of it and the work scientists do, but the past 12 months have really highlighted how phenomenal it is. Thinking about things that have so much impact can really help put everything into perspective.

Never did we imagine we’d be limited to the amount of times we could go out, or that we’d be forbidden from seeing family and friends! Never did we imagine such an amazing fleet of ships would be unable to sail for so long. It makes you realise how much we all took the ordinary or familiar for granted. 

Being used to life onboard has made the last year feel especially unfamiliar and unnatural, so I’ve been doing things to combat those feelings. When I was growing up, I used to read Harry Potter all the time and watch a lot of the TV sitcom, ‘Friends’. When I’m feeling overwhelmed I find it comforting to re-read and re-watch things I used to do years ago. It sort of takes me back and acts as an escape for a couple of hours a day.

I’ve also been keeping in touch with some of the youth staff I’ve been lucky enough to work with! They’re some of the loveliest people I’ve ever met and have definitely supported me a lot – thank you fellow youthies!

Beyond the day-to-day one of the most exciting things I’ve done in the last 12 months has been to write my own children’s book all about mental health. During the first lockdown, I decided to start working on it and was very lucky to get my book published on 10 October 2020.  The book is called Miley’s Mind and aims to improve children’s mental health by encouraging them to talk about their feelings. It also highlights the impact that bullying and grief can have on emotional wellbeing.

Several schools, families, and children have contacted me to say it’s helped them so I’m really happy about that! I hope Miley’s Mind continues to support children in the years to come but in the meantime I’ve also been donating all royalties made from the sale of my book to two children’s mental health charities here in the UK – Young Minds and Place2Be. They’re such fantastic charities and have so many amazing resources, activities and coping strategies for children on their website.

My top tip for trying to regain balance is…  use the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique.

It’s something really little but I find it helps me a lot when I’m feeling overwhelmed by everything going on. It works by ‘grounding’ you. So, all you have to do when feeling stressed or overwhelmed is this;

5 – look around you and think of five things you can see
4 – listen and think of four things you can hear
3 – reach out and find three things you can touch
2 – think about two things you can currently smell
1 – think about one thing you can currently taste

I find it a really useful technique and it’s suitable for all ages. Plus, it’s a really subtle coping technique so no one needs to know you’re doing it.

 My recommendations: 

• Lunebase, a relatively new mental health charity, host a series of podcasts. They support wellbeing in the workplace and offer 30 day wellbeing challenges, animations and tools to help those struggling, or those who wish to assist someone who is struggling.

• The Cove App (slightly different to CUK’s The Cove) is also really cool. It allows you to create music to match your mood and reflect your emotions. You can send the music you’ve created to friends/family to let them know how you’re feeling and it’s free to download from your app store.

Remember, if you’d like to speak to someone about any worries you have visit The Insider for all support available to you, including access to our Employee Support Programme – a confidential, 24/7 support service.

Want more wellbeing stories? Read more from Kasia Waters and Sam Bell.