Centre for Clinical Interventions – tools to help through tough times

As Western Australians we have experienced something unique in the world for the last two years: the protection of a forcefield bordered by ocean, desert and sky that has kept a wily villain at bay. But the flipside to the relative comfort we have enjoyed is that we have watched the enemy advance on surrounding territories, all the while building an anticipation of what It will be like when the forcefield is breached. With our borders opening in February, it seems our mettle will be tested.

It’s important to remember in these moments that there are resources at hand – tools for our armoury. In addition to full vaccination and the physical practices that we are regularly reminded of such as mask-wearing, hand hygiene and physical distancing, we also have to bolster our mental preparedness.

The Centre for Clinical Interventions (CCI) is a specialist clinical psychology service administered by the NMHS. It is known internationally as a leader in fields of developing evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders, conducting clinical research and providing training for psychological interventions. However via the Centre for Clinical Interventions website (external site) the CCI also boasts a weaponry of publicly-accessible resources for mental health support. These materials are helpful for all of us needing some tools to help ourselves and support the people we love during these overwhelming times.

Some of the resources that may be particularly useful are:

• Anxiety (external site) – understand what anxiety is and whether what you are feeling is a normal human response or something more intense. Either way there are worksheets and information sheets to help you navigate your anxiety.
• Worry and Rumination (external site) – if you are feeling persistently worried, the site provides videos for helping you practice mindfulness of breath and resources to help with sleep disruption.
• Self compassion (external site) – accept that this is a tough moment and be kind to yourself. As the CCI writes:

“Self-compassion can bring great benefits for our mental health and well-being. Particularly, self-compassion can activate our soothe system, which calms the threat and drive systems. Our threat and drive systems tend to be overactive for many of us much of the time, and responsible for the difficult emotions we may be struggling with.”

A recent visitor to the CCI site who was hunting for resources to help with anxiety had this wonderful feedback:

“Your website, as far as I can tell, is the best in the world. Yes, the entire world. The data, the curriculum, the worksheets, the modules. It is all there. Thank you… a hidden gem.”

So save the CCI site in your favourites bar to remind you each day that you have this support in your back pocket. And remember: the forcefield may be coming down but the force is with you.