Student Wellbeing
Wantirna College
Wellbeing Bulletins
For Wellbeing News please see the attached bulletins:
Challenging Negative Thinking
If your thoughts are getting you down, it can help to reassess what you’re saying to yourself each day. It is worth trying to challenge any negative thinking and ask yourself some challenging questions about whether the way you’re thinking about things is actually working for you.
This can help if:
- You tend to dwell on the negatives
- You want to feel better about yourself
- You're experiencing flat or anxious emotions
- You can’t seem to improve your thinking
- You want more confidence
Challenging the Self-Talk
The hard part about self-talk is that it always feels true. Even though your thoughts might often be biased or incorrect, you tend to assume that they are correct.
Self-talk is often skewed towards the negative, rather than the positive. If you are experiencing difficult times or experiences, it may be likely that you interpret things negatively. That's why it's useful to keep an eye on the things you tell yourself, and challenge some of the negative aspects of your thinking.
With practice, you can learn to notice your own negative self-talk, and consciously choose to think about the situation in a more realistic and helpful way.
Learning to dispute negative thoughts might take time and practice but it is worth the effort. Once you start taking notice, you'll probably be surprised by how much of your thinking is inaccurate, exaggerated, or focused on the negatives of the situation.
Whenever you become aware that you’re feeling upset, angry, anxious or worried, use these times as your signal to stop and reflect on your thoughts. Use your feelings as your cue to reflect on your thinking.
Challenging Questions
There are four main types of challenging questions to ask yourself:
1. Reality testing
- What is my evidence for and against my thinking?
- Am I jumping to negative conclusions?
2. Look for alternative explanations
- Are there any other ways that I could look at this situation?
- What else could this mean?
- If I were being positive, how would I perceive this situation?
3. Putting it in perspective
- What is the best thing that could happen?
- Is there anything good about this situation?
- Will this matter in a years’ time?
4. Using goal-directed thinking
- Is this way of thinking helping me to achieve my goals?
- What can I do that will help me solve the problem?
- Is there something I can learn from this situation, to help me do it better next time?
Lea Marrison
Mental Health Practitioner
Support Services
Please note that during the school holiday break the Wellbeing email and Teams Channel will not be monitored.
The Wellbeing Team have compiled a range of resources and support services for students and families to access via Compass under Community (the two people) – School Documentation – For Students/For Parents – Wellbeing Resources.
Youth support services
headspace: visit headspace.org.au to find your nearest centre or call headspace on
1800 650 890.
Kids Helpline:
1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au
ReachOut: reachout.com.au
SANE Australia: 1800 187 263 or sane.org
National 24/7 crisis services
Lifeline:13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 or suicidecallbackservice.org.au
beyondblue:
1300 224 636 or beyondblue.org.au
Parent Support
Parentline: 13 22 89
If you would like further ongoing support, it is recommended that you make an appointment with your family General Practitioner (G.P.) where you can discuss the concerns that you may behaving. The G.P. will then be able to make the appropriate referral for ongoing support as required.
Student Wellbeing Team
Instagram: @wcwellbeinghub
Email: wellbeing@wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au
Guiseppe Relia – Social Worker
Sanela Avdic – Social Worker
Lea Marrison - Mental Health Practitioner
Tajinder Wulff - Mental Health Practitioner