Mind Matters: Mental health support, training and advice to improve your mind and emotional wellbeing
She is determined to do her bit to change the culture and challenge the stigma of mental health, and to re-evaluate not only the language around mental health but the importance of understanding our minds, and freeing ourselves, and importantly our children, from the negativity surrounding this topic.
It was a personal ‘mental health’ crisis that set 37-year-old Hannah on the journey from commercial manager for a building company to setting up this community interest company (CIC) and becoming a full-time campaigner, trainer and advisor working to empower more and more people, schools, employers and communities to change attitudes to mental health.
Come to the launch
Hannah is hosting the official launch of Mind Matters CIC on Friday May 17, at Highfield Café Social, Highfield Icon Building, Balby Carr Bank, Doncaster, DN4 5JQ. Here you can book a 20 minute slot to speak to Hannah about her work and discover more.
“Whether you're a school, organisation, company, or individual, we'd love to hear from you. We're open to collaborations and available to answer any questions,” she said.
The campaign needs advocates to help spread the word, but Hannah also offers training on a group and individual basis with adults and children.
About Hannah Dunn
Hannah Dunn“It very much came from a time where the last thing I wanted was to tell anyone I had mental health issues. But on my journey I started questioning ‘why do we even use that word mental anymore?’ There is such a stigma attached to that word. It seemed simple to change the word, let’s think about the mind and how wonderful it is and how it is capable of amazing things.”
Hannah hopes to help people see themselves differently. As she began to research more into mental health and discovered increasing numbers of young people and children struggling to cope.
“It blew my mind that when I came to crisis point and started researching I began to question how it was that I learned all about the anatomy of a plant in school, but I did not learn anything about how my brain works!”
Now Hannah works in schools, training staff and parents, and hopes to sign up more and more edcuational establishments to me ‘Mind Matters’ schools.
Since changing her career she has studied in various aspects of mental health to enable her to pass on her knowledge, set up Mind Matters and deliver on the campaign aims. She has an advanced DBS check, is a licenced child trauma and behavioural therapeutic practitioner Thrive, is a Family Thrive course leader, is a mental health lead for the Department of Education, is trained to level 3 as a designated safeguarding lead, is a Mental Health First Aider with MHFA and is expecting to be certified as a NLP Practioner Coach and Timeline Therapy and Hypnosis practitioner in May.
Hannah Dunn“I believe all those resources for coping such as journaling and meditation – looking after the wellbeing of your mind – should be taught as lifeskills.”
Hannah hopes to rally support for the campaign to alter the language and attitudes to mental health and find like-minded people to help champion the cause, but also is offering workshops for schools and training for parents and children on a 1-2-1 basis.
Hannah sees a direct link between increasing use of technology and increasing numbers of people with challenging mind health. She says as humans we are social beings, who belong in communities, but the isolating nature of technology means we are left to try and fix things on our own.
Find out more
Whether you want to attend the launch event, book a workshop for your school, workplace or organisation, sign Hannah’s petition, ask about counselling and coaching for yourself or a child, be a champion for the campaign or simply find out more about Hannah and the campaign, take a look at the Mind Matters CIC website here