Building Our Bundle 3: Content
Program Overview
Welcome to the third season of Building Our Bundle! This is a 6-week synchronous online program for Indigenous youth (aged 14-29) to learn mental health skills and cultural teachings to add to their wellness bundles. This season will be focused on behavior skills that are meant to help with intense emotions. In addition to weekly group sessions, participants of Building Our Bundle will have access to one-on-one support from our mental health team to work deeper on their self-determined needs and goals!
Babiskiyaang: Looking Back to Look Forward
This week, we learned about radical acceptance. Radical acceptance is a distress tolerance skill that helps reduce emotional suffering in moments when we cannot change the circumstances life presents. It is not approval of- or agreement with- a situation. Radical acceptance is whole-heartedly acknowledging reality as it is in the present moment with our mind, body, and spirit. It is accepting that we cannot change the past or present circumstances, even if we don't like, agree with, or approve of them. We must be willing to accept what is to make space for change to thrive.
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MIKWENDAAGWAD: CONNECTING WITH OUR GOOD MIND
This week, we explored how the three different states of mind operate. The first state of mind is our emotional mind. When we are in this state, we make decisions based on what we're feeling. The second state of mind is the wise mind. In this state, we have a balance of emotional mind and logical mind, allowing us to live mindfully. The logical mind is the third state of mind that makes decisions based on facts and what makes intellectual sense.
Zoongitoon: Making Ourselves Strong
This week, we learned how to improve the moment. IMPROVE the Moment can be quite valuable when dealing with overwhelming emotions or unexpected situations. There are many strategies involved with this skill, so find the strategy that works best for you. The goal is to learn to deal with difficult emotions more effectively. Take note of how have you generally dealt with crises in the past, and see if these strategies work better. It’s important to let go of old habits if they are not beneficial. Instead, establish new coping strategies that are more likely to lead to positive and healthy results.
Debwewin: Hearing my Heart’s Sound
This week, we learned how to regulate our emotions using the PLEASED skills. Emotional regulation is an understanding of our emotions as being valid and natural parts of ourselves that we can't always control - but that we can regulate, make less distressing, and use to react in healthier ways.
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Inawendiwag: Being a Good Relative
This week, we learned how to build and maintain healthy and positive relationships with others while maintaining your self-respect and getting your needs met. There are 3 core relational skills in DBT: GIVE, FAST, and DEAR MAN - GIVE reminds us to be gentle, maintain interest, validate others, and maintain an easy manner when we want to build relationships with others. FAST helps us maintain our self-respect in our relationships through being fair, apology-free, sticking to our values, and being truthful. DEAR MAN helps us to get our needs met when something isn't sitting well with us; in these situations we can describe the issue, express our feelings, assert what we want, and reinforce our relationships while being mindful, acting confident, and negotiating until we reach an even ground