Introduction:
With children’s mental health difficulties rising in so many countries, it is now more important than ever to seek out ways to promote wellbeing and positive mental health from as early an age as possible. Schools are well-placed to deliver universal, evidence-based programs and offer potential in alleviating and preventing these difficulties (Weare & Nind, 2011).
Weaving Well-Being (Forman & Rock, 2016) is such a program – it is multi-year and based on concepts from Positive Psychology including Positive Emotions, Character Strengths, Resilience and Self -Efficacy. It was developed in Ireland and is now in use in the majority of primary schools there. It has also been launched in Australia, and will be available in the UK and USA in 2021.
This session will be delivered by Fiona Forman, co-author of the programme. Fiona is a former teacher, and the program originated from lessons in her classroom, based on her studies from her M.Sc. in Applied Positive Psychology with the University of East London. Fiona will outline the background to the programme and summarize the results from the 5 independent studies which have taken place on it in Ireland to date, through dissertations from students in various academic institutions, including Trinity College Dublin. The overall results suggest that the Weaving Well-Being program is successful in reducing children’s anxiety by significant levels and is a positive development and potentially beneficial resource for schools.
Aim:
To provide an overview of the Weaving Well-Being program and summarize the research to date.
Conclusion
The Weaving Well-Being program is a potentially beneficial program in reducing anxiety and promoting wellbeing in children.