The attack in Manchester on 22nd May 2017 will be etched on the minds of the nation’s psyche forever. Our children and young people are inundated with stressful images, sounds and experiences.  We can’t turn back the clock but we can help our schools and communities to be prepared for all future eventualities.

Our unique programme for schools and communities is based on two state-of-the art educational programmes designed for schools and communities to prevent and prepare for life’s stresses and traumatic events.
Our unique programme is based on the DNA-V programme for young people (all ages) and the CORTEX cognitive psychological first aid protocols for promoting resilience and giving our trainees an actual practical protocol of what to do when someone close to them is in psychological shock. This protocol can be trained to the public from 16 years old.

DNA-V Integrating mindfulness practices into social and emotional learning

The DNA-V Model is based on a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Positive Psychology (Hayes and Ciarrochi, 2015.) There has been increasing evidence for the use of both of these approaches with young people (Halliburton and Cooper, 2015; Livheim et al; 2014; Merry et al: 2011; Smith, 2015: Wicksell, Melin, Lekander and Olsson, 2009.) The DNA-V model is not an attempt to apply an adult model of young people; instead, it is grounded in developmental research and seeks to describe the conditions that help children grown into strong and healthy young people DNA-V follows the evidence-based, SAFE practice;

  • Sequential training from basic to advanced level.
  • Actively engaging young people in the exercises through experiential practices
  • Focusing on skills development
  • Explicitly targeting the social and emotional learning (SEL) skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship-building and responsible decision-making (Casel, 2015)

The primary aim of the DNA-V model is to help young people learn mindfulness skills and apply them to build psychological flexibility. Young people tend to prefer the term flexible strength which refers to the ability to mindfully engage with the present moment and use our discover, advisor, noticer skills in a way that promotes learning and growth, whilst simultaneously changing or maintaining behaviour to build values and vitality. This movement is depicted using the pointer in Figure 1. In other words, flexible strength involves the ability to redirect energy into advisor, noticer or disoverer, in a way that feeds values and vitality.

Young people who lack or have weaknesses within D, N or A skills may be stuck using the same behaviour over-and-over and simply find themselves unable to shift out of unhelpful ways of behaving.

VALUES

Everything in the model is guided by values which come from answering questions such as;

  • What do I care about in this moment?
  • What kind of person do I want to be?
  • What do I want my life to stand for?

Common values involve connecting with others, giving to others, being active, embracing the moment, challenging oneself and learning and caring for oneself (Ciarrochi, Bailey and Harris, 2014.) Vitality can be defined as the capacity to live, grow and develop physical or intellectual vigour, energy and power to not just survive but thrive.