In today's fast paced world, it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and forget to take care of ourselves. But just like physical health, mental health is crucial to our over all well-being.

Attitudes and awareness have improved vastly in recent years but there is still a lot of unanswered questions and general misundertanding when it comes to mental health.

In this podcast Andrew and Louise chat with Mary Watkins, a local mental health counsellor. We find out some personal issues Andrew and Louise have with their mental health. Talking and discussing it you realise that we all suffer sometimes with our mental health and by supporting each other we help cope with our feelings and improve our mental well-being.

0:52 Mental health - what it is, and what it isn’t  - Misconceptions about mental health – the causes and the misconception that something awful must happen before its real

3:01 Factors - So many factors which can affect we’d be here all night trying to cover them all, and sometimes no obvious reason at all – are there any very common causes? 

3:41 Do you think genetics plays a part in it?  

6:52 Lets talk about the stigma around mental health issues – what forms can this take and how is this making the issue worse? 

8:43 Warning signs/signals – why do we ignore these? Can we prevent things from spiralling/escalating? 

10:17 Do you think poor/ill mental health is preventable? How can we prevent it?

13:03 Therapeutic effects of creativity – how does this work? 

15:47 Managing your stress and mental health as a business owner/self employed 

25:45 Anxiety – a form of illness – different for everyone?

28:14 Caring for someone struggling with their mental health 

29:43 How do you approach the issue if the person hasn’t asked for help but you’re concerned or worried for them? 

31:32 The role of counselling

32:20 And how do you get help?

Free mental health support - https://www.mind.org.uk/

Understanding Mental Illness - https://www.sane.org.uk/

Here’s why you need to be cultivating 'awe' in your life - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/02/awe-psychology-life-death-dacher-keltner

W. H. DAVIES - Leisure

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare

Contact Mary marywatkinscounselling.co.uk

Blackwood Well-being Centre https://www.facebook.com/blackwoodwellbeing

Find At The Bench on

• At The Bench Website
• At The Bench Tools Website
• Instagram
• Our Monday Q & A's
• YouTube
• Facebook

Do you accept and undertake jewellery repairs, commissions, melting down clients gold or silver to make jewellery? If you do then you need to listen to Andrew and Louise talk all about the take in procedure.

This is a crucial customer interaction that will give you the opportunity for you or your team to demonstrate knowledge and professionalism. If you have the correct take in procedure then you are are able to offer additional repairs or add ons as chances are your client would not be aware of any further potential problems with their items and you have a chance to to sell other articles or services.

If done correctly you will find your repairs and commissions will be making more money. And if your take in procedure is not carried out correctly it can cost a business several months of profits, impact future referrals from a customer and damage your reputation.

Most of us have experienced feelings of doubt and unworthiness at some point in our lives. But when our accomplishments are a result of our own knowledge, hard work, and preparation and we still feel inadequate ... we're probably suffering from impostor syndrome.

The impostor “syndrome” is a feeling that if we've achieved something it is not because of our competencies, but because of some oversight or stroke of luck. We therefore feel like frauds or “impostors.” and we tend to discount the hard work we have done.

Andrew and Louise discuss Imposter Syndrome with Mary Watkins, a local mental health counsellor. They find the whole experience of chatting with Mary so enlightening and by the end of the podcast both Andrew and Louise had a few light bulb moments.

1m: 48s  What Is It?
5m :09s What Does It Feel Like?
5m: 55s How Can We Recognise It?
10m: 38s Where Does It All Start?
13m : 06s Who Is More Susceptible?
14m: 02s How Limiting Can It Be?
22m: 09s What Can We Do About It?
23m :48s Going To See A Counsellor
26m: 23s Social Media Pressure
30m: 05s Shiny Object Syndrome
30m: 49s How Do We Know When The Need To Continually Learn Is Problematic?
35m: 27s Supporting And Helping Others

Episode notes

Clance, P. and Imes, S., 1978. The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), pp.241-247.

Do you have 'shiny object' syndrome? what it is and how to beat it (2017) Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/living/do-you-have-shiny-object-syndrome-what-it-is-and-how-to/288370 (Accessed: February 13, 2023).Episode Notes

Contact Mary marywatkinscounselling.co.uk
Blackwood Well-being Centre https://www.facebook.com/blackwoodwellbeing

Find At The Bench on

• At The Bench Website
• At The Bench Tools Website
• Instagram
• Our Monday Q & A's
• YouTube
• Facebook

None of us like complaints but they do happen but there are a lot of ways to stop complaints escalating.

In this podcast Andrew and Louise talk about the principles of handling complaints. But there’s another way to see complaints, you can call them ‘unprompted, positive feedback’. A complaint from a customer is a direct response from your customer telling you that there is a part of your business that can be improved. This is incredibly valuable. After all, people don't usually complain for no reason. If you can resolve a problem for one unhappy customer, you can make sure that that the same problem won't happen in future and so your business can only get better.

Listen to how Louise resolves actually problems they have encountered in business and hear Andrew's responses, often negative and quick off the mark but Louise always knows best.

Find At The Bench on

• At The Bench Website
• At The Bench Tools Website
• Instagram
• Our Monday Q & A's
• YouTube
• Facebook

In business you have to realise that failure is by no means the end of the world. The sooner you realise that failure is temporary, and something good will happening as a result.

Also it is your persistence and dedication to your goals that will eventually be rewarded with success.

Every time you fail, you are learning, and you are growing. We recognise that failure is by no means the end of the world. And recognising this gets easier with repetition and dedication to your goals will eventually be rewarded with success.

So, what do you learn from failure? Short answer: a lot more than you think.

Even after 35 years in retail Andrew has failures and each time he learns and turns the failures around and usually ends up making a success. Andrews confidence is fuelled by his determination and, most importantly, his past failures.

The ICO website can be found HERE

The ICO registration self assessment can be found HERE

You can contact Andrew & Louise via email Click Here

Find At The Bench on

• At The Bench Website
• At The Bench Tools Website
• Instagram
• Our Monday Q & A's
• YouTube
• Facebook

Ambitious New Year’s resolutions often end in disappointment and 2023 brings the opportunity for fresh starts and resolutions and with that new year approaching, you may be making a list of resolutions. Resolutions can be great for motivation, but many of us put too much pressure on ourselves within days of making our goals.

Andrew and Louise chat about some of the ways that help them make changes in their lives.

You can contact Andrew & Louise via email Click Here

Find At The Bench on

• At The Bench Website 
• At The Bench Tools Website 
• Instagram 
• Our Monday Q & A's 
• YouTube 
• Facebook