Changing Minds, Changing Brands
September 17th marked the first release of the new name for what we have come to know of as Regional Consumer Network.
Changing Minds worked with members of the network to come up with the best new name for the organisation. More than one hundred participants voted for their preferred name. Since then, the Council for Mental Wellbeing Trust, the Reference Advisory Group, staff, and a number of other individuals have worked on the new look, including the by-line.
In order to reflect the organisation’s commitment to our Maori members they have included the whakatauki “Te Pae Tawhiti o te Hinengaro” – literally translated as: searching the horizon of changing minds. Not only is this a whakatauki, but can be seen as a translation of the new name.
Another feature is their by-line: Strengthening Self-determination. This is something that the new-look organisation is very focused on – working on strengthening the voice of service users to ensure that people are treated fairly, with dignity and respect, and that every individual is given opportunity to live their life in the way in which they choose whether they have a diagnosis of a mental health issue or not.
You can reach the Changing Minds team now by emailing:
tina@changingminds.org.nz (manager)
campbell@changingminds.org.nz (newsletters, updates, media watch)
joey@changingminds.org.nz (forums, youth project)
…I will give myself a little while to think each day. I will plan a 15 minute slot of time into each of my days, to allow myself time to simply think. Life can get so busy and the tasks of daily living can become so much the focus that we don’ t get time to actively make sense of what we go through each day, whether it is enjoyable or distressing or a mixture of both. First, I will sit down with my schedule and plan in each of my 15-minute spots – they could be at the same, regular time each day or just whenever I can fit them in. Then for the rest of the week, no matter how I feel, I will sit down at my scheduled time to think each day. I will consider this my own private “defrag” time – a moment to organise my mental files of the day and figure them out. I might think things through better when I have a pen and paper to jot things down or I might just think to myself silently. For 15 minutes I will cast my mind over my day and my responses and let the things I need to sort out, rise to the surface. I will think about resolving problems that have arisen, talking to a supporter about things I have found upsetting, giving myself comfort for the things that have been hard and congratulating myself for the things I have survived and done well with. In this way, each day, I will spend a moment in which my automatic thoughts and feelings are able to rise to the surface where I can be aware of them and do something to about them if I wish. This week, I will make sure life slows down for 15-minutes a day to allow me to process my experiences and make sense of where I am at. This could help prevent me from getting overwhelmed by things, especially when life gets really busy. Once I am comfortable taking 15 minutes to think on a regular basis, I will add ‘ Time to Think’ to my 
