Mental Health Resilience

Mental health is part of everyday life, but talking about it can still feel difficult. The Anima Co Mental Health Resilience program is designed to give participants practical knowledge, tools and skills to support their own mental health and the people around us, while creating regular opportunities to talk about mental health in a safe and supportive environment.

The program combines training, practical tools, reflection, group mentoring, practice and peer connection over time. It is not a counselling or clinical program. It is about building practical capability and making conversations about mental health a more normal part of everyday life.

Our approach

Using the Anima Co learning model: Learn → Reflect → Practise → Apply → Embed, participants learn about mental health and resilience, reflect on how the ideas relate to their own circumstances, practise practical strategies and then apply them in their everyday lives.

They return to the group to discuss their experiences, learn from others and refine their approach.

Four connected components

Training

Participants explore key areas of mental health and resilience, which can be tailored to your specific needs. Topics may include:

  • understanding mental health
  • recognising changes in ourselves and others
  • managing pressure and emotional responses
  • thinking patterns and perspective
  • maintaining capacity and recovery
  • connection and support
  • having conversations about mental health
  • recognising when additional support may be needed
  • sleep.

The content is evidence-informed and practical, with a focus on what participants can actually use.

Tools

Each topic is linked to practical tools that participants can try between sessions. These might include mental health tools, strategies for managing pressure, grounding and regulation techniques, thought and perspective tools, conversation frameworks and personal support planning.

The aim is to help people find tools that work for them.

Practice

Participants have opportunities to practise using the tools, practise conversations and discuss real situations in a supportive environment. They can try something, reflect on it, adapt it and try again.

Group mentoring and check-ins

Regular check-in sessions provide a space for participants to talk about what they are experiencing, ask questions, share stories and learn from one another. These sessions are an important part of the program. They help participants:

  • reflect on their experiences
  • discuss challenges
  • troubleshoot
  • share what has worked
  • support one another
  • build confidence talking about mental health

Over time, the group develops its own network of connection and peer support.

Normalising conversations

We want mental health to become something people can talk about before they need to talk about it. Regular, practical conversations can make it easier to tell people when things aren’t going so well.

Creating a regular space for these conversations helps make mental health a more normal part of workplace and peer relationships.

What happens between sessions

Participants are encouraged to take the learning into their everyday lives. They might try a tool, change an approach, practise a conversation, notice a pattern, seek support or make a small change to something affecting their capacity.

They then bring their experience back to the group: What worked? What didn’t? What did you notice? What would you do differently?

This connects learning directly to experience.

What participants can expect

  • Learning — practical, evidence-informed information.
  • Tools — strategies they can actually use.
  • Reflection — time to think about what the learning means for them.
  • Practice — opportunities to develop confidence using new skills.
  • Group mentoring — regular discussion, support and shared experience.
  • Peer connection — relationships with others who are working through similar challenges.
  • Application — opportunities to use the learning in everyday life.
  • Conversation — greater confidence talking about mental health and supporting others.

The goal is to have the knowledge, skills, tools and connections to do something with the knowledge and information that is available to them.