Giving a man a fish versus teaching a man to fish

Last night I went out for a meal with two close friends, Cat and Tim.

They are some of my favourite people in the world. I met them a few years ago through volunteering for the charity - Samaritans.

A lot has changed since I first met them. Having stopped volunteering at the Samaritans to prioritise the Beyond Compulsion Academy, I've definitely changed my perspective on a lot of mental health "support".

The great thing about Samaritans is they help people think through their choice in the critical moments that people want to end their own life. We were trained to do this in a specific way which is non-judgemental and helps people get out of feelings of deprivation by helping people actually weigh up their options.

This part of volunteering at the Samaritans was absolutely invaluable to callers who needed someone to talk to during moments of suicidal ideation.

However, a lot of callers would call just to moan and complain about their life, often blaming external circumstances, and feelings completely powerless, helpless, and trapped.

And whilst people find it valuable to vent without seeking a solution, often people just go round and round in circles, not getting anywhere, and still feeling the same. A lot of mental health "support" takes a similar trajectory where people have the non-judgemental space to explore how they are thinking and feeling... but don't actually have any solutions to solving their problems.

Now, back to the Beyond Compulsion Academy... we do things completely differently to therapists, and other kinds of mental health "support". We help people actually solve their addiction themselves using tools that help them change their own neural pathways at their own pace.

It is a bit like the saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". We don't give out fishes.

Our clients get the space to do the work on their neural pathways themselves, and can share with us how things are going or check-in with us when it is convenient to them.

Our core philosophy is one of empowerment and optimism. We deeply believe in every single individual's opportunity to transform their neural pathways, and therefore their life.

If you would like to explore changing your own neural pathways, and therefore taking charge of your life, let's schedule a 1-1 call.