What services does the STEPS team offer?
This section divides into four:
- STEPS Groups
- Other STEPS services (These are available only to those with a GP in south east Glasgow (and, in one case, those with a GP in East Renfrewshire))
- STEPS services available to all
- New services in 2008
You can find out dates for courses, etc by going to the 'What's On' section.
If you would like a STEPS service brochure posted to you, please contact us.
1. STEPS Groups
Stress Control
Stress Control is our most popular option. It is a class that runs over six Thursday evenings (7-8.30) or six Monday afternoons (1-2.30) in a row. If you want to learn better ways to handle common problems such as anxiety, depression, low self-confidence, poor sleep and panic attacks then come along to Stress Control. Both classes run in Langside Halls, Shawlands.
Stress Control is an evening class - not a group therapy - so you do not have to talk about your problems in front of others. You just sit back and learn some great ways to control stress. This approach was devised by Dr. Jim White - the STEPS team leader - and is now used across the world. Jim usually runs the Thursday class.
As stress is so common, there are often around 100 people at the Thursday class and 30 at the Monday class. As it is so popular, STEPS make sure the courses run about ten times each year so you will not need to wait long to start a class. Feel free if you want to bring someone with you. They can give you a bit of support and also gets that person on the same wavelength.
What happens in each of the sessions?
| Session 1: | Information about stress |
| Session 2: | Control your body: relaxation, exercise |
| Session 3: | Control your thoughts: learn to think your way out of stress |
| Session 4: | Control your actions: boost self confidence |
| Session 5: | Control panic |
| Session 6: | Control sleep problems; control your future |
As a part of the Stress Control classes, there are booklets to read before the course starts. These will tell you:
- All about stress
- How to measure stress
- How to work out how and why stress is affecting you
- Self-help ideas to tackle stress
You also get more booklets and a relaxation CD or tape when you come on the course (you can also download the the relaxation mp3 on this site).
To find the dates of the next courses, go to the 'What's On' section.
To book a place please contact us. As this service is only available to those with South East Glasgow or East Renfrewshire GP please check your GP is included in our list first.
Mood Matters
Are you fed-up with feeling down and depressed?
Do you want to find ways to gain more self-confidence?
Do you want to learn new skills to boost your self-esteem?
Mood Matters, a new STEPS course, has been designed to help you do all of these things. It runs at Samaritan House, Govanhill, once a week for eight weeks. It runs on Tuesday mornings.
Mood Matters is a course where you will learn a lot more about these very common problems and why they affect you in the way they do. Mood Matters teaches you some powerful skills that can help get you back in control of your life. You will also meet people in the same boat as you. Even if you do not want to talk, you will be able to listen and learn more.
There will be around 10-15 people on each course. As it runs several times over the year, you should not have to wait long to start your Mood Matters course.
What happens in each of the sessions?
| Session 1: | Getting to Know You: An Introduction to the Group |
| Session 2: | Learning to be more Active |
| Session 3: | Thinking Positively |
| Session 4: | Challenging Negative Thoughts |
| Session 5: | Getting to the root of the Problem |
| Session 6: | Being Perfect Never Helps |
| Session 7: | Diet and Exercise |
| Session 8: | Staying Well |
To find the dates of the next courses, go to the 'What's On' section.
To book a place please contact us. As this service is only available to those with South East Glasgow GP please check your GP is included in our list first.
The Social Confidence Group
This six session course is for people who get tense in social situations. On the course, you will learn about what causes these problems and what keeps them going. You will also learn skills to help you get on top of them. There will be small group tasks and the chance to try out the new skills you learn.
This course is for around 10-15 people at one time. It runs several times over the year.
What happens in each of the sessions?
| Session 1: | The Nature of Social Anxiety |
| Session 2: | Thoughts - Identifying Negative Thoughts |
| Session 3: | Part 1 Thoughts - Challenging Negative Thoughts Part 2 Actions - Doing Things Differently |
| Session 4: | Part 1 Body - How Social Anxiety affects the Body Part 2 Reducing Self-Consciousness |
| Session 5: | Part 1 Building up confidence Part 2 Assertiveness |
| Session 6: | Review |
To find the dates of the next courses, go to the 'What's On' section.
To book a place please contact us. As this service is only available to those with South East Glasgow GP please check your GP is included in our list first.
First Steps
First Steps is a weekly, informal, group where people get a chance to meet others in the same boat as themselves, and help one another. It is run on a Monday evening in Langside Halls - 7.00-9.00pm.
It is run by a STEPS team member (lay person) who, through personal experience of mental health problems over his adult life, fully understands the problems people can face. He has been involved with various self-help groups for many years. He has been able to use his experiences to help others who have had similar problems. Groups do not always work for everyone - but give it a try.
The group gives people the chance to:
- Talk in confidence to others about how they deal with stress
- Learn new ways to tackle stress and how others cope/manage
- Gain and give support to each other in a relaxed atmosphere
- Listen to speakers the group invites along
- Go on nights out with the group - Theatre/meals/cinema/days away
- The group is totally confidential between the group participants
It is up to the person how much or how little they get involved in First Steps.
To book a place please contact us. As this service is only available to those with South East Glasgow GP please check your GP is included in our list first.
Exercise Class
Exercise can be a very helpful way to combat stress. So STEPS has an exercise class on Monday evenings (6-7pm) in Langside Halls The class is led by a fully-qualified trainer and combines aerobics and circuit training. It is free of charge and is open to all ages and all fitness levels.
To book a place please contact us. As this service is only available to those with South East Glasgow GP please check your GP is included in our list first.
Exercise tip: aim to get 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week. 'Moderate' means getting your heart rate up but still able to talk to someone at the same time. A brisk walk is an easy way to do this.
STEPS one day events
These half-day or whole-day events will help you get to grips with common problems. Successful events held so far include:
- Assertiveness
- Fancy a Fresh Start? (combining money issues and mental health)
- So you've had a baby? (on post-natal stress)
- Sleep problems
- Work Stress
Go to the 'What's On' section to see what events are coming up
To book a place please contact us. As this service is only available to those with South East Glasgow GP please check your GP is included in our list first.
2. Other STEPS services
The Advice Clinic
This is a good way to see someone from the STEPS team quickly and to get advice on how to best sort out problems. The Advice Clinic offers a one-off session (of about 25 minutes). It runs on Wednesday afternoons in Govanhill Health Centre (Community Wing), Calder Street. By talking to a therapist, you might find solutions to problems you had not thought of before. The therapist may also:
- Give information
- Give self help booklets
- Suggest using other STEPS services (and set this up for you)
- Put you in touch with agencies who could be of help
To book a place please contact us. As this service is only available to those with South East Glasgow GP please check your GP is included in our list first.
3. STEPS services available to all
Steps out of Stress series
The STEPS team have written booklets on some of the common mental health problems. Some of the most popular are:
- Controlling your Stress (also available at local GP practices)
- Panic Attacks
- Getting the best out of your anti-depressants
- Anger
- Well-being (for teenagers)
All of the booklets are easy to understand. All are available in the Download section.
STEPS Healthy Reading
The Healthy Reading Project, in conjunction with Glasgow City Council, has been set up in every public library in Glasgow (and some in East Renfrewshire). Look out for the Healthy Reading pamphlets (your GP should have them). Each library has a large section devoted to common problems such as anxiety, depression, anger, self-esteem, bereavement, child problems, addiction, and much more. There are books, pamphlets, audio tapes, videos and DVDs. The library computers have a link to useful websites. All of these materials have been chosen by the STEPS team.
You can also find the Steps out of Stress booklets and DVDs in each library.
If you are not already a member, you can walk into any library, join on the spot and take books or other materials away the same day. These materials are borrowed in the same way as any other book. You can use any Glasgow library.
Glasgow services directory - www.glasgowhelp.com
The STEPS on-line directory will tell you about services in Glasgow. It divides into 24 categories. These are a selection of what we have available:
- mental health e.g. stress, anger, eating problems, self-harm, dementia
- help in a crisis e.g. feeling suicidal, being a victim of crime or abuse, homelessness, bullying, crisis services
- your situation e.g. housing, jobs, money, debts and benefits, carers
- well-being e.g. community involvement, exercise, alcohol and drug abuse, religion, diet
- relationships e.g. family problems, sexual health, sexuality, losing a loved one
We ensure it is kept up to date.
Services for ethnic communities
In the Downloads sections, you can find the STEPS 'Controlling your Stress' booklet translated into Urdu, Polish and Slovak. You will also find 'Getting the best out of your anti-depressants' in Urdu.
DVDs
100 People
This short DVD looks at how common stress is and offers some great ideas on how to get on top of it.
Everything you wanted to know about stress but were afraid to ask
This DVD, made with Blindside Productions, follows a young man whose life is not going at all well! We worked closely with some well-known Glasgow stand-up comedians to illustrate how badly stress can affect us. The DVD also has interviews with three people who describe how stress affects their lives and with a clinical psychologist, a GP and a Professor. It is available in the Downloads section. The DVD was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA.
STEPS Sounds
STEPS therapists have put together a series of audio clips on mental health topics. These include panic, coping with drink problems, learning about depression, getting a good night's sleep, caffeine, coping with the baby blues, building your confidence, coping with anxiety and many more. We also have clips of people talking about what it is like having a common mental health problem.
These clips (including some video clips) are available in Downloads on this site. Keep checking for new clips as they become available.
Stay in touch with STEPS
We are always trying to develop our service and add new options for those in South-East Glasgow. We send out a monthly email update from STEPS with, e.g. dates for Stress Control, new booklets, website improvements, information on workshops, etc.
If you want to receive these updates, contact us and we will add your name to the list.
4. New services in 2008
The Call-back service
This will begin in mid-2008. Our Call-Back line will be available 24 hours a day. You leave your details on the answer machine - we call you back. The answer machine asks you to leave:
- your name
- your phone number (landline and /or mobile)
- your GP's name
A fully-qualified (cognitive-behavioural) therapist will talk to you. You will have time to fully discuss your problem.
From this phone assessment, the therapist will offer advice on which of the wide range of STEPS therapy options would best meet your needs. We can also point you to services outside of STEPS.
We will do our best to get back to you within three working days (this will be in office hours). We may be unable to keep calling if we do not get a reply so please call again to make sure we can talk to you.
Well-being classes
We are developing three new classes:
- Mind Gym will look at Positive Psychology approaches
- Body Gym will look at lifestyle and nutrition
- Life Gym will follow ideas from the Recovery Movement and WRAP approaches
More information will be placed on this website as we firm up these courses.
STEPS Sounds Podcasts
All the clips in the Downloads section will soon be available as podcasts. Podcasts are MP3 sound files that can be played on your computer or any MP3 player. We also have some video clips that you can use with a video MP.
You will be able to sign up to the free STEPS service via ITunes. When you download the free software from ITunes, you can browse through the library of podcasts already available and download as many or as few as you want. All are free.
You can also subscribe, free of charge, to the STEPS podcasts to receive new ones soon as they become available.
You can choose to stop receiving podcasts at any time.
