Self-Care Activities
New Mental Health Connections Navigator
This self-service guide enables you to see the mental health resources available to you.
Take advantage of McLean's free mental health webinars and courses!
McLean Hospital offers an ongoing series of free webinars and courses focused on different aspects of mental health. Topics include exploring fear, anxiety and panic responses to perceived and imagined threats, recognizing and treating bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, exploring self-care and wellbeing for children and teens and much more. These sessions are excellent resources for personal and professional development. Sign up now for upcoming sessions.
Get the help you need right on your phone!
Looking for clinically validated, mental health support at the touch of a button? There’s an app for that. To help manage stress and anxiety on your own, our Behavioral Health teams from across the system have partnered with vendors we can stand behind. These apps offer a range of tools to help you feel your best—whether you’re providing support on the frontlines or doing your part by social distancing at home. You can think of them as offering a gradient of need:
Headspace could be considered an “entry-level” mental health app focused on mindfulness, relaxation, and meditation. It can help with every day stresses like relationship issues, lack of sleep, and feeling grounded in stressful times. Headspace is now free for health care professionals because of the pandemic. Be kind to your mind, less stressed, more resilient, and happier. Free access for Mass General Brigham Employees. It could be considered an “entry-level” mental health app focused on mindfulness, relaxation, and meditation. It can help with every day stresses like relationship issues, lack of sleep, and feeling grounded in stressful times.
Foundations is the next step up. It’s for people who may be feeling very affected by stress, anxiety, and sleep problems. Learn to apply clinically validated techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and positive psychology with guidance from the app. Get help managing negative thoughts and feelings and disconnecting with evidence-based lessons in resilience, relaxation and mindfulness.
SilverCloud Health is an online, evidence based, cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) tool used in the treatment of stress, insomnia, anxiety and/or mild-to-moderate depression. Employees who are recommended coaching will receive weekly messages via the SilverCloud app from Master’s level coaches. The program is personalizable based on user need, and upon completion of any of the available programs, users can continue to access their completed program as well as any of the four wellness programs for up to one year, without coaching.
Lyra Health offers immediate access to a care navigator and individualized mental health care, including self-guided programs, coaching, therapy and medication management. Lyra is now available to Mass General Brigham employees and their dependents enrolled in the Mass General Brigham Select or Plus employee health plans. Learn more and register or call AllWays Health Partners customer service at 800-462-5449.
Check out all the well-being and behavioral health services available and the Employee Assistance Program resources on the Mental Health and Well-being page on The Pulse.
Meditation Mondays & Midweek Meditation with Guest Leaders
Sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Well-Being
Every Monday 8-8:30-am
Join Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH, Interim Director, Office for Well-Being for a guided meditation session on Monday mornings. Participants will experience a series of three short guided meditations as a way to ease into the start of the week. JOIN ZOOM!
Every Wednesday 8-8:30 am
Join a different guest meditation leader every week for a guided meditation session on Wednesday mornings. JOIN ZOOM!
Visit the self compassion website!
Check out this series of helpful questions to calculate your stress amount.
The On Being Project is an independent non-profit public life and media initiative with radio, podcasts, digital, poetry, and live event offerings. We pursue deep thinking and social courage, moral imagination and joy, to renew inner life, outer life, and life together. Discover more at onbeing.org.
Top 25 Best Meditation Resources
Figuring out how to meditate can be difficult. Meditation apps, music, and podcasts can help you figure out the meditation techniques that work best for you.
Welcome to PeaceLove Studios. PeaceLove promotes mental well-being by using creativity and self-expression to inspire, explore, and communicate. We believe everyone deserves a safe space to share their emotions. As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the globe, we are finding new ways to create peace of mind. Our virtual workshops are a place to create fearlessly and honestly without judgment. An opportunity to be vulnerable, reflect, and be empowered with others. A place to access creative tools to improve our mental health, and to find peace of mind.
Access the Virtual Workshops
1. Visit the landing page: https://workshops.peacelove.org/mgh
2. Click the button that says Access Your Virtual Workshops
3. Enter your access code: 77134 Note: You should only need to enter your access code once per device, but it would be a good idea to save this email in case you need it in the future.
Downloadable mindfulness, meditation, and relaxation MP3’s (from MIT, times are approximate)
Body scan (20 mins)
Seated body scan (7 mins)
Lying down body scan (40 mins)
Mindfulness of breathing (16 mins)
Sitting meditation (34 mins)
Mindful yoga (24 mins)
Gentle stretching/yoga meditation (38 mins)
Guided visualization for relaxation (9 mins)
Relax: Guided meditation (6 mins)
Meditation can wipe away the day’s stress, bringing with it inner peace. See how you can easily learn to practice meditation whenever you need it most.
Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. A small amount of stress can be good, motivating you to perform well. But multiple challenges daily, such as sitting in traffic, meeting deadlines and paying bills, can push you beyond your ability to cope.
In times like these, we need practical, actionable ways of coping with stress, fear, and anxiety. The meditations, podcasts, blog posts, and talks on this page will help you build resilience and find some calm amidst the chaos. We’re adding more resources as they’re created – so keep checking back.
We want to deeply thank and recognize healthcare workers all over the world who are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are a healthcare worker and are not currently subscribed to Ten Percent Happier, we would like to support you by offering free access to the app – please email care@tenpercent.com for instructions.
Please share this page widely. These resources are free for all.
Website for sleep, anxiety and stress.