Activity 2.10 Mindful Committed Action Plan

ACT Processes:

• Values
• Committed Action

Objectives:

• To engage participants in deeper reflection on their values – especially in the domain of community;
• To engage participants in formulating specific goals – especially in the area of mental health promotion and reduction of mental illness stigma;
• To support the participants in identifying their willingness to engage in action, and the anticipated barriers and facilitators in community action;
• To encourage participants to take committed action.

Participation Format:

• Participants work in small groups of 4 to 6 people (depending on the number of participants). Participants move their chairs to positions that allow them to work in small groups.
• Participants return to sitting in a horseshoe formation during large group sharing and debriefing.

Number of Facilitators:

• 2

Time Required:

• 45 mins

Materials Required:

• Water-based markers, flip chart paper and masking tape
• Flip chart with pre-written terms for the activity
• Appendix 2.10 – Mindful Committed Action Plan Worksheet

Activities & Instructions

Instructions for participants

1.  Facilitator# 1 divides participants into 3 small groups by asking participants to take turns counting the numbers: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 … until every participant is in a group).
2. Once all the participants are in small groups, facilitators provide each group with a flip chart paper and a marker. Also make sure that each person has their own paper and pen to write with.
3. Facilitator #1 continues: “As you know, you are about to complete ACT training to become a mental health ambassador – MHA. Our next activity consists of two parts. First, we invite you to reflect on your own personal values and goals as an MHA. For values – just what kind of MHA will you become? See if you can think of a couple of words or a short phrase to capture this …use the list of values words to inspire you … Will you be … an assertive advocate to speak up for the marginalized? A compassionate listener for people who have been silenced? Or perhaps a caring helper to promote people’s mental health and recovery? To express your values, think about a couple of concrete goals regarding how to serve your family and your communities, especially in the areas of mental health promotion, mental illness prevention, treatment, and recovery, and reduction of stigma associated with mental illness. For example, if your value as an MHA is to become an assertive advocate, you may choose to set this goal “I will focus on speaking out against discrimination towards people with mental illness”… or if your value is to become a caring helper for those suffering, you may set this goal “I will devote my energy to help women who suffer from domestic abuse”. Finally, think of 1 very concrete action that you can do within 1 month that will take you closer towards your goal. For the two examples, a concrete action may be: “write one letter to the editor in an ethnic newspaper to speak up against discrimination” and “sign up for one shift to volunteer at a women’s shelter.” Write all of this down on a piece of paper – your value as a MHA, your goal, and 1 action item. You have 5 minutes to do this.”
4. After 5 minutes, Facilitator #1 “Now we would like you to share what you have written with your group members. Then, your group will decide on one collective value that you share as a group, think about one common goal, and brainstorm and write down a list of up to 10 potential action items that would express your chosen group value and make progress towards your group goal. See if you can come up with at least 5 items together. These action items may all be individualized to each group members or they can be part of a coordinated group project. Rank each item in terms of degrees of difficulty of implementation. After each group finishes ranking the list, we will share in the large group. You have 15 minutes to develop this list. Please choose a member to record them on the flip chart paper.
5. Facilitator #1: Now, we will invite each group to briefly share what the group has come up with. Each group will have 2 minutes to present. Which group would like to go first?
6. Facilitator #1 continues: Tell us your group’s most important chosen value and goal and the potential actions that your group has ranked as the most difficult to achieve, and explain why. Facilitator #2 records the sharing on the flip chart.
7. Then facilitator #1 encourages all participants in the large group to suggest strategies to address the identified challenges and barriers. Facilitator #2 continues to record participants’ suggestions corresponding to each action and related challenges.
8. After the debriefing, facilitators give each participant a Mindful Action Plan Worksheet and asks them to record the chosen value, goal, and action items. Then Facilitator #1 explains, On this worksheet, you will find 3 columns. You may work on your personal or group value, goal, and action items. One column is for you to record your action items based on your chosen value and goal; the second column is for you to record the level of difficulty that you have identified. Now another very important column is for you to rank your willingness to take committed action to actualize your value despite the different levels of difficulty your group has identified for each action item. Willingness is an all-or-nothing commitment. You cannot be half pregnant; you cannot climb half a step on a ladder; and you cannot half jump from a diving board. When you feel ready and committed, you may be ready to go for a small leap or a big leap off the diving board. Please take a moment to rank your willingness for each of the action item, with 1 being a small step and 10 being a big leap.
9. Facilitator #1 concludes the activity by reminding participants that challenges and barriers do not necessarily prevent us from actualizing our chosen values (make reference to the bus driver exercise); and invite participants to choose one of their action items to carry out as homework.
10. Facilitator #1 then leads a closure exercise by inviting each participant in the large circle to share one committed action from their list that he will take between now and the next ACT training session.

Appendix 2.10 – Mindful Committed Action Plan Worksheet

Mental illness Stigma Reduction Action – Hierarchy of Difficulty and Willingness

Value: ____________________________________________________

Goal: _____________________________________________________

List 10 possible actions that lead to mental health promotion/mental illness prevention/stigma reduction as services to your community based on your chosen value above.

• Rank each action in terms of potential level of difficulty related to barriers and challenges – from 1 (not difficult) to 10 (very difficult).
• Then rank your level of willingness to take action from 1 to 10. Willingness itself is 100% commitment – like a leap off a diving board. If willingness is a committed leap, rank each action based on its height relative to the others, from 1 (a small leap) to 10 (a giant leap).