This week, digital mental health and wellbeing company Kooth tell us all about the help and support they offer to children aged between 11 and 18 – much of which you might not be aware of.
Magazine
On Kooth we have a massive selection of articles, some written by staff and some written by users! You can find nearly anything, from mental health and wellbeing awareness and advice, to creative writing challenges and poems, as well as fun facts and hobby ideas.
If you can’t find something you want to read, why not write it yourself! Writing content, whether it’s a fictional creation or a personal story, can help you understand things that you’re going through.
You can also find support from other users when browsing the different topics and exploring the comments. The Kooth Community is jam-packed with friendly and relatable advice.
Discussion boards
At Kooth, you are welcome to post your own new discussion, or to join in with existing conversations. To start your own discussion, go to the start a discussion page of our site, add a title and what you wish to discuss, and click submit!
What kinds of topics belong in a discussion board post?
You can ask for advice from other users on things like friendship issues, sibling spats, self-esteem problems, or ideas for new music you should try out! You can ask others what their favourite films are, or what games they like to play.
You can also join in an existing discussion! Just browse our discussion page for the latest topics, or check out our categories page to browse by subject.
Sometimes, our content writers and emotional wellbeing practitioners will create a discussion board post as well! Feel free to join in those conversations the same way you would any other discussion.
Live forums
Our wonderful team of emotional wellbeing practitioners host regular Live Forums from 7:30-9pm on some weeknights. Each Live Forum has its own special topic. Sometimes it’s something more serious, like how to deal with self-esteem issues, and sometimes it’s a more light-hearted topic, like family game nights. New people join every week, and the atmosphere is a very safe, welcoming space.
Activities
One of our newest features here at Kooth is the mini-activities section, which you can find here! The activities fall into four areas, which are:
- Manage Emotions
- Express Yourself
- Connect with Others
- Helpful Habits
Activities can be really good for helping you practise self-care, or for learning a new skill.
Messages
Messaging support can be used for a number of reasons including receiving answers to general queries, resources, advice and signposting. The support you get through messages varies and it depends on your personal needs. We know some Kooth users prefer to engage in support via messages instead of chat.
Our Kooth workers are well trained professionals who will assess your needs and provide you with the required support.
Remember that if you're in crisis you can access information about where to get help by clicking the 'IN CRISIS' button at the top of the screen.
Chats
'Chats' at Kooth are carried out by trained professionals and they are all done through typing. There is no video or audio function, this helps everyone stay anonymous.
Chats are a really great way to share some of the heaviness that can be caused by holding onto your feelings, and (where appropriate) help find ways of coping that are specific to you and your situation. They can also help you work through things (present or past) that are affecting you.
Chats are available every day from midday to 10pm on weekdays, and 6pm-10pm on weekends. You get up to one hour to chat about whatever issues are on your mind and all of our Kooth users can have one chat session per week.
To find out more about using Kooth chat, check out our article 'How to Kooth Chat'.
For more tools and resources on mental wellbeing visit kooth.com and areyouok.gov.im
