Loneliness Awareness Week
It’s #LonelinessAwarenessWeek. Created and hosted by Marmalade Trust, this annual campaign raises awareness of loneliness across the UK (and beyond!)…
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We offer a space to explore new ways to improve your wellbeing and gain valuable tools to help you navigate your daily life. Our courses help you to understand the effects of nutrition on your wellbeing, manage anxiety, learn techniques on mindful thinking, and will guide you on your journey of personal development. Our expert tutors will be there with you every step of the way for guidance and support.
Mental Health & Wellbeing Latest News
Try some meditation
Meditation by Mental Health & Wellbeing Tutor, Emma According to Mind.com, Meditation is a helpful way to regulate mood and…
The importance of creating
Article written by Curriculum Lead, Robyn I really enjoy creating when I feel like it and it isn’t forced, sometimes this…
Are you getting enough Zzzzzz?
If we aren’t well rested, it can weigh us down physically, mentally, and emotionally, but there are some simple actions…
Autumn and Winter Scenes Competition
It’s nearly that magical time of year again, and what better way to celebrate than sharing all your wonderful autumn…
Could an ACL course be your lifeline?
Article by Sarah, ACL Learner I’m Sarah, I’m 41 and I live near Southend-on-Sea. During the pandemic, I was furloughed…
Feeling brighter in the darker months
The Winter months can be a challenging time for many. Days are shorter, nights become longer, and the temperature drops.…
Be Inspired! The doors are open at ACL centres across Essex | 7-11 September, 10am-1pm and 5pm-8pm
ACL Essex (Adult Community Learning) is welcoming adult learners back into the classroom with a series of open days at…
ACL Discover Summer Magazine
We’re delighted to share with you our new Course Guide for September 2021. It finally feels like Summer has arrived…
New Course Guide for September 2021
We’re delighted to share with you our new Course Guide for September 2021. Browse our full range of courses and…
Green Space Happy Place Photography Competition
To promote the positive impacts that being outside has on our mental health and wellbeing, we are launching the Your…
Improve your wellbeing with Arts & Crafts
Research shows that participating in creative arts and craft activities can improve your mental health and wellbeing, reduce stress and…
ACL teams recognised in awards
Festival of Learning is the biggest celebration of lifelong learning in England. These awards highlight the benefits of learning, celebrate achievements…
Mental Health Awareness Week
“I am going to make myself a care plan, I will continue setting myself achievable goals and know the importance…
Looking for a new course, a new job, or to improve your career opportunities?
It can be very difficult to make decisions about which course to take, or career path to follow. How do…
ACL Discover Spring Magazine
We’re delighted to announce the launch of our Discover Magazine, available for free online and to pick up from supermarkets,…
Support to Access Online Census
ACL is an official #Census21 Support Center. We’re offering free and friendly support to anyone who needs it at locations…
Reopening our centres from 8 March
As you will be aware, the government has published the ‘COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021’, setting out the roadmap out…
Time to Talk Day
We shouldn’t need a reason to check on one another’s wellbeing, but Time to Talk Day is a great reminder…
Learner Wellbeing Virtual Afternoon Tea
We would like to invite you to take part in our virtual Afternoon Tea! This online session will be held…
Remote Education Offer
Should a learner need to self-isolate or local restrictions require them to stay at home and a course is not…
5 benefits of online learning
Thinking about enrolling on an online course? But not sure what it might be like? Here’s a look at five…
Helping you through the Holidays FREE Webinars
We understand that during the holiday season it can be hard to find the support you need. With this in…
More than just a course
We are committed to supporting our learners during their studies and throughout their journey with us. With ACL, you don’t…
Safeguarding and Anti-Bullying Week
What is safeguarding adults? Why does it matter? Safeguarding adults means protecting a person’s right to live in safety, free…
World Mental Health Day 2020
“I found the course really broad as well which was great – I have gained a lot. It’s been a…
Student Shares Online Wellbeing Experiences
“I find traditional counselling very counter-productive. Rehashing bad memories makes it harder to let go and move on. Doing classes…
Would you like to join our Learner Forum?
If you are a learner enrolled on a course with Adult Learning with ACL then you can apply. We are…
Trusting Mind. A poem by David Price
Ethical framework for the counselling professions A skilful introduction to counselling sessions With open arms, you gave us your trust…
Self Care Facial #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
Taking care of yourself is an important part of maintaining a balanced lifestyle. Set some time aside to pamper yourself…
Self Care #MentalHealthAwareness
It is important to take care of yourself as well as others. Whether it’s daily, weekly or less frequent, self-care…
#MentalHealthAwareness Week
It’s #MentalHealthAwareness week and this year’s official theme is #kindness. Small acts of kindness go a long way and mean so much to…
Netiquette Guide For Online Courses
It is important to recognise that the online classroom is in fact a classroom and certain behaviours are expected when…
Coronavirus latest information and advice
Update: 08/04/2020: Following the latest government guidance, we have moved from classroom-based learning to online and flexible distance learning. We…
10 Ways to Improve Health & Wellbeing in January
Did you know, 1 in 4 of us will experience mental illness every year… Here at ACL we offer FREE…
ACL support Mental Health Awareness Day
We’re here today in County Hall, Chelmsford (library entrance) for Essex County Council’s #MentalHealthAwareness event. We’re joined here by Canine…
Two Session Introductory Courses
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this 2-week course offers an understanding of how to maintain emotional wellbeing when the world around us is changing and unpredictable. Our emotions play havoc during times of change. Learn how to observe and identify your own fears and triggers and ways of managing them for greater levels of emotional wellbeing to help get you through.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this 2-week course offers an introduction to developing self-resilience. It will look at identifying what resilience is, what the characteristics of a resilient person are, the benefits of practicing resilience in our day to day interactions and offers an introduction to strategies and tools to help you develop your self-resilience.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this 2-week course is live online and will help you clarify your goals in any aspect of life, focus and get motivated towards working on a goal of your choice, long or short-term, to enhance your quality of life and gain a sense of achievement.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this course is online and offers an introduction to self-help strategies to manage anxiety, exploring what causes anxiety and tools for self-monitoring and coping with anxiety. The course will take place in an online classroom, with group teaching facilitated by two tutors.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this course is online and offers an introduction to self-help strategies to improve sleep. You will learn how to recognise sleep cycles, routines and environmental factors affecting your sleep and what you can do to achieve better sleep quality.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this course is live online and offers an introduction to the concept of mental wellbeing, the value of keeping well, looking at what it means to have a recovery from mental ill-health and how that journey can be started and achieved.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health And Wellbeing Programme, this 2-week course is live online and offers an introduction to awareness of stress, looking at the signs of stress, and sharing some practical approaches to managing them. The course will take place in an online classroom, with group teaching facilitated by two tutors.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this 2-week workshop will raise awareness of the stigma often suffered by men in relation to mental health, along with defining common disorders such as anxiety and depression and how this relates to the mind/body relationship. The course will enable learners to identify and put into practice a Wellbeing Toolkit, which involves the five ways to wellbeing and how these can relate to our self-care and wellbeing, together with many other strategies to help cope with mental health conditions.
Six Week Courses
Duration: 6 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this 6-week course offers an introduction to strategies to help build self-confidence, looking at self-awareness, assertiveness, negotiation and personal skills. The course will take place in an online classroom, with group teaching facilitated by two tutors.
Duration: 6 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health And Wellbeing Programme, this 6-week course is live online and will enable you to develop a positive approach to your health and wellbeing and establish how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, particularly in times of challenge and change.
Duration: 6 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health And Wellbeing Programme, this 6-week course is live online and offers strategies to understand the mind and body relationship of stress, cognitive distortions, how to engage positive thinking, develop better boundaries and communication.
Duration: 6 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health And Wellbeing Programme, this 6-week course offers practical advice, tips and strategies to manage and reduce anxiety. It will enable you to develop helpful routines, behaviours and thinking styles in staying healthy.
Duration: 6 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In the ACL Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, this 6-week course will enable you to boost your personal resilience and develop a self-care plan that nurtures and supports your wellbeing, looking at how food can improve mood, the benefits of sleep, exercise and relaxation, and tips and strategies to achieve an optimistic mind set.
Health & Wellbeing Offer
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Introduction
Duration: 5 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £63/£31.50
Learn about concepts and techniques in cognitive behavioural therapy and their application in supporting mental health. This course is live online in a virtual classroom in weekly tutored sessions.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Delve Deeper
Duration: 5 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £63/£31.50
This course is live online, suitable for those learners who have attended the ACL Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Introduction course, and anyone wishing to gain further knowledge of CBT, focussing on how changing our cognition and behaviour can promote healthier self-care, and support mental health.
Duration: 5 week(s)
Fee: £63/£31.50
This course offers an introduction to how nutrition affects our body and mind wellbeing. Discover foods for healing, health and immunity, learn about nutrients, superfoods and how to make good food choices including seasonal, local foods, to enjoy a healthy balanced diet to feel and live well.
Location: Online Self Study.
Fee: Free
Take a step out of the everyday and into the calming, relaxing world of mindfulness to truly experience the here and now. Regular practice of mindfulness techniques will help reduce feelings of anxiety, stress and low mood in everyday life and lead to increasing productivity and creativity as tensions reduce, allowing you to be more focussed, calm and able to enjoy and truly experience the current moment in time, at any time.
Duration: 5 week(s)
Fee: £63/£31.50
Being in the natural environment has been shown to increase wellbeing. This course combines a focus on nature and mindfulness techniques to become more aware of yourself and the world around you, connect with nature and accept non-judgmentally the present moment. Regular practice may help you to be calmer and more focussed, reducing feelings of anxiety, stress and low mood. If you are experiencing severe low mood or social anxiety this course may not be suitable for you, check with your doctor before enrolling.
Duration: 5 week(s)
Fee: £63/£31.50
Studies in animal-assisted therapy show that interacting with a pet can improve wellbeing. This course emphasises the positive relationship with pets and teach you how to interact mindfully with animals in your home, to improve both your wellbeing and that of your pet, applying mindfulness techniques, to become more aware of yourself, connect with your pet and accept non-judgmentally the present moment in time.
Duration: 8 week(s)
Fee: £75.60/£37.80
Enjoy Hatha yoga, a branch of yoga focussing on body alignment and offering slower-paced guided movement to poses, incorporating breathing techniques, improving balance and overall fitness of cardio and muscle endurance and flexibility.
Duration: 5 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £63/£31.50
Immerse and replenish yourself in the deeply relaxing and restorative practice of Yoga Nidra, develop your ability to focus on meditation and transformative state of deep rest and relaxation.
Duration: 1 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £10.00
Being in the natural environment has been shown to increase wellbeing. This course combines a focus on nature and mindfulness techniques to become more aware of yourself and the world around you, connect with nature and accept non-judgmentally the present moment. Regular practice may help you to be calmer and more focussed, reducing feelings of anxiety, stress and low mood. If you are experiencing severe low mood or social anxiety this course may not be suitable for you, check with your doctor before enrolling.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £10.00
This single session course is live online and offers an introduction to introduction to journaling, an explanation of how to journal and the studies that show how keeping a visual journal may help increase confidence and self-awareness while reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety. Explore and capture feelings, thoughts and new-found wisdoms, capture and remove negative feelings – see how journaling can make a positive improvement to your life!
Duration: 5 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £63/£31.50
Develop your understanding and practice of Pranayama breath control, exercises especially intended to keep the body and mind in vibrant health. By changing the breathing pattern, different states of mind can be produced. When you breathe consciously you activate a different part of your brain, by stimulating the cerebral cortex and the more evolved areas of the brain. Consciously breathing sends impulses from the cortex to the connecting areas that impact emotions and activating the cerebral cortex has a relaxing and balancing effect on the emotions.
Duration: 5 week(s)
Fee: £63/£31.50
Look after yourself with self-hypnosis, building your confidence and reduce anxiety. A fascinating look at how much the brain influences the way we act and how we can use self-hypnosis to change this. Discover techniques to safely and effectively hypnotise yourself to tap into the power of your mind to make positive changes to your life and wellbeing.
Duration: 5 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £63/£31.50
Develop your understanding and practice of healing and balancing Chakras. In yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda, Chakra refers to wheels of energy throughout the body.
Personal Development
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £31.50/£15.75
Do you find it difficult to say no? Or have a habit of placing other people’s needs before your own? Do you sometimes struggle to get a sense of self and communicate openly with people while keeping healthy boundaries? This is your chance to learn tried and tested strategies to communicate more confidently and effectively and develop your own communication style with respect to yourself as well as others.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £31.50/£15.75
The journey of healing is an ongoing one, as we learn to let go of the past and engage in practices that enable us to move forward with increased energy levels, greater peace of mind and focus. This course is taught by an experienced Life Coach and offers a range of techniques to soothe the mind and deal with difficult emotions.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £31.50/£15.75
Do you find it difficult to say no? Or have a habit of placing other people’s needs before your own? Do you sometimes struggle to get a sense of self and communicate openly with people while keeping healthy boundaries? This is your chance to learn tried and tested strategies to communicate more confidently and effectively and develop your own communication style with respect to yourself as well as others.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £31.50/£15.75
At a time when our world is changing at an accelerated pace, and where uncertainty is the norm, in what ways are you being challenged? How are you coping with your own personal and professional changes? This course will offer you the opportunity to stand back and explore the impact of recent events in your life and guide you through techniques to manage change more positively and effectively.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: £31.50/£15.75
What’s behind your procrastination? Explore why we procrastinate and how it affects our time management in daily life and work. Discover strategies to overcome procrastination and identify tried and tested ways of managing your time more effectively for greater levels of satisfaction, while keeping healthy levels of work life balance.
Employability Support Offer
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
Adaptability is a key quality that is more important than ever during our current times. This includes the ability to think wider in the scope of what alternative employment opportunities you could consider. Delivered by an experienced Life Coach, this course will guide you through a process of identifying your core values, current circumstances, and transferable skills to prepare you for the changing job market and enable you to identify areas and roles of work that could open new doors.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
It’s not just phones that get upgraded! This two-part course provides you with the opportunity to take a step back and work on improving your self-esteem and self-belief during times of uncertainty and challenge. You will be guided by an expert Life Coach with strategies for making positive changes to your thinking patterns and lifestyle to help you move forward.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
Adaptability is a key quality that is more important than ever during our current times. This includes the ability to think wider in the scope of what alternative employment opportunities you could consider. Delivered by an experienced Life Coach, this course will guide you through a process of identifying your core values, current circumstances, and transferable skills to prepare you for the changing job market and enable you to identify areas and roles of work that could open new doors.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
Do you set unrealistically high standards for yourself? And get critical when you fail to meet them? Does fear of judgement and self-criticism influence the way you live your life? Is feeling “not good enough” in some areas of your life, your default mode? Explore the ways we block ourselves from living authentically and we will share powerful tips and strategies on how to begin to embrace and accept all parts of ourselves, even the parts we deem “unacceptable”.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
In these times of constant change, finding and keeping our balance and peace of mind has been a huge challenge for most of us. This course will guide you through a process of streamlining and simplifying your life to reflect your own current priorities and achieve greater levels of balance and satisfaction.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
This two-part course will provide an opportunity to identify your own blocks to motivation in different aspects of your life, especially when looking for employment opportunities. You will gain techniques and tools for increasing levels of motivation and developing greater focus so that you can move forward with greater confidence and determination.
Duration: 2 week(s)
Location: Online Live.
Fee: Free
As we continue to live in uncertain times and conditions, many of us are re-evaluating life, work, priorities and direction. This two-part inspirational workshop delivered by an expert Life Coach, will guide you through a process to gain greater clarity and greater sense of control over shaping your new future in a way that is meaningful to you.
Community & Family Learning Wellbeing Courses
If you are a parent, we also offer Wellbeing classes as part of our Community & Family Learning Programme. These sessions are an opportunity to have guided support and tips on keeping your children emotionally well. You will also develop mindfulness strategies and tools with your family, alongside finding time as a parent to look after your needs.
Testimonials
I feel that the course helped me to cope with the lockdown. I feel more self aware than before and better able to recognise and deal with my own negative thinking patterns. I enjoyed learning new strategies for dealing with unhelpful thinking styles such as by using mindfulness techniques. I have started to keep a journal of positive thoughts and things that I am grateful for and this has helped to improve my mood before bedtime and led to me getting a more restful night’s sleep. The teachers were very good at explaining things and gave learners helpful individual feedback. I liked the useful resources, inspirational quotes and images which I was able to draw upon when I felt anxious. I also thought the teachers made good use of metaphors, particularly the garden metaphor, to convey some of the key messages of the course. Thank you.