A Literal Jar of Hope – and more
08 Apr 2020
How our Division of Psychology and Mental Health is working to support us all through the pandemic
When our world changed significantly – and it seemed, somewhat suddenly – as the coronavirus spread, our Division of Psychology and Mental Health stepped up to give all their campus colleagues the support they might need.
Their expertise is our good fortune – they have created a webpage with links to a host of the best resources, and are continuing to review and update it.
This includes the Literal Jar of Hope, through which you can look forward to better times. Each time you think of something you’d like to do, such as visit a family member or friend, you write it on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. When social distancing ends, this becomes your ‘bucket list’ of everything that really matters to you.
“Until that time comes, you can watch the jar fill with hope for the future,” says Dr James Lea, the Clinical Tutor in Clinical Psychology who created the webpage supported by Head of Division of Psychology and Mental Health, Professor Gillian Haddock.
“One of ours from last week was to walk down Oxford Road amongst people on the way to work.”
James and Gillian decided to create the webpage very soon after we closed all but essential University services.
“There was an urge and sense of social responsibility as a clinical psychologist and academic in the University to be useful during this time,” James explains.
“We decided to collate and share quality psychological resources to support our staff team and postgraduate students on the Clinical Psychology Doctorate, as well as our Division, School and the wider University community.
“We’ve received some excellent feedback from students and staff. It’s heartening to know that people are finding the resources useful during this unprecedented time of uncertainty, moments of fear, social distancing, working from home and hopefully moments of joy.”
He adds: “The interesting thing about this situation is that it reminds us very clearly that we are much more similar to each other than we are dissimilar. We hope that we all continue to find moments of joy and peace, and also allow ourselves the time and space for more difficult feelings when the arise, with the knowledge that they will pass.
“Our main piece of advice would be for staff and students to attend to their psychological and emotional wellbeing on a daily basis – try to make this a new habit in your life.”
You can see the page at:
We're sharing uplifting stories from all our colleagues, who are living our University's values during these difficult times. If you have an uplifting story to share, please get in touch at: