Patrick Jones is the founder of Perth Psychologists, which has clinics in the city’s north and south.
Between the company’s 10 psychologists, they would usually be able to see a patient within a week, but the next appointment is now three to four weeks away.
Mindfulness — the act of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment, and accepting it without judgement. It may sound simple, but finding the time to practice mindfulness each day is still a challenge for many.
Honorary Research Associate at Murdoch University and Founder of Perth Psychologists, Patrick Jones is leading a free six-week course teaching mindfulness techniques as part of a new translational research study.
As an organisation, R U OK? is committed to inspiring and empowering people to connect genuinely with the people around them and start a conversation with anyone who may be struggling. You don’t have to be a psychologist or a mental health expert to reach out and check in on someone – you just need to be someone who genuinely cares and wants to listen. We sat down with Patrick Jones, manager of Perth Psychologists, for insights on how to check in on the mental wellbeing of those in your club community.
Dr Patrick Jones on mindfulness and stopping our fixation on scenarios that make us anxious.
The discussion centres around the role of mindfulness and some useful ways we can stop our fixation on scenarios that make us anxious.
Doctor Patrick Jones on perseverance and getting through challenges.
We look at three things we can try: Cognitive – eg reframing – Telling ourselves the ‘pain’ is just temporary and we can get through it; Behavioural – Interrupt our pattern – go for a run, get out of the house. Social – Connect with a friend, family.
This is the ability to be in the present moment rather than in past reflection, future planning or analysis of something. This of course can be either positive or negative thought.
The advantage of this is that you are able to be more attentive to what is happening in front of you. The richness of the experience is able to be more fully felt and perceived.
Neutrality is the ability to see thoughts as passing, neutral mental events. This method teaches you to look objectively at what is happening and break them down into physical reactions, feelings and thoughts.
Neutral non-judgmental awareness or observation enables you to see thoughts as mental objects and their emotions as separate. For example instead of feeling “I am angry”, you can say “There is anger”.
Clarity is where there is enough mental space to be able to clearly see what the mental and emotional process is that is occurring within us. Clarity also includes the ability to identify one’s beliefs in any situation.
For example it has the ability to look past one’s anger and see that we might have felt let down. But, so that it doesn’t keep happening we must also have the clarity to identify the expectation or belief that was underlying the reaction. So clarity is both emotional and mental awareness of what is happening within us.
Regulation of attention is the ability to direct attention or one’s awareness intentionally towards whatever it chooses including thoughts, feelings or physical sensations.
In order for this to occur there must be some re-training of the old style of random thinking or the wandering mind. There are several methods that can help the mind to focus and be single-pointed in its attention.
The ability to find the gap between thought enables people to be able to have a break from their self-constructed thoughts. It enables them to also be able to turn their attention towards the silent place that is beneath thought.
This can lead to an even more profound experience – an experience of the still and open peaceful nature underneath all mental and emotional activity.
Openness to life experiences does not have to mean agreement or preference but rather there is not a closed off belief system or emotional resistance to any life event. It can see new life events not as problems but challenges or opportunities.
In the art of Zen they have a phrase called “the beginner’s mind”, if the student is to learn anything then he or she must be open to learn, open to experiences.
Once we are open to all our feelings they have a chance to be felt fully. Up to that point it can be hard to let them through, so now that they are allowed through, they are greeted with acceptance. This can go for positive or negative feelings.
The goal of acceptance is to not judge the feeling or try and get rid of it as quickly as we can. If we accept the feelings and allow them to be here they can pass through in their own time, rather than being stirred up by judgments or strategies about them. They are seen as not solid or real, but passing mental events.