88% of players felt anxious or depressed since being released
ITV NEWS - FEBRUARY 2021

The Clarity Programme builds emotional resilience by teaching children to relate effectively to the world inside their skin. Dealing with our thoughts, feelings and urges is a skill and, like all skills, the more we practice the better we get. This is why The Clarity Programme focuses on experiential skills building, not just providing information or advice. This involves children and young people learning these essential wellbeing skills through direct experience with activities and exercises.

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EXPANDING IDENTITY

If I'm not a footballer, who am I? What is my purpose or value? Research has shown that expanding our sense of who we are makes us more resilient to finding another way forward if things don't turn out as we hoped. It means we don't have all our eggs in one basket and can build a new sense of self and personal identity, and develop other ways in life of having a strong sense of purpose. 

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UNDERSTANDING HOW OUR MINDS WORK

Have you ever noticed how your thoughts are often critical, judgmental and sometimes just plain weird? Well, odd as it sounds, this is quite normal. Why? Because our minds are evolved to keep us safe, not to make us happy, so they tend to focus our attention on our perceived problems, concerns and worries. Our minds are also noticing and looking for problems in life (some real, others imaginary) so we might be able to do something about hem or avoid them. This can be very useful but it can also make our minds dark and critical places at times. We can't turn this part off, but we can learn to understand it and in so doing not be overwhelmed by its dark side.

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FEELINGS AND SENSATIONS

How we relate to our bodily sensations is critical for wellbeing. Life inevitably brings ups and downs and sometimes this can spiral downwards into depression. Learning skills to understand and make sense of our feelings, sensations and urges enables us to have all of life's experiences without being trapped by them.

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IDENTIFYING VALUES

Exploring and developing an understanding of what we care about, our personal values and what kind of person we want to be in the world is central to living a meaningful and positive life. Children and young people often benefit from identifying and clarifying their values. Once they know what they care about, our programme can help them pivot toward actions that reflect this.