Depression: A Compassionate View

Program Overview

---

Depression: A Compassionate View

Online course description

It is estimated that approximately 280 million people worldwide have depression, this equates to an estimated 3.8% of the global population (WHO, 2023). Although the term depression is widely recognised across the world, there are many misconceptions and stereotypes linked to its use. Understanding depression in its boarder context and understanding diverse perspectives of depression will help to grow empathy and understanding for those who experience it.

This course offers a unique insight to depression by adopting a compassionate view. It focuses on raising the awareness of depression, and identifies unique skills to enhance care for people with depression.

Who is this course for?

Though this course is open to anyone who wants to better understand depression, the course is ideally suited to those in a variety of job roles including:

• Health and social care professionals
• Social care workers
• Counsellors
• Teachers
• Managers
• HR professionals

This course is also suitable for people who have depression or people who have family or friends with depression. This is not a treatment package and should not be viewed or considered as such. This is an information resource that can be used to encourage you to think about depression from a compassionate perspective.

This course will:

• Encourage you to challenge your definitions and perceptions of depression
• Equip you with a compassionate understanding to help people with depression
• Provide you with expert knowledge and experience of depression

Structure, certificates and assessment

Throughout the learning process you will be awarded a Digital Open Badge for completing each unit. These are internationally recognised by many employers and educational institutions and will allow you to display your study achievements, even if you only wish to complete a specific unit.

Upon finishing the course, you will be issued an E-Certificate featuring all earned badges and stating that you have completed the full course, so that you can add it to your CV or education portfolio.

An accredited provider of the CPD Standards Office

We are proud to be an accredited provider of the CPD Standards Office for our online short courses and free courses, demonstrating that they conform to CPD best practice and are appropriate for inclusion in a formal CPD record.

Course units

The course is made up of 4 units, each will require approximately 5 hours of study.

Unit 1 - Living with depression: a shared experience

This initial unit explores what it is like to experience depression. It will look at several viewpoints from our experts whilst considering what the literature tells us about depression. To clarify the term experts, these can be experts by experience - individuals who have kindly agreed to share their personal experiences of depression so you can gain a real-life view of the experience of depression, or health and social care practitioners sharing their professional experiences from their compassionate perspective.

Unit 2 - Empathy and understanding

Within this unit you will look at how depression presents itself from a diagnostic perspective. Depression, for many, may not be the only health difficulty they have. This can therefore create difficulties in the identification of a depressive illness. Although this unit does not have all the answers, it does offer a window of opportunity to find out more about these issues and consider the compassionate way depression can be viewed.

Unit 3 - Behavioural change and its positive impact in depression

This unit focuses on behaviour and its influence on the way we think and feel. You will look at different activities and the impact that these can have on our well-being. It is intended that this is a very interactive unit, and you will be encouraged to participate in activities (whether you deem yourself as experiencing or having experienced depression or not).

Unit 4 - Addressing those pesky negative thoughts

In the final unit you will learn how to identify negative thoughts and understand unhelpful thinking styles within depression. You will have the opportunity to practice some strategies to address negative thoughts and explore the nature of our evolutionary mind.

Learning outcomes

• Develop a conceptual understanding of depression, its context and wider perspectives, and empathy towards individuals whom experience depression
• Raise awareness on the influences and misconceptions of depression
• Understand cognitive and behavioural concepts in the care of people experiencing depressive symptoms
• Analyse situations, identify issues and practice unique skills to enhance care for people with depression
• Demonstrate effective information and communication technology to advance care provision

Benefits

A flexible course that fits in with working and family life

Whether you are living with depression, know someone who has it or caring for people with it, this course will offer you a valuable insight into living with depression. This course looks at depression from a compassionate perspective and encourages you to think about how it impacts on the way a person thinks, feels and behaves.

This course will help you to see what it is really like to live with and care for someone with depression by providing a practical and theoretical insight to depression.

The course also presents some exercises that can help to alleviate the negative symptoms of depression and encourages you to engage. Whether you have experienced depression or not, this practical insight can really help you recognise activities that can positively impact on your mood.

Course requirements

How to enrol

All of our free courses are delivered through an easy-to-use online learning platform, which you can enrol from directly.

What you will need

The course is free and widely available for anyone to take part in regardless of age, location or education status. You will need to agree to the terms and conditions before you start the course which will be available when you enrol.

However, there are some basic requirements. You will need access to the internet whether it is on your PC, tablet, mobile or other electronic devices, as well as a valid email address to register with our online learning environment in order to take part in the course.

Once registered, please be aware that all study for this course is online and so you will need to be able to engage with this via a personal device, preferably a computer or laptop, for the stated duration of the course.

The learning platform is compatible with screen reader technology to assist those with visual impairments.