Why is self-care always the last thing we think about?

Community Managers are increasingly finding themselves having to deal with mental health issues in their organisations and communities. For example, when a member is suffering from high levels of anxiety, behaving in a disruptive manner or even talking of suicide, what do you do?

Community Managers can often feel isolated which can affect their own mental health and be intensified by not knowing where to turn for support. As a result, self-care falls down the list of priorities and the risk of burnout becomes very real.

The year, for the first time, Community Manager Advancement Day is calling attention to self-care. We’ve partnered with the NHS Good Thinking team to bring you a hands-on, interactive session. 

We'll share some of our experiences and connect online professionals facing similar issues. We'll also dive into specific pain points that occur in your job roles and discuss practical advice you can use to improve your overall wellbeing and effectiveness. 

Who is this event designed to help? 

We've designed this event for community managers and people who manage and support online social spaces, but the topic and supporting tips are relevant to anyone working virtually with other colleagues. 

This could be especially helpful for people new to community management, or thinking about starting with a community.

Benefits of attending

The key learning points from this event will be:

An opportunity to openly discuss common mental health and wellness issues in a completely safe environment, with zero judgement. 

A chance to learn techniques, tools and strategies, along with a deeper understanding of the importance of self-care and the power of shared support.

About the Speakers

The Masterclass will be led by Darren Gough and Dr Richard Graham. 

Darren is the former community manager of Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com (~1.8M members), and now an expert in community management working with the NHS and has previously worked with a number of global household names including Sky, Greenpeace, Scope, Society for Neuroscience and more.

Dr Richard Graham is a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, and a former Clinical Director at the Tavistock Clinic. He is currently Clinical Lead for Good Thinking: London’s Digital Mental Well-being Service (https://www.good-thinking.uk).

He has worked extensively in digital health, e-safety for the last decade and established the first Technology Addiction Service for Young People in the UK in 2010. In June 2016, he was appointed to the Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS; the British Government’s principal advisory body for online safety and security for young people) and Co-Chairs the Digital Resilience Working Group. He also works with the BBC, as Digital Well-being Consultant to the Own It App (https://www.bbc.com/ownit/take-control/own-it-app)