Treat Yourself Project is a training course that took place in Trnava, Slovakia. Training courses generally allow you to meet professionals from youth work and gain some knowledge about a specific topic. In this case it was all about mental health.
The first day we did the most important thing: getting to know each other and teambuilding. It was through a couple of games that helped us to know each other a little bit more. Then in the afternoon, we explored Trnava thanks to a new interactive multimedia GPS game using our smartphones. The game is a living history. It contains various interesting facts, color illustrations, puzzles, animations, and players receive a small gift for finding the “lost key”.
Later we talked about our expectations about the programme and project. One of the trainers, Argyris Choulias, told us about the Erasmus+ world and what YouthPass is, which was a really unknown land for me. The next few days we had many workshops about mental health that I really enjoyed. I have to mention the workshop of Miroslav Kubiš because it was the most interesting for me. He talked about emotional intelligence and showed us NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) techniques. From my point of view, it was really amazing how this technique can help you to experience feelings that you didn’t even know existed. Moreover he showed us how to overcome those feelings and how to change our approach toward them. It was a game changer! It can release any negative affect you might experience in your emotional state of mind. Another workshop that I also enjoyed was art therapy with Andrea Geseová. We had the pleasure to meet someone who seems very passionate about her work. It was incredible because once we finished our drawings she explained to us what our imagination wanted to express through those draws.
But apart from all the workshops and activities that we had, the experience of being a part of the project was the most experimental and enjoyable thing for me. It gave me the opportunity to meet new people from different countries and with different backgrounds. There is something that I want to highlight: simple human authentic connection between all of us. It might be challenging to ensure that with so many new faces in one room. However we united in a second. In my opinion, this helped a lot to create a friendly and safe place for participants to express their thoughts and feelings. It worked out well during activities as you don’t feel any pressure at all.
With regards,
Beatriz
