The Wellbeing 5 Project
Dr. Roshni Beeharry
Writing for Wellbeing Facilitator & Portfolio Medical Educator
The Mental Wellbeing 5
5 Simple Questions to help with mental wellbeing with answers from Experts, Thought Leaders, Campaigners & Advocates
Dr. Roshni Beeharry
Dr Roshni Beeharry is a London-based Portfolio Medical Educator. She holds an MA in Clinical Education at the Institute of Education, London and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK. She is a former NHS Consultant in Neurological Rehabilitation Medicine, trained at Imperial College London. Roshni is also a poet, short-form writer, and poetry reviewer for Family Medicine, Families, Systems and Health medical journals and Conscilience science and poetry journals. She is an active advocate of the Health Humanities and Arts in Health, for staff and student wellbeing, as well as for those receiving care in health, social care settings and the wider community. Her main passions are nature, writing, supporting and developing others, as well as learning herself, and she loves to integrate creative writing in her work teaching medical students.
Whilst a trainee doctor, Roshni undertook the MA in Creative Writing & Personal Development, University of Sussex, UK, and is a Writing for Wellbeing & Personal Development facilitator, designing and facilitating bespoke workshops for the public, for those in the Caring Professions and for organisations such as the NHS and Health Education England, via her small business Storied Selves (http://storiedselves.com/).
The Mental Wellbeing 5 with Dr. Roshni Beeharry
1. What is your favourite quote, anecdote, proverb or experience that helps with mental wellbeing?
Dr. Roshni: “If not now when?” I say this to myself when I am doubting myself, or have inertia for a particular project or decision, after weighing up the pros and cons-then I go for it!So far so good.
2. What is your top piece of advice for mental wellbeing?
Dr. Roshni: “Taking breaks from whatever you are doing, for getting out into nature and creativity; For example,if you are working on a project and find you are getting stuck or demotivated, switch to doing something else for a while-go for a walk if you can, or just get up and move to a different room, look out of the window, or doodle, or write something. Let your brain and ideas “ percolate,” as I like to call it!
3. What is the one change in the world that you would like to see? (in your area of wellbeing or in the world in general or both)
Dr. Roshni: I would love there to be less emphasis on constantly having to achieve something, be it exams, or a promotion, and more a sense of doing things for pleasure and enjoying an activity-this should start at school level I feel. Also,less normalising and glamourising the “busyness of business” in the working world, and promoting the fact that we are more than the jobs we do. And lastly,at the risk of being cliched, more emphasis on taking time to slow down and appreciate what we have and where we are, and “just being”
4. Which resources (books / websites / videos etc) for wellbeing would you recommend?
Dr. Roshni: There are so many resources out there-podcasts, books and websites-I think the key is to find the formats and style of writing that feel accessible and applicable to YOU, – a matter of trial and error as with anything in life,of course, and discovering new resources is always half the fun!
5. What’s the one thing that always makes you smile?
Dr. Roshni: When children and babies smile at me-never fails to make me smile back!
Bonus Question! Is there anything else pertinent you would like to add to the conversation?
Dr. Roshni: Accepting that we all evolve over time and that we are all unique “works in progress.”
Further Exploration - Dr. Roshni Beeharry
Website: Storied Selves
Dr. Roshni's business Storied Selves which offers Writing for Wellbeing. "Writing for Wellbeing is any form of writing whose express intention is to contribute to an emotional state of wellbeing and personal development, by exploring and expressing thoughts, experiences, memories and insights, through the act of putting pen to paper and reflecting on one's thinking and writing processes, as well as the actual writing itself. This can contribute to our self-awareness and that of those around us personally, professionally and within society as a whole."
Article: Creative Writing
Roshni's article, "Unwind: Creative Writing" is a journal aimed at “medical women" but is applicable for everyone who wants to try writing.
Article: NAWE Writing in Education
Roshni's article written following a presentation of her work to date with medical students using creative writing and the systematic review research she did in 2013 as part of her MA in Clinical Education dissertation looking at the international literature at the time, of the use of creative writing activities with healthcare professionals.
Podcast: Spoken Truth to Power podcast series
Podcast discussing Writing and Wellbeing for processing grief and loss; the series is aimed at the South Asian Community, and was commissioned and recorded by Culture Studio, a UK based South Asian community broadcast and media company. The series was funded in part by Arts Council England.
Podcast: Surgical Spirit podcast-Get writing with Roshni Beeharry’
Podcast aimed at the medical/healthcare audience generally. A surprisingly personal "raw and uncut " podcast. Emotional at times, Roshni discusses her brother's death & depression etc and medical education
Podcast: Be a Better leader interviewed by Mike Chitty, one of the UK’s doyens of NHS leadership
The Be a Better leader podcast where Roshni is interviewed by Mike Chitty, one of the UK’s doyens of NHS leadership
Social Media - Follow Dr. Roshni Below
More Mental Wellbeing 5 Interviews Below
More Mental Wellbeing 5 Interviews
With answers from experts, thought leaders, advocates and campaigners to help with mental wellbeing