Helping Yourself Learn

Find Helpers

Hurtful messages from others and ourselves can keep us stuck in our thoughts and actions. We need allies to encourage us to keep going. Sometimes our friends can be a big support. Sometimes we need more help than they can give. We may need others to help us to create new messages, experiences, and behaviours, ones that help us feel good about ourselves. Sometimes when we start to study, the violence in our life increases, memories of past violence come up again, or we realize we are having trouble learning because we are drinking or using drugs. It may be time to get help to leave a violent situation, to pay attention to our self and our pain, to take on an addiction. With help, we may be able to learn with a little more understanding of where our critical messages come from and perhaps with a little more ease as we begin to make changes and let those old messages go.

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Counsellors & Therapists

Choose a counsellor or therapist.

Going to a therapist (this is aimed at youth).

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Elders

Find an elder or traditional healer.

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Friends

Our friends can support us and our attempts to learn or they can make it more difficult. Read more. ( - 14k)

A literacy learner talks about friends that help.
A friend can help you push on when you feel like giving up:

My Friend and I

My friend is going through life the same way that I was. She is always afraid of trying new things. I try to ask her to come to school and try new things with me. I told her that I have been like the way she is. Many times, I would yell and get mad at myself. I know that it hurts to say negative things about myself and it does not make me feel good. I made a vow to be nice to myself and not say anything bad anymore. After I shared this with her, she now feels better about herself. She has turned herself around and now she’s doing things that she’s never done before. She brought tears to my eyes when she told me that whenever she feels low, she thinks about what we have talked about. Since my friend has always been afraid to try new things, her self esteem is low and she lacks self confidence. When I realized this, I insisted that she try out things that make her feel better about herself. I told her how I used to undervalue myself and kept thinking that I was stupid. However, I turned it around and started being good to myself and stopped being so hard on myself. I advised her to think about the many good things that she can do for herself. I have also advised her to come to school with me and this will make her feel better. I advised her that school could help her learn more about herself and other people. This is a good way to make us both feel better about ourselves. I am happy again because we are both doing well; we have a better life and respect ourselves more.

- Barb Taylor, Regent Park Learning Centre

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