Smiling Mind is a unique web and App-based program developed by a team of psychologists with expertise in Mindfulness Meditation and web-based wellness programs. Smiling Mind is a free tool that will assist in improving the lives of Australians, and is available online or as a smartphone App.
In recent years, Mindfulness Meditation has surged in popularity for use in the treatment of stress, resilience, anxiety, depression and other physical and mental illnesses. Highly regarded institutions such as UCLA, Harvard, Oxford, Monash and Melbourne Universities have developed clinical studies into the positive impacts of Mindfulness Meditation.
Learn more here.
My QuitBuddy helps you get, and stay, smoke-free. It's with you through the hardest times with helpful tips and distractions to overcome cravings; tracking systems to chart your progress and all the facts you need to understand the impact smoking has on your health.
Better still, My QuitBuddy is easily customised. You can determine whether you’re ready to quit right now or whether you're intending to do so soon or have already quit. You can set your own goals, the reasons you're quitting, include photos and recordings of loved ones and even add buddies you can call upon in times of need.
Learn more here.
On Track with the Right Mix
The On Track with The Right Mix app has been updated with enhanced features to help you to better manage your alcohol consumption. ON TRACK lets you track your drinking and spending and the impact it's having on your wellbeing and fitness.
Use the App to:
- Track your drinking and spending in real time or add drinks to previous sessions,
- Set a budget for a night out and get a reminder when you've reached your budget,
- Get a personalised wellbeing score based on the amount you drink,
- Track your drinking, wellbeing and spending through weekly and monthly graphs,
- Learn how much exercise you need to do to burn off the alcohol you've consumed,
- Find out where to get professional help if alcohol is impacting on your daily life.
Learn more here
The free FoodSwitch app, developed by Bupa and The George Institute, can help you find out what is in the food you’re eating and suggest simple, healthier switches for you and your family.
You’re at your local supermarket. The many brand choices of packaged food can be overwhelming, and these products are often surprisingly high in salt, added sugar, saturated fat and kilojoules. So how can you decide what to put in your basket and make healthier choices for you and your family?
Scan
Scan barcodes of packaged foods with a supported smartphone or tablet camera for easy-to-interpret nutritional information for up to 90 percent of packaged products in most major Australian grocery stores. You’ll get traffic light-style colour-coded ratings for 4 key food components (total fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt). If you’re in GlutenSwitch mode, the app will also help you find out whether a food product contains gluten.
Switch
Get a list of similar foods that are healthier choices. SaltSwitch offers healthier choices with a lower amount of salt. In GlutenSwitch mode, the app lists any gluten-free alternatives in order of how healthy they are.
Learn more here.
Our instinctive response to a stressful situation may not always be the best one.
Learn to Test, Adjust and Optimise.
Test your physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural reactions to stress and adjust your response in real time by using the stress management tools in the app.
Optimise your performance and build your psychological resilience and mental fitness with regular resilience training.
Features include:
- Interactive, easy-to-use tools that you can access on the go such as Controlled Breathing, Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Thought Stopping.
- A scheduler that allows you to set goals to practice the tools regularly.
- A resilience self-assessment that can help you keep track of your progress over time.
Learn more here.
Gratitude 365 is a beautiful and easy way to write in your gratitude journal.
Taking a few minutes a day to write down what do have will change your life. Use gratitude to restart your life by appreciating what you have in life.
The more you realize and appreciate all that you already have and all that you already are, the more that you will get.
- Create a daily entry and list anything you are thankful for that day
- Choose a photo for that day
- View your photos in on one screen in a beautiful calendar
- See how many days you’ve written in your gratitude journal
- Shows how many total gratitudes you’ve written
- Practising gratitude has been scientifically proven.
The results of a study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher report levels of:
- Alertness
- Enthusiasm
- Determination
- Optimism
- Energy
Additionally, the gratitude group experienced
- Less depression
- Less stress
- More likely to help others
- Exercised more regularly
- Made more progress toward personal goals
- People who feel grateful are also more likely to feel loved.
Gratitude can become a positive habit, but only with discipline. With continued exercise, practising gratitude will create more abundance, prosperity, well-being, and happiness than you ever thought possible.
Learn more here.
The
MindSpot Clinic is a free online assessment and treatment service for Australian adults with anxiety or depression. The MindSpot Clinic provides online and telephone assessments, referrals, and treatments to help people recover from anxiety and depression. The Clinic will help you learn skills to recover from anxiety and depression and then stay well. An assessment takes about 20 minutes and then you can then choose to do an 8-10 week treatment course, or be referred elsewhere.
Most people report feeling better by the end of treatment. 95 percent of people who participate in the courses report they would refer a friend, and most made good clinical improvements.
Learn more here
MoodGYM is an independent, free resource developed and delivered by the Australian National University designed to help prevent depression. It consists of five modules, an interactive game, anxiety and depression assessments, downloadable relaxation audio, a workbook and feedback assessment.
You can:
- Discover if you are potentially having problems like anxiety and depression
- Learn skills to help you prevent these problems
- Learn how to cope if you are having problems like anxiety and depression
- Utilise quizzes, exercises and relaxation.
Scientific trials of MoodGYM show that it can be effective in reducing depression and anxiety symptoms in research and in the real world. MoodGYM’s effects in reducing symptoms of depression have been shown to persist for up to 12 months after people have finished the program. You complete MoodGYM at your own pace. It has five parts or modules and each one takes about 20-40 minutes to do. The program will remember your details from last time. You can come back whenever you like and do the program more than once if you want to. Some people find that even a few modules of MoodGYM are helpful.
Learn more here.
Mental Health Online is an initiative of the National eTherapy Centre based at Swinburne University of Technology. It provides online information, assessment, referral and treatment for mental health problems.
The website includes high-quality information about mental health problems and their treatment and links to mental health services. A comprehensive online assessment (e-PASS) can be completed, which assessments for 21 mental health problems and provides a report of symptoms and treatment recommendations.
Publicly available treatment programs can be taken for treatment for panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
These programs are available in two versions:
- Self-help programs for adults with mild symptoms offered free of charge
- Therapist-assisted programs for Australian adults with mild, moderate or severe symptoms, offered at a low cost.
Therapist assistance is in the form of weekly email communication. This form of treatment has been proven more effective than purely self-help programs.
Research shows that these programs are safe, convenient and effective. The treatment programs are also made available to health professionals. Additional treatment programs are available through participation in research trials, including those for obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and insomnia.
Learn more here.
OnTrack aims to support the Australian community to achieve mental and physical health and wellbeing by offering free access to online mental health programs, information, quizzes and advice.
OnTrack’s programs were written by clinical psychologists and are based on psychological techniques that have been shown in research to work. OnTrack offers programs for a range of mental and physical health concerns including depression, alcohol use, odd thoughts or sensations, type 2 diabetes, recovery from natural disasters and caring for someone with a mental illness. The programs are interactive and help people to learn skills to manage their own problems.
OnTrack’s quizzes can be done anonymously and give immediate feedback without having to register. They help people to check how they are going with their drinking, mood, thoughts and relationships.
The OnTrack programs are not meant to replace other treatment, and many people will also need help from a therapist or doctor. OnTrack also offers registration to health practitioners so they can view the programs or use them in their work.
There are five On Track programs:
- On Track Depression
- On Track Alcohol
- On Track Get Real
- On Track Alcohol and Depression
- On Track Floods and Storm Recovery
Learn more here.
Kirra Fitzgerald
Participant Wellbeing Manager
400 Epsom Road, Flemington
0437695768
k.fitzgerald@racingvictoria.net.au
Trainers PLUS does not provide an emergency or instant response service. If you are feeling suicidal or in a crisis please seek help immediately.
If you are in Australia please call:
- Triple Zero (000) in an Emergency
- Lifeline (13 11 14)
- Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467)
- MensLine Australia (1300 78 99 78)