Flipping the Switch: Challenging How We Approach Stress and Mental Health through Adventure Neuropsychology

FREE for SOM Members (please log in on the SOM website first). 

Summary: 

Adventure Neuropsychology offers a fresh way to approach mental health in the workplace.  Stress, overwhelm, imposter syndrome all take their toll in our personal and professional lives, and the cumulative effects can impact longer-term mental and physical wellbeing.  Well-intentioned mental health interventions may sometimes provide little more than 'sticking plaster' solutions to deeper issues. Psychologist and adventure neuroscience specialist Dave Gallagher explores how insights from those who thrive in adventurous and extreme environments can help organisations better understand stress, decision-making, and mental health at work.

Drawing on research from neuropsychology, stress physiology, and his own experience working in the outdoors with mountain medics, extreme sports athletes, and even vulnerable or traumatised individuals who benefit from adventure-based interventions, Dave reframes workplace stress through a new lens: the brain’s ability to switch between coping and thriving states.The webinar introduces neuroscientific principles and practical approaches that can help cultivate a culture where people feel supported, connected, and able to take on challenges in a more adventurous and purposeful way.

Bio:
Dave Gallagher is a Chartered Psychologist and Cognitive Neuroscientist, specialising in performance under extreme stress. His work sits at the intersection of extreme environments/extreme sports performance, trauma recovery and mental wellbeing, taking an Adventure Neuropsychology approach that examines how the brain functions, adapts and even thrives when exposed to challenge. Dave combines field research with applied practice, working with extreme sports, mountain medics, military veterans with PTSD, and youth and community groups who use adventure to build confidence and restore wellbeing. He brings this experience into organisations to help them better understand stress, decision-making and psychological resilience both in high pressure settings and everyday working lives. 
 

Chair: Chris Terry

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