Booklets for Students, Teachers, and Health Professionals

The new edition of the student booklet “That's Life” is now available in Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, English, and Northern Sami. You can also order a new edition of Resource Booklet for Teachers and Health Professionals from autumn 2018. Learn more about these booklets below.

In translation. We hope to have this ready by the end of 2022.

The student booklet “That's Life” (2017) became available in January 2018. As in the previous edition, it is full of text about young people and mental health. The focus is on teaching students that it is normal for life to have twists and turns, understanding the factors that contribute to better mental health, and showing students where to seek help. We also included information on the most common mental disorders (see the picture of the table of contents below).

The student booklet has questions and exercises which can be used for reflection time. You will also find short texts under the heading “That Feeling?” which describe how it feels to experience problems. At the back of the booklet, there is an interview with three young people who have had mental health issues. They talk about their experience and what helped them to become healthy again. You will also find a page about the experience of having parents or family members struggle with a mental health problem, as well as a list of websites, chats, and telephone numbers where it is possible to get help.

The new edition has not undergone major revision, but the key changes are:

More pictures and headlines, less text and more open space.
We have highlighted the responsibility of the school, parents, and society for the students' mental health.
More information on the topics of stress and anxiety, violence and abuse, nonconsensual image sharing, and minority stress.

The Resource Booklet for Teachers and Health Professionals consists of two parts. Turn it upside down to switch from one part to the other. The teachers’ part is the largest. It contains some concrete suggestions on how the three VIP lessons can be taught for the teachers who wish to use this. The booklet goes into more depth about the content of our website and focuses on three sub-topics that are important for the mental health of young people: stress and anxiety, minority stress, as well as bullying and offence. In the 2018 edition, which has become a little smaller, we talk more about life management skills and give updated statistics related to the topic of young people and mental health. We have also included more tips on the VIP Programme implementation. The booklet has many different exercises, both general and subject-oriented. In the latest edition, the "Reunion” exercise, which has now been moved to our website, is replaced by the "Consent" exercise.

The health professionals’ section in the 2018 edition has become a little bigger. It contains several tips on how to conduct a class visit. The booklet starts with a short letter from a student who has completed the VIP Programme, followed by some concrete tips on how to set up a training session about mental health and how to engage students. The 2018 edition has a new chapter on how to establish an effective dialogue with the teacher ahead of the class visit. Finally, we came up with suggestions for some icebreaker activities and exercises to help the participants get to know each other. The new booklet has an additional exercise on statements and emotions.

You will find more information for health professionals, counsellors, PPT (Educational and Psychological Counselling Service) representatives, and other VIP class visitors on the page For Health Professionals. There is also a practical example of a class visit there.

Health professionals, counsellors, PPT etc. will find additional information on the page For Health Professionals

Teachers will find additional information on the page For Teachers

You will find more exercises for implementation of the VIP Programme on the page Exercises