Gina Silvarno, Director of Informatics Merseyside.

Informatics Merseyside has been awarded ‘Excellence in Informatics Accreditation’ for achieving consistent good practise in informatics workforce development. The honour was formally presented to Informatics Merseyside by the Informatics Skills Development Network (ISD) as part of their annual Connect Conference, which took place in Blackpool on Wednesday 16 September 2015.

As part of this event and for the second year running, Informatics Merseyside was also successfully awarded the Staff Development of the Year award in recognition of our rounded and detailed approach to personal and professional development, engagement and staff health and wellbeing.
The Health & Wellbeing courses provided by Terry McElhinney played a fundamental part of our overall Organisational Development Programme, the input from Body and Mind Unlimited has significantly contributed to Informatics Merseyside receiving this award.

"Feedback from staff about the life coaching courses provided by Terry McElhinney has been extremely positive and has helped support personal development, health and wellbeing through a greater understanding of oneself, managing work life balance and alleviating stress.

"The courses have played a fundamental part of our overall Organisational Development Programme and in no doubt have helped support the achievement of our ‘Excellence in Informatics’ accreditation and ‘Staff Development of the Year' awards for consistent good practice and a rounded approach to informatics workforce development.”
Gina Silvano, Director of NHS Informatics Merseyside

Firstly I wanted to thank you again for the course, which I can honestly say has been life changing …quite a statement I know, but I truly feel that if you can embrace the tools and techniques that Terry gives you, and apply them in your life, then it literally will change your life.

I attended the Life Coaching course through an Organisational Development Programme within work, however this course has had a huge impact on me both personally and professionally. Terry empowers you to unlock the potential within yourself, to enable you to take control of your thoughts and feelings – which to be honest, I would have thought I controlled away – but I wasn't necessarily doing it consciously. Terry helped me realise that EVERYTHING is a choice of my own, and I have the power to change what I choose to. There is a great range of skills and techniques that the course gives to you, but everyone will I guess embrace specific tools that they will prioritise to work for them, and those tools for me are modelling, self-talk, anchoring, relaxation techniques, affirmations, my beliefs and gold star days.

In addition to these techniques, understanding the ‘change curve’ had a profound impact on me, and helped me to discover that I had allowed something that had happened in my past to fundamentally influence the past 10 years of my life.

Working through the course with Terry, and in the subsequent follow up session, I was truly enlightened to see how I had let this affect me and what I could do about it… And I can say for certain that I have already made massive progress in just 3 months.

I’m excited to apply the tools I have discovered from the course more and more… after all, Every day in every way, I am better and better and better.

Informatics Merseyside
Organisational Development Programme – Performance Coaching

Over the past 18 month , Informatics Merseyside has been implementing an Organisational Development programme designed to ensure the organisation is a fit for purpose, organisation optimally positioned to deliver the expected benefits that Partner Organisations expect from an Informatics shared service. The programme has focussed on several areas of the business but a key piece of work has been to improve the health, well-being and therefore contribution of our workforce.
As part of the Programme, we have used Terry McElhinney (Body & Mind Unlimited) in a coaching capacity to work with a significant number of our staff, with hugely impressive results. Terry has worked with staff in groups, and on a one to one basis, to tackle a range of personal issues and provide tools and techniques which allow individuals to: deal with anxieties, overcome personal issues, reduce stress, achieve more satisfactorily balanced lives and ultimately be more productive in work.
The work has clearly contributed to our low sickness absence rate and good staff morale and formal evaluation is very positive with some staff reporting that the interventions have significantly changed for the better their approach and attitude to work.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Terry’s service for consideration as part of a wider approach to staff health & well-being and am happy to share any further insight or evaluation.

John Llewellyn
Head of Corporate Service
Informatics Merseyside.

In twenty years I have been on many different courses, and I can honestly say your course is the only course that has had any real long lasting impact on both my personal and working life.

I have a more positive approach to all areas of my life, have less fear, worry less, suffer from far less stress, gained confidence, have a happier outlook about the present and future.
One of the most important things I gained from your course was the" Reframe " approach which I think about on a very regular basis it keeps me confident that when work / personal life isn't perfect, I remain optimistic and that everyday life is great, and that even the most humble task are worth doing well and always strive to improve.
I've recently been promoted on a secondment to a SAP. training post, which is a great opportunity for me and hopefully will lead to a permanent position, but either way I'm relaxed and positive that everything will be ok.
I can only say positive stuff about the courses you ran for the LCC, and I have mentioned on a fair few occasions to colleagues that all LCC staff would all benefit from attending course.

If you need any other info or I can help in any way, please just email. So Good Luck in everything you do, you deserve to do well and once again Thank You.

I wish there were words to express what Terry has done for me. My life both personally and Professionally has changed dramatically. This is the best course I have ever been on. I highly recommend anyone to take this course. Terry is a remarkable person and they sure have broken the mould when Terry came into this world. Terry from Me I just cannot thank you enough.

To whom it may concern,
My employer recently provided a life coaching course for myself and other members of staff, the course consisted of a couple of two hour sessions (one to one) and a two day group session. The initial two hour session was to establish where you are at your current point in life and what your opinions are of your work life balance, among other things. The two day course teaches you tools to use to assist in your everyday work and home life, from relaxation methods through to thought processes. Not all the tools are designed for everyone as each person has their own preferred method of relaxing, processing thoughts and dealing with feelings and opinions.
Overall I was very impressed with the course and have learnt much from it, and now feel I have the ability to deal with most situations that both my work and personal life can present.
Finally the last two hour session was entirely for you to decide on where you feel Terry’s life coaching skills could provide you with assistance. My Hobby is golfing and I choose this as my subject, We soon established that my main issue was concentration whilst playing the game. Terry taught me how to visualise the game in my mind and find an associated anchor point that triggered my concentration. I played my first round after my session with Terry last Sunday and the results were amazing. My playing handicap is 22, this allows me to go round the course in 94 shots to shoot a level par of 72. My Goal is to reach a handicap of 12 and using these techniques I was able to go round the course in 85 taking 9 shots off my expected round. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you view it, this was not a competition round but to me it was a record round of golf with knowing that with these tools I can easily reach my goal to becoming a 12 handicapper.
Thanks for all your help and advice Terry
Mark Williams

Hello Terry, I am happy to be quoted with the following, "I have first hand experience of the training as provided by Body and Mind Unlimited. The feedback from myself and each of my colleagues who have received this training has been extremely positive. In many cases the results of the training has been life changing for people from a range of designations and backgrounds. I would have no hesitation in recommending the Body and Mind Limited organisation and firmly believe that they have a lot to offer organisations be they big or small". ,

I did attend my final follow up session with Terry today, may I thank you most sincerely for giving me the opportunity to attend such a fantastic course.

I cannot begin to tell you just how much I have gained from this personal and group experience of life coaching.

Terry is a very unique person with a charismatic approach to helping one to look at themselves fully.

I have to date achieved the following. I am engaging in physical exercise 5 times a week, since the 30th Sept I have lost 12.5lb’s in weight.

I am using the techniques he has taught me with anchoring, self talk and relaxation on a daily basis.

As I explained to you previously I had nursed my mother with a long term terminal illness, and she had died on the 17th June this year.

I have realised more than ever that I can take care of myself now and this course has helped me on my way. Once again Thank You.

Hello Terry, I would like to say how beneficial I found your Life Coaching Course which I attended over the period 4 th March to 7 th April 2009.

It seemed to me that you had taken much trouble to put it together so that it was focused in the real world rather than following the rather nebulous and ethereal path often taken by others. I felt confident that the topics covered would work because it was easy to understand the reasoning behind them. The fact that you also related things to your own experiences added to this, and the pace was good which maintained interest.

Probably the most helpful part were the two individual sessions, and particularly the second one, which enabled me to relate what had been learnt and apply it to my own situation.

Given that a work / life balance is important, then acquiring changed ways of looking at things following a recent extended period of sick leave is doubtless a good outcome valuable to both myself and the Trust.

Anyway Terry, thank you very much for all the effort you put in, your enthusiasm shone through.

I just finished the Life Coaching course, having taken up a place from someone who was off sick for the introductory session. It has made quite a difference to me already, and I got what I wanted from it which was to get better at prioritising and completing work in manageable chunks. I've boxed off a number of half-done bits of work that have been hanging around for ages. However I picked up a lot more besides, and it has helped me stop stretching my working day into my home life. From a personal point of view it has given me new ways of getting what I want out of life. I thought it was really worthwhile and I'm glad I did it.

Terry, I have truly benefited from attending your course, including the one to one sessions which were very helpful.

At a personal level, the training has had a positive impact on my health and given me a focus and, motivation to change.

I feel that I can now strike up a better work/ life balance and, have become generally more resourceful and able to manage stress and confident to act.

I appreciate you hard work and commitment and for giving 100%, you have been inspirational.

Ps. As I appreciate Mersey Care giving me this opportunity, I would be grateful if you could forward this to person who arranged this for the staff so I can extend my thanks to them.

Just to say thank you, what a wonderful course - Terry's Creative Health & Well Being. Considering the dreadful stress I'm under at present (in both work and home life), don't know how I even made it to the pre and post sessions and the 2 days themselves!

However, so glad I did. He was a great facilitator, very enthusiastic, humorous but deadly serious and committed to helping us all. Feel very lucky and privileged to have had the benefit of it, would have cost a fortune for similar sessions of life coaching.

A BIG THANKYOU to you and Terry.

Hope others get this fantastic opportunity, well worth waiting for.

Unfortunately, on another note, my client didn't meet me as arranged for the poetry sessions which you sent me details of.

Shame but you can't win them all.

I did attend my final follow up session with Terry today, may I thank you most sincerely for giving me the opportunity to attend such a fantastic course. I cannot begin to tell you just how much I have gained from this personal and group experience of life coaching.

Terry is a very unique person with a charismatic approach to helping one to look at themselves fully. I have to date achieved the following.

I am engaging in physical exercise 5 times a week, since the 30th Sept I have lost 12.5Ib's in weight. I am using the techniques he has taught me with anchoring, self talk and relaxation on a daily basis.

As I explained to you previously I had nursed my mother with a long term terminal illness, and she had died on the 17 h June this year.

I have realised more than ever that I can take care of myself now and this course has helped me on my way. Once again Thank You.

I recently attended the Creative and Wellbeing Course in October 2009. The course was very beneficial and well run on the day.

The follow up sessions prior and after the main course were very valuable. The key elements of dealing with stress, positive approaches and target setting will prove beneficial for the future.

Terry was an inspiration.

Thanks for the reminder. This time is still great for me.

The course has been invaluable and I truly believe the tools learned helped me run the whole 10 mile distance of the Bupa Great South Run on Sunday!! Without stopping! :)

The course has been really useful and I am certain will continue to benefit me both in my professional and personal life.

Many thanks for all you hard work arranging and liasing and please feel free to pass on my feedback to Terry.

I am pleased to tell you I was successful at an interview yesterday which was partly down to an intervention you introduced me to.

Prior to the interview I was informed that a presentation would be required, not a strong point for me in fact normally I shy away from.

However with the use of mental rehearsal and practice I completed a near flawless presentation which was well received by the interviewing team.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to express some feedback about the life coaching course I’ve been on facilitated by Terry McElhinney.

I personally found the course profound and life changing, big words, I know.

But it’s the only way I can describe it! I learnt skills, tools and strategies shown on the course that I didn’t have, some I did, but I didn’t know I was using them.

I am now applying this knowledge to my everyday situation and I am feeling and gaining the benefits more and more.

I am conscious that this type of course is not for everyone ...that’s their choice.

With that said, I think it is brilliant the Mersey Care NHS has given their employee’s this great opportunity for self development, and I wish for it to continue, as we will all benefit from it.

May I suggest that Mersey Care look to putting a one day refresher session some time later on for those who attended the full course, as this would keep the momentum going? Please convey my thanks to Terry for his energy and all the good work he has done through this course for me and our colleagues. It’s been excellent! And finally, a big thank you May for putting me on this course and facilitating this opportunity for me, thank you.

I just finished the Life Coaching course, having taken up a place from someone who was off sick for the introductory session. It has made quite a difference to me already, and I got what I wanted from it which was to get better at prioritising and completing work in manageable chunks.

I've boxed off a number of half-done bits of work that have been hanging around for ages. However I picked up a lot more besides, and it has helped me stop stretching my working day into my home life.

From a personal point of view it has given me new ways of getting what I want out of life. I thought it was really worthwhile and I'm glad I did it.

I have recently attended two full days and two 1:1 sessions with Terry McElhinney. I found them extremely useful and have started to use some of the tools taught. I have made noticeable changes to my work and family life and have reaped the rewards.

I hope Mersey Care NHS Trust will continue to invest in such courses as I am sure it will lead to a more productive and less stressed workforce.