After a health crisis there is the immediate aftermath of dealing with the illness, starting appropriate treatment, and beginning a recovery journey. What is just as important to consider however is the mental impact going through a health crisis can have, and learning how to live with this, emotionally and psychologically, if it results in a long-term condition. Leading local health charity, Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS), has recognised this need and has launched a new, innovative emotional support programme, ACTivate Your Life, as part of their service offering.
Gillian Thompson, Head of Service at NICHS explains; “At Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke we offer an extensive range of care and support programmes for people affected by chest, heart and stroke conditions and their families. These programmes cover the physical aspects of trying to make the best recovery possible after a chest, heart or stroke related health event and providing emotional support through our Family Support Service has always been a focus. We recognised however that the mental impact of adjusting to life after a chest, heart or stroke diagnosis can be huge and that it was an area with substantial unmet need. We asked our service users and health professional colleagues for feedback, and they also highlighted this as an area requiring further support. We are delighted to now be able to fill this gap and deliver the ACTivate Your Life programme.”
“ACTivate Your Life is a psychology-based programme developed by Dr Neil Frude, Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology, which is founded on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Dr Frude has brought ACTivate Your Life to many health organisations in the UK and we are delighted, after more than eighteen months working behind the scenes, to be able to exclusively offer this life-changing programme to people in Northern Ireland affected by chest, heart and stroke conditions.”
Explaining the concept of ACTivate Your Life, Gillian says; “Living with a long-term condition can feel overwhelming at times. It’s natural to experience worry, stress or difficult thoughts, but they can be managed through ACTivate Your Life. It is a short psycho-educational course, an emotional support programme, designed to help you understand how your mind works and how to live a more meaningful life. It uses ideas from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which teaches skills like mindfulness, acceptance and living in line with what truly matters to you.”
“Our minds are busy and often unhelpful. They jump to conclusions, judge us harshly, look for danger and constantly wander into the past or future. This can create unnecessary stress and worry. ACTivate Your Life helps you learn how to notice what your mind is doing so you can take back more control. Everyone experiences difficult feelings and unwanted thoughts but trying to fight them or push them away often makes them stronger. ACTivate Your Life teaches acceptance which means allowing these experiences to come and go whilst continuing to live your life. Responding in this calmer way reduces suffering and helps you keep moving forward.”
Gillian continues; “In simple terms, ACTivate Your Life helps you understand your mind, accept what you cannot change, focus on the things that matter, and take steps towards the life you want. We are delighted to be able to offer ACTivate Your Life to local people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions and help them reclaim control over both their physical and mental recovery journeys.”
“We are extremely grateful to Dr Frude for coming over to Belfast to train our Care Services Coordinators to deliver ACTivate Your Life and share his wealth of knowledge and experience. We would also like to acknowledge the Hospital Saturday Fund for awarding NICHS a £10,000 grant to help us launch the programme and train our staff. We are looking forward to making an even bigger difference to the lives of people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions here and know ACTivate Your Life will be instrumental in this.”
Dr Frude comments; “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is gaining a lot of influence, with good scientific proof showing that this really does work for many people. Through ACTivate Your Life I have developed a simple programme which will bring the benefits of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to lots of people. The problem is there are very few therapists or psychologists available to meet the demand of people in need of psychological help. ACTivate Your Life broadens the access people have to this form of help. It is something which can help almost anybody to understand their own emotions, thoughts and feelings better. It improves what we like to call emotional intelligence which can often be life changing. ACTivate Your Life has been used with thousands of people across many different countries, and I'm absolutely delighted that this is now available in Northern Ireland through NICHS.”
Dr Frude flew over to Belfast in March 2026 to train NICHS Care Services Coordinators to deliver the ACTivate Your Life programme.
Someone who understands the impact a long-term health condition can have on psychological and mental wellbeing is Deborah Cullen who had two strokes four years ago at just 43 years old. Deborah was supported by NICHS on her recovery journey. Deborah says; “I completed NICHS’s Post Rehab Exercise Programme which helped me rebuild confidence, strength and hope. NICHS became my lifeline- physically as well as emotionally.”
“It’s fantastic to know that NICHS is investing even more in the emotional wellbeing of people like me. Recovery doesn’t end when the physical symptoms improve. The fear, the worry, the “what if it happens again?” can stay with you long after. ACTivate Your Life will really help stroke, chest and heart survivors understand their thoughts, manage anxiety and rebuild confidence in a really practical, gentle way. What means the world to me is that it won’t just support people who are newly diagnosed - it will also be available to those of us who have been through these illnesses in the past if we ever need that extra help. It shows how truly committed NICHS is to helping people heal in every sense.”
For more information or to make a referral to ACTivate Your Life, please visit www.nichs.org.uk/activate
