How we work

Jamma Wellbeing and Brain Smart

An introduction from Agneta Johannson

I have experienced general anxiety for most of my life. I have also had bouts of depression. Mr Fear is often sitting on my shoulder.

I would often wonder, “What’s wrong with me?” I was desperate to find something or someone that could fix me. When I was 19 years old, I decided there were only two ways to go: up or down. I chose up. I read a lot of books. Took relaxation classes. Saw several so-called specialists, but nothing really helped.

I continued my search and had years of counselling. It was good to have a hand to hold, but my anxiety and fear of living did not change.

Little did I know then that anxiety is a genetic trait that goes right back to when our ancestors were living on the savannah. The more anxious you were, the more you were alert to dangers, and the greater your chance of survival. Your anxiety (and therefore survival) would also have been good for the whole group, so you would have been a very important person!

Can you imagine the difference if my GP had said, “You are not suffering from anything but a genetic brain that is very old-fashioned and very trigger-happy. Your brain can’t cope well with the world we are living in today. What you need is to learn how to control your brain”.

If I had learned this earlier in life, what a difference it would have made in reducing my suffering!

It wasn’t until much later, when I stumbled on new research about how the brain works, that I started to realise that I was okay – it was actually my brain causing all this havoc.

Since then, I have read everything I can get hold of regarding how the brain works. I have also completed a lot of different courses. All this has led to my deep understanding of how the brain creates our behaviour and reality.

At last, I started to change – to learn to drive my brain! – and my mental wellbeing greatly improved. Unfortunately, most of us don’t understand how our brain can cause us so much suffering. We are often left with the feeling that something is wrong with us, instead of understanding that it is the brain’s faulty programming.

Through my own personal experiences, I have developed a great interest in and passion for increasing the wellbeing of myself and others. I am now a trained counsellor and have built up a counselling department in a GP surgery. I also have trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Positive Neuroplasticity and Mindfulness and Meditation, all of which have helped to improve my mental wellbeing.

The culmination of all of the above is my book Brain Smart.

Current Projects

UnLock My Life

In 2021 Jamma partnered with My Life to provide support and material to deliver the Innovative Brain Smart training project.

UnLock My Life provides prisoners with the opportunity to gain a Mental Health & Wellbeing education with an accreditation certificate.

The Brain Smart training enables them to achieve a better understanding of what mental health is about. We all have mental health in the same way that we all have physical health.

This training, based on Agneta Johansson’s Brain Smart book, gives prisoners the skills to be able to help their own wellbeing and that of others who are experiencing difficulties.

Trained prisoners can then go on to become Mental Health Ambassadors (MHA). The MHAs receive additional training through ‘Train the Trainer’, to become peer, Brain Smart instructors. They also receive their own branded t-shirts, so other prisoners can identify who they can approach for support.

By becoming an MHA, they can raise awareness and reduce stigma around mental health and wellbeing.