Founder of Waves for Change delivers inspiring TED TALK on an alternative way to do therapy
Tim Conibear is the Founding Director of Waves for Change, a Surf Therapy project in Cape Town that is pioneering a winning formula of surfing and evidence based therapy programming to improve emotional wellbeing and break the cycles of violence that keep South Africa's youth from their true potential.
Waves for Change were the deserved winners of the Sport for Health Award in 2015 at the Beyond Sport Global Awards, and can attribute a large amount of success to their surfers and mental health professionals.
The organisation has adapted the learn-to-surf process into unique, evidence-based learn to surf programmes, delivered by community members that have been trained and mentored by W4C.
Impact studies with the University of Cape Town indicate that W4C programmes alleviate symptoms of trauma with additional benefits to behaviour and school attachment. Scaled from a start-up, with zero funding and zero reach, W4C now reaches over 1000 young people per week across South Africa, with the support of partners including Comic Relief.
Key findings include:
- On average kids in South Africa's townships experience eight traumatic events per year, in comparison to the developed world where most adults experience five per life time.
- For every 30,000 children there is one social worker and no psychologist. What can be done when these children reach breaking/crisis point?
- Surf therapy provides a safe space, access to a caring mentor, an opportunity to meet friends and connect. It gives them a sense of belonging and a belief they can achieve something they didn't think possible.
- The impact is improved emotional regulation, less violent behaviour and a more optimistic outlook. Parents report children are calmer at home, more engaged and have an increased resilience to stress.
- The bigger message - anxiety, stress, depression are amongst some of the biggest health issues of the modern day, so much so, the UN has made health and wellbeing one of their Sustainable Development Goals
- Surf therapy is a scaleable solution to help alleviate some of these issues - especially to populations who don't have the financial resources
- It's not just surfing, this same concept is used by sport for development programmes across the world - bmx, skateboarding, yoga, running - as a form of sport therapy. All follow the same simple solution - connecting vulnerable people to caring adults, and giving them a platform to achieve something they didn't think possible = positive health outcomes
- All this demonstrates an alternative way to do therapy. A therapy that gets communities active together. A therapy that is fun, accessible and impactful to all.