Austria PA

The participants from Austria come from Tyrol, a region in the west of Austria. They have very different backgrounds and are really looking forward to the youth exchange in Cyprus. In preparation, they met in InfoEck prepared four posters and discussed about how to speak up your feelings.

Discussion

Austria and Tyrol are strongly characterised by centuries-old traditions that are closely linked to the (predominantly) Catholic Church. These traditions and the rites of the church(es) have always helped people to give space to their feelings and process them. For example, there are different rites and traditions for joyful events such as births, birthdays and weddings, but also rites and traditions that accompany people through difficult times, such as death.

During the discussion, the group came to the conclusion that young people in particular have very different ways of dealing with emotions and that even in this small group they know and use many different ways of expressing their own feelings.

Poster making

The group decided to make four posters, each reflecting a method of expressing feelings that the group members use or that the group members are very interested in.

Tyrol is a region of mountains and sport - so many young people come to Innsbruck to study, also to pursue their passion. Emotions have a strong influence on our bodies and can have a very stressful effect on them. Conversely, sport also helps us to deal with stress and negative feelings and has a relieving and liberating effect.

Art is also a widespread method of expressing one's own feelings. Of the broad field of art, the participants from Austria were particularly interested in graffiti and music. The two posters pick out examples of how feelings can be expressed using these two art forms. The graffiti shown are all visible in Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, and were discovered by the participants on a stroll through the city.

We also express our feelings with our body language. As Paul Watzlawick once said: "You cannot not communicate". This way of expressing ourselves is often unconscious, which is why many people, especially politicians, try to control their bodies so much. Sometimes it is difficult to name one's own feelings and communicate them verbally to the other person. In such cases, many physical signals reveal or help to reveal our feelings, like smiling, crying, etc. If we are alert and can engage with our counterpart, the other person's body language helps us to recognise their feelings and respond to them, as well as helping us to name and express them.

The group also discussed what facilities and opportunities there are in Tyrol to support young people in talking about their feelings. In Austria, for example, there is a school psychologist in every school who is here for the children and young people and listens to them. However, the offer is rarely actually taken up, as anonymity and often trust are lost through daily contact. In addition, there are many other centres and free services that also remain anonymous, such as "Rat auf Draht" https://www.rataufdraht.at/. Here, children and young people can talk to adults or peers about their feelings anonymously and free of charge at any time via chat or telephone. Time4friends https://www.jugendrotkreuz.at/freizeit-jugendarbeit/time4friends also enables young people to chat with their peers about their feelings and problems. One participant in the Austrian group is a volunteer at time4friends. This led the group to realise that chatting is also a very common method of talking about one's feelings and that there are many supporting elements for this, such as gifs and emojis.

The group is very much looking forward to the youth exchange in Cyprus and to getting to know young people and their cultures and learning more about how feelings can be expressed and how we can recognise and understand feelings better.