We strive in our work to constantly be trying to develop our own aims, which are to create an atmosphere in the workshops that is safe, respectful and enjoyable, promoting a deeper understanding of psychosis.
We encourage users to talk about their issues so they can learn from others, using creative mediums as ways of expression and for enhancing participants' skills and ideas for developing psychological approaches for those experiencing psychosis.
We work to explore creativity as a tool for learning and/or developing relationships and look at the implications of labelling and ways of using this to improve mental health services and personal development.
Below lists a variety of things that we
have identified as helping us
We have also added a few things that users from the
workshops have stated as being useful
JAN SAYS:
The most basic lesson I have learned is that activity is not always helpful particularly during my periods in hospital.
I found psychosis to be so exhausting and overpowering that it was extremely difficult to do any thing more than sleep or sit still for much of the time.
It was not possible to interact with other people but I felt I needed others to be with me providing a safe presence.
The most skilled worker in this aspect was the ward cleaner who was able to behave with us patients in a very human way making no demands on us to interact with him, Treating us with respect as fellow human beings.
This was a vital lesson to me when I returned to work showing that time spent being with people through informal contact is time well spent.
This engagement process is crucial to the development of the therapeutic relationship and only then can assessment and treatment take place."
Ways of Coping:
Being treated with respectBeing given information that may be useful to usBeing given the opportunity to make decisions and being given choicesBeing listened to and being taken seriouslyBeing viewed as a whole person and not just a set of symptomsBeing by ourselves when we want to beBeing with others when we want to beReading (sometimes reading novels, sometimes reading mental health literature)Getting involved with other users (e.g. in art projects)Spending time thinking about what is good for usThe structure of work or other activities that are relevant to usTravellingWritingTherapyArtFilmmakingListening to or creating musicDancingCooking and eating
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