Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A happy Yuletide from Ron & I on this winter solstice

 was up this morning to watch the moon eclipse with my friend Seppi, we dressed up warm & sat in her garden with a cup of tea watching the moon gradually disappear. I even saw a shooting star, then with less than a quarter of a moon to go a big black cloud came and sat across the moon and that was the end of eclipse watching for us.


I then watched the sunrise as I fed the pigs & chickens, it was really beautiful this morning. There was a thick frost and I was slipping all over the place. I am glad I moved the pigs nearer to the house. This evening there was also a gorgeous sunset , so even though it was the shortest day it felt lighter for much longer as we didn’t have the usual grim gray clouds.

We are both at home for 4 weeks and can finally unwind and spend some quality time with the kids & each other. Ron’s hips are improving & he is off the crutches.

Next year is going to be extremely busy for us. We have an extended trip to Australia , work in France & another tour to be planned for America & Canada.

We are also hoping to get our dream plan of a bunk house/recovery house/training venue up here on Lewis up & running.

New training pack on voice dialoguing will be out in the spring + a workbook for male survivors of sexual abuse. Ron has almost finished rewriting 3rd edition of recovery an alien concept, hope to go to print at end of January.

In collaboration with the IMHCN we are also working on a virtual learning centre on recovery, which will be very exciting.

So to all of you that support our work have a wonderful Christmas & new year



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I’ve been avoiding writing this blog for a while, 18th November 2010

I’ve been avoiding writing this blog for a while, since coming back from Australia I have been immersed in being a mum and looking after the croft & organizing Ron’s trip to America & Canada. I feel a bit like a single parent, Ron has hardly been home, we had a brief period together in France but that was mainly working and our main conversations have been in the van on the way & back from the airport. He is travelling everywhere on crutches due to a hip problem which is giving him a lot of pain, but I arranged a punishing schedule for him & Paul on their trip to North America.

Feedback has been amazing, workshops have been incredibly well attended and there is a real interest in hearing voices groups & working with voices. I think one of the highlights for Ron was San Francisco yesterday, being taken to a really good American bar by Heath & seeing the golden gate.

He is now in the air somewhere between east & west coast arriving later in Massachusetts for his last public meeting & workshop , then he will be home Sunday for 2 days before travelling down to England for 2 workshops in Chester & Lincoln. Then finally he has a week off, no doubt we will spend the whole time argueing as we get used to being a couple again before he returns to England for another week of workshops roll on Christmas & 3 weeks at home.







Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Was I really away?

I’ve been back at home 2 weeks now, was I really away? I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Australia. The People I have been privileged to work with were brilliant. It is true what they say about Australians they are great company, laid back, friendly & open, love a good debate and very social justice focussed. I had to work hard, think hard and be very creative.
What was extra good was that I had the evenings to myself, so I had 5 weeks of self care, reading, walking, visiting new places, so although the work was tiring I have come back full of energy, happy, confident in my facilitation and 14lb lighter.
After a few days of lovely weather, winter seems to have arrived with a vengeance, we have had a lot of windy stormy weather & already the croft is looking water logged.
The doom & gloom of the British economy is at such a different place to the booming Australian economy. America is also in a bad way & mental health services seem to be particularly badly hit.
Its ironic really as research has clearly shown that mental health needs go up during a recession, yet spending goes down.
Ron is in a writing phase, he is rewriting recovery an alien concept at the moment, and hopefully it will be finished in time for the world congress.
The voices course with Dirk & Eleanor went very well; with fantastic outcomes for the voice hearers & workers who came. The week was filmed & shortly there will be a new training manual, workbook & DVD based on the training.
Our website is also being redesigned so it should be much simpler to use.
Ron & I will be in Lille in 3 weeks time where they are going to launch the French hearing voices network, this is a very exciting development as France joins the rest of Europe in taking hearing voices work forward.


Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Monday, August 16, 2010

I cant believe the summer is nearly over, it has been so busy on the island, we’ve had 29 piglets, new geese, ducks & chicks, the vegetable garden was worked on nearly every day, + a fantastic 10th wedding anniversary weekend which saw all our kids together for the first time since Ron’s 50th birthday and we have kept the Working to Recovery rolling along through this bleak time for mental health services in the UK.
Hence to say I am back in Australia for 5 weeks work. Missing out on August at home wet cold & windy for Tasmania today wet cold & windy! At least its winter here. Ron is at home reversing roles, very happily getting stuck into family life and the croft. He is loosing weight rapidly which is fantastic news for him as he battles with diabetes.
I spent the first 2 weeks in WA firstly in Perth working with Richmond Fellowship, this time running a champions course with David Rivett one of Richmond’s staff for a new set of staff who will be running a homeless hostel for men which is being set up on recovery principals and where hopefully each resident will graduate after a year well on the road to recovery. It is an exciting and new project for both the state & Richmond. Ron has been involved in designing the service.
The second week was spent in Esperance right on the south coast of WA, coming of the plane I was hit by a cold southerly wind which reminded me of home, but the rest of the week has been warm. Again I have been running the champions course this time for BOICO a small NGO who want their organization to be totally recovery focused. I really enjoyed this week as it was myself facilitating 10 women of middle age like myself, we had a great week, very emotional, at times funny, lots of good questions & debate and lots of warmth again I cant wait to see how this team do and the outcomes & stories they will have over the next couple of years.
Yesterday I travelled to Melbourne & later today I fly to Tasmania for the last 3 weeks of this trip
Election fever is gripping Australia with the federal government up for re-election. It’s a very close call with both parties neck & neck, what is interesting is that Mental illness has played a big part in this campaign with cries for much greater funding for this neglected area of health spending in Australia especially within community services and young peoples mental health.



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

July 2010 - Wedding Anniversary and 12 new piglets

Ron & I are finally taking a well- earned break from training & concentrating on our kids & the croft this month.

This is just as well as on the 1st of July which was our 10th wedding anniversary our big pig “Spotty” gave birth to 12 beautiful piglets and this weekend our other big pig “Pinky” has given birth to 9. So we are going to be very busy over the next 8 weeks.

This is the first summer we will actually spend July on the island, usually we are dashing off to Australia for work. This year I will be going at the end of July for 5 weeks leaving Ron in charge of the croft & kids.
So after celebrating our wedding anniversary with a fantastic party with friends & all of our kids we now have the Hebfest to look forward to this week.

It will be interesting to see over the next few months how the government proceeds with mental health policy. Apart from the fact that very little training is being funded at the moment, I wonder how the notion of recovery will fair. Richard Warner showed clearly in his book recovery from schizophrenia that in years of economic decline the rates of recovery tend to go down, possible related to lack of job opportunities. Will they still pursue a policy of encouraging people with mental health problems back to work when there are so few jobs, & companies can pick & choose who they employ.
If there was ever a time where a well being agenda is important though it is now, when so many young peoples self esteem is at an all time low, unable to get jobs trapped on low benefits in substandard accommodation. My own daughter at last got a job as a youth support worker on a 6 month contract- her first proper job, first thing to hit was that her partner would loose all benefits and that they will be worse off than if she stayed unemployed which seems ludicrous, then 2 weeks into the job she has been told the project is to close down in 3 months & she will be made redundant. The world must seem a very cruel place.



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Recovery Champions course


2011
We have set dates for the next Recovery Champions course in Stroud for March 21st to 25th 2011. Put the date in your diary now, information will be up on the website soon, we may also put on an autumn course 2010, unfortumately the Stroud venue was full, so any suggestions for a venue or place in the UK let us know



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

May 2010  
Spring has really taken hold and Summer is almost with (in the Northern hemisphere anyway) and we hope that it will be a good one for us all. In this noticer we provide the latest information about our upcoming training and consultancy work.
 
Australia
Ron & I have had a very busy time in Australia over the last month or so, running 3 Recovery Champions courses in Perth, Canberra & Tasmania. This was all return business as feedback from previous courses in each of these areas has been so positive.
 
Ron remains in Australia for another 4 weeks and I am hoping to return to Australia in August, this time leaving Ron at home for a rest and accompanied by Paul Baker, who will be training with me. For anyone in Australia interested in training please contact me as we still have some availability in August for recovery related training and consultanc.
 
Paul can also run training sessions on Hearing Voices, theory and practiceSetting up and Supporting Hearing Voices GroupsIntroducing and Developing a Community Development Approach to Providing Mental Health Support. Meanwhile, Ron & I are busy planning next Year’s visit to Australia, possibly around this time of the year. So if you may want training please contact me at karen@workingtorecovery.co.uk
 
Recovery Training
We have developed a 3 day version of the Recovery Champions course specifically for an organisations Managers. We have found this to be an area that training is greatly needed in to help managers shift the focus of their organisation to working in a recovery based way, whether this is developing  policy & procedural changes, employing peer workers, understanding what recovery working really means, understanding your own recovery journey as a manager /leader, action planning using recovery tools for the organisations future direction. This course is equally relevant to NGO’s, private sector or publicly run mental health services, see more information here or again contact me at karen@workingtorecovery.co.uk
 
Hearing Voices
For those of you in the UK & Europe we have more How to Set up & Run Hearing Voices Groups workshops in England, Wales & Scotland, which will run by Paul Baker at the end of June. More information and booking details can found on this page (see below).
 
In September we will be running the successful residential course in beautiful Stroud Gloucestershire onWorking & Talking with Voices with Ron Coleman , Dr Dirk Corstens & Eleanor Longden. Booking details on this page. This course has had an amazing impact on both workers & voice hearers when we have run it before.  If you are an individual worker, family member or voice hearer you are welcome to attend this ground breaking course as we will match you up with someone to work with. We believe personalisation & direct payment budgets can be utilised for this training as it will very much assist the recovery process of voice hearers. E-mail Karen to register your interest, or download the booking form or book on the website on this page (see below)
 
Work in Italy, USA and our programme for the rest of 2010
We are working in Italy at the end of September and the beginning of October & will be touring USA/ Canada in November. Training and publice speaking engagement opportunities are still available.  Finally our diary over the next year is filling fast so if your organisation is interested in any of our training or consultancy (including in house) don’t hesitate to e-mail me at  karen@workingtorecovery.co.uk or phone +441851810060/+447884268192
 
Regards,
Karen Taylor, Director 



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

28th April 2010: We have created 1000 Recovery champions

28th April 2010:  We have created 1000 Recovery champions 
 
I cant believe we already into our last week in Australia, well for the kids & Me , Ron is here for another 6 weeks.
 
2 more champions courses under our belt one in Perth & the other just completed in Canberra. Both courses successful, another 48 recovery champions. We must have created  at least a 1000 champions in the last few years , that is quite awe-inspiring.   Hopefully kick started a few recovery journeys and planted seeds for many others.
 
I love training in Australia. People are very receptive to the ideas of recovery, whether its because we are nearer the far east, there seems to be a greater understanding  of spirituality  and eastern mystisism & more openness to holistic approaches. The creativity on the Friday presentations is brilliant, last week the theme of telling stories was very strong, with 2 of the presentations using fairy stories to create an allegory about mental health care.
 
We also had a great time at the bluesfest, my highlight was dancing nonstop to the gypsy kings who were so full of energy. Ron’s was 10cc, I managed to stay for one song  “Oh Donna”” that was enough for me.
 
We are now in Tasmania, this time in Launceston & one day into our third recovery champions course. I am starting to think about returning home, trying not to worry about the volcanic cloud & whether it will have cleared by next Saturday.
 
Trying to practice mindfulness. There is nothing I can do to change the progress of the volcanic ash so I just need to carry on enjoying the moment. My daughter has just started a new business, check out her & matts designs, really different. They could really do with support & business
http://www.zazzle.co.uk/monimals if you like their designs please pass on to  anyone else who might be interested
 

Regards, Karen Taylor & Ron Coleman



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Monday, March 22, 2010

The weeks are whizzing by

The weeks are whizzing by, the Stroud recovery champion’s course was really good to be part of. The venue was fantastic, beautiful views & gardens, lovely ambience; food was gorgeous, put on about half a stone. The participants were challenging, engaged & by the end of the week champing at the bit to return to their services & start some changes. One women in particular had her light bulb moment on the last day, it was truly wonderful to watch her suddenly release all the pent up negativity of working in a system that had demoralized her thrown away as she realized that recovery was possible including her own.

They bought us a present of a beautiful spiral sculpture made by a craftsman in the grounds whilst we were there, I attach some photo’s it is very beautiful.



After Stroud it was a return to the island to make ready for our trip to Australia. First Ron, who travelled to Sweden first to take part in 2 conferences in Stockholm & Gothenburg, He then returned to Glasgow & flew out to Australia the next morning.

Meanwhile I had been sorting everything out on the island so that the kids and me could make our journey out to Australia 6 days later. House gutted & cleaned it looked livable in by the time I left. Pigs sorted with an assortment of relatives staying at the house whilst we are away & Brian in charge of pigs for some of the time. Accounts up to date, vat ready to go, book orders all sent out, by the evening of our flight to Glasgow I was exhausted.

Overnight stay at the airport & finally we were ready to fly taking Karen from Lewis with us to help look after the kids whilst we are working. Needing looking after myself I had an half hour massage at the airport & became completely chilled before boarding.

The kids were fantastic on the flights they are such seasoned travelers now, though Frankie wanted to stay on the island to finish her Viking project & Finn was miffed because he is missing a game of football whilst away.
Now we are here in Perth, it’s the night before our first recovery course the weather over the weekend has been lovely & we have spent most of the day in the swimming pool with the kids. Ron & I sat earlier thinking what an amazingly lucky life we have. Yes we work hard, yes it can be stressful but how many people get to do a job they love in fantastic locations and with amazing people. Recovery is real, it happens to all of us  & how I appreciate the joy it has brought to my life



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Check out our sale!


It ‘s your last opportunity this week to purchase training packs , DVDs & books at greatly reduced prices sale ends on 15th March. Details here.

The last round of Setting up and Running Hearing Voices Groups training went well, the meetings in Swansea and Bangor, Wales were well attended & thanks to sponsorship from a Welsh benefactor a further 2 workshops will be held in Wales in June on the 29th and 30th, we will also be running a workshop in York on the 1st July.

The latest Recovery Champions 5 day course we ran in Stroud, Gloucestershire in February was a resounding success. Everyone loved the venue, the food was superb & the course received very favourable feedback, what was special was that we had French, Danish & Dutch representatives which helped give the course an extra European dimension. We have set dates for the next Recovery Champions course in Stroud for March21st to 25th 2011. Put the date in your diary now, information will be up on the website soon, we may also put on an autumn course 2010, unfortumately the Stroud venue was full, so any suggestions for a venue or place in the UK let us know.

We are running the Working with Voices & Voice Dialogue course in Stroud Sept 6th to 10th again information will be up on the website soon.

Ron & I will both be in Australia for next few weeks. Ron until June 3rd & myself until April 26th.

Paul Baker & Ron will be doing a short tour in Canada & the USA on Working with Voices & Setting up Hearing Voices Groups in November, if you would like a workshop in your state please contact us for further information.

Thanks for all your support


Latest news
World Hearing Voices Congress & Intervoice meeting 2011
This years INTERVOICE meeting and World Hearing Voices Congress will take place at Center Parcs In Sherwood Forest, Nottingham, England on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of November 2010, More details available soon. It is advisable to reserve places ASAP as demand is already high. If you have a Facebook account you can indicate your interest in attending by visiting the INTERVOICE Facebook page here or email admin@intervoiceonline.org 

Regards
Karen Taylor & Ron Coleman




Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

I’ve had a busy few weeks ...

I’ve had a busy few weeks, For those of you that have met me you will know that I am passionate about singing & would love to be an accomplished jazz singer. My journey came one step nearer a couple of weekends ago when I took part in a special weekend workshop in Edinburgh, which was my Christmas present from Ron. The weekend was with singer Sophie Bancroft her partner on double bass Tom Lynne & pianist Paul Harrison, fantastic musicians, a brilliant singing tutor & only 4 students. It was a wonderful weekend I learnt so much and to sing with some of the best Scottish musicians was very emotional –thanks Ron for believing in me.

I then travelled on down to Gloucestershire to see my family before starting a three day course on recovery at the lighthouse in Welshpool.  I had 14 staff on the course, they were really enthusiastic and keen to learn, it was good to see how the place is progressing & has had a few discharges already.

I then drove back up to Scotland, picked up my son Liam & caught the boat back to the island, Ron had been in charge of the kids & 17 pigs. Interestingly he now calls the pigs his! Kids all in one piece & house surprisingly tidy, is Ron becoming house- husband material/a farmer????

Next we flew off island leaving Liam with pigs & Kids, stopped for morning in Glasgow to run a session with students at Glasgow Caledonian then back to the airport to fly on to Gatwick then to Venice arriving 11pm straight to hotel, was upgraded to suite with 2 free gin & tonics, got a sleep then straight on train to Trieste for conference.

Trieste was great to catch up with old friends - John Jenkins, Alan Rosen , Roberto Mezzini , Marcello Maccario  & many others but we were a little disappointed with the conference. Ron gave a really good keynote on the first morning, the conference was to celebrate Basaglia the great revolutionary of psychiatric care in Italy, he spent most of his time in Trieste closing down the hospital before his untimely death. Trieste has been held as world class example of good mental health practice, this has been good in many ways but think can also be a problem.

Ron challenged everyone to keep the revolution permanent. Closing the hospitals down was only the first step, what we need to achieve is full citizenship for all, with choice & ownership

The conference was meant to be a debating shop but unfortunately we didn’t see much debate. But what was good was the amount of people from different parts of the world, Brazil, Australia, USA, Finland just a few of the countries represented. Nicholas Rose gave an interesting keynote, at one point he put up a slide on anti psychotic consumption most countries were around the same level, but Finland was way above the others, we spoke to a couple of Finnish delegates who were keen to get hold of the slide to take back to Finland so they could ask why there was such a difference.

I was part of a workshop with  Alain Topor , he is a psychologist from Sweden & has done some really good research into recovery. It felt pretty amazing to share a platform with him, as he is one of the people I quote when training.

We left the conference with a day to go  with a long day of travel ahead of us, Liam was great though, he hadn't been looking forward to coming up as he finds the island too isolating. But he really enjoyed the challenge of looking after the pigs, including the 2 big pigs escaping, & multiple escapes by the weaners & found his time went by really quickly.. I think he now understands better why we moved to Lewis.



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Monday, January 18, 2010

I have been in semi hibernation up here on the croft.


Its weeks since I wrote my last blog. I have been in semi hibernation up here on the croft. I kept thinking must write my blog then something else would be more important. Ron & I have enjoyed an extended rest period over Christmas. Ron in particular had worked non stop for weeks including his Australian trip, so was near exhaustion.

Now its time to get going again, not that I have been sitting idle in Lewis, we have taken on 12 weaners so my time has been busily filled looking after them.
Ron is of to Denmark on Tuesday, returning to work at the “castle” & looking forward to meeting up with old friends.

On his return we will be fencing the croft then I am off for my Christmas present which is a weekends Jazz singing workshop in Edinburgh followed by 3 days work at lighthouse recovery in Welshpool.

Then I return & Ron & I are both off to Trieste for a very interesting international 4 day conference.

Have just heard that Judy chamberlain has died at the age of 65, she was a long serving mental health activist in the USA. Ron & I both had met her a few times, and enjoyed a lovely evening with her in italy over dinner. She looked much younger than her age though I remember she had a large pile of vitamins to take as we ate. She was a lovely passionate women & will be much missed by the movement.



Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.