We are on the ferry from Lewis. This is the first time we have taken the Sunday ferry since it started it has given us an extra day at home with the kids. The boat is quite full, so proves there was definite economic case for it.
We are going to Hertfordshire for the recovery conference before driving to the ferry at Harwich crossing to Hook of Holland then making our way to Maastricht for the world congress. Apparently there are people coming from 20 countries, lots of people we know and some new faces particularly from America.
We are driving over as we are taking over a bookstall for the event, just managed to print Paul Bakers new book the voice inside in time & are picking the boxes up from Dundee on route.
This autumn Ron is going to be away a lot , with trips to italy in October & Australia in November where he is doing a couple of weeks voices training in Tasmania & a peer support course with Anthony Stratford in Melbourne.
Australia is investing in mental health at the moment& is developing mental health policies based around recovery.
One of the services which is particularly interesting is the phams programme, phams stands for personal helpers & mentors, its interesting because it is a non clinical programme aimed at working in a recovery based way with people, they can self refer to the programme as long as they are in a particular area for a phams team. It is also opening up work for Peer support as one of the possible requirements for working in this programme is to have lived experience.
Already a lot of recovery stories are being collated by the federal body behind the project & it is proving very popular with consumers & family members.
There is a real sense that Australia is shifting its mental health policy & it could become a very interesting place to work over the next 5 years. Ron and I have noticed a difference in the last 5 years of us working there. The statutory services are wanting training now on recovery & to be part of the growing hearing voices network. All of this can only be god for consumers.
I will report back on the Hertfordshire event & the world congress next Sunday on my return journey 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.
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