Enabling Town Slough presents at an international refocus on recovery conference

Enabling Town Slough presented at the ‘Refocus on Recovery’ Conference in September 2019, organised by the Institute of Mental Health in Nottingham.

Enabling Town Slough presented a symposium of its’ work and underlying principles to colleagues from 23 countries, sharing its’ innovative approach to recovery. Interesting discussions with colleagues from Canada, the USA and Japan took place about the importance of relational practice and its empowering connecting element that brings the international community together.

EMBRACE therapeutic programme and its development as a modified therapeutic community within Slough’s Hope Recovery College raised special interest and, in particular, how EMBRACE bridges the gap between inpatient and community services. Its care plan focuses on increasing a sense of belonging and developing a sense of purpose, whilst applying evidence based psychological treatments in a person-centred way. The team emphasised the importance of relating to people who use services as equal partners who have skills and qualities, whilst employing the community asset-based approach. EMBRACE’s success to contribute to the overall suicide prevention strategy and its success in reducing the number of inpatient bed days was also commented upon.
The audience was keen to know about our aim to develop a town approach to enabling people to both contribute to and benefit from the community. A discussion about the importance of peer mentors and co-production being the key to this social movement was explored.