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Self Harm Workshops – Leicester 12 Feb 2018

About the workshop

Self Harm Training FlyerMonday 12 February 2018, 10.00am – 4.30pm
@ Courtyard Room, LCB Depot*, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1 1RE

Whilst there is a growing awareness of the prevalence of self-harm, it remains a challenging area for many who are trying to support those who use it as a survival strategy and/or means of expressing difficult feelings.

This workshop will provide a space for anyone who is involved in supporting people who self-harm to develop a greater understanding of the experience, their own reactions and ways of talking with someone about their self-harm without fearing making matters worse.

It is facilitated by someone with personal experience of self-harm, as well as the experience of working with young people and adults who self-harm in a variety of settings.

Download: Self Harm Training Flyer – Leicester

This one-day event explores:

  • The experience of self-harm and its many different possible functions.
  • Understanding our reactions to self-harm (as individuals and members of a team/service)
  • The relationship between self-harm, emotions and traumatic life events
  • Ways of, safely, opening up conversations around self-harm.
  • Ways of working with people to explore the role of self-harm in their life, and make sense of whether they wish to change this
  • Developing alternative strategies to self-harm to reduce distress and facilitate choice.

This workshop is for:

This workshop is aimed at anyone interested in understanding and supporting people who self harm, inc: friends, family members, nurses, therapists, psychologists, social workers, youth workers, support workers, peer support workers, occupational therapists, healthcare assistants, volunteers, psychiatrists, students and more.

Fees:

Full price: £75 (includes NHS, statutory and/or commercial agencies)

Reduced price: £50 (includes those who are self-funding and voluntary sector/charity organisations)

Concessions: £20 (this is a special rate for those unable to afford the reduced fee, intended for those who are self-funding and are unwaged, students and/or on a low wage. We ask that people only choose this if they cannot afford the £50 rate).

If you would like to attend, but cannot afford the fee you would qualify for – please get in touch. I’m keen that people don’t miss out because of a lack of resources … these are challenging times, after all.

Parking and Directions:

See: www.lcbdepot.co.uk/contact-us for directions and details of discounted parking.

Book your place:

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Developing Support for Young People who Hear Voices in the North East

Ted wearing headphonesWhilst hearing voices is a relatively common experience in childhood adolescence, affecting around 1 in 5 11-13 year olds, 8% of older teens and 23% of CAMHS clients aged 12-16, it remains an experience that can be difficult to speak about.

For many this experience is either transient or doesn’t cause a problem. It may provide comfort during a time of stress. For others, though, the voices can be overwhelming and be a signal of issues that need additional support.

The stigma surrounding voice-hearing can prevent young people who are struggling with difficult or distressing voices from opening up until they reach a crisis point. When young people do disclose their experiences they do not always find it easy to talk about it, and parents/youth workers may be unsure of how best to help.

This project builds on both my work with Voice Collective (a London-wide project that supports children and young people who hear voices) and the wonderful Listen Up! Summer Arts Roadshow (in partnership with ‘Hearing the Voice‘ at Durham University).

In the latter, I met a group of inspiring young people from the North East who made full use of the peer support on offer whilst creating works of art that helped express what it’s like to hear voices. That experience, in particular, filled me with a commitment to help support the development of more diverse support options for young people in the North East … and it’s exciting to now be in a position to make good on the promise I made over a year ago.

What does the initiative involve?

I will be running a series of workshops and events that aim to:

  • Increase awareness around voices and visions in young people
  • Equip those supporting young people with the understanding, skills and tools to help young people who hear voices get the most out of their lives.
  • Stimulate the development of peer support opportunities for young people in the North East – in CAMHS and voluntary sector settings by training facilitators.

Download and share: A5 North East Voices Initiative Flyer

Training Workshops

Understanding & Supporting Young People who Hear Voices

Youth Voices flyer1 day workshop, 19 January 2018, 10am – 4.30pm

@ The Forge, Centre for Professional Development, Teeside University, Vicarage Road, Darlington, DL1 1JW

This one day workshop explores: The experience and its impact; different ways of making sense of distressing voices and visions; links between voices, visions, emotions and trauma; ways of challenging the stigma surrounding ‘voices’ in youth services; safe ways of talking with young people about voices and visions; developing a toolbox of practical and creative youth-friendly coping strategies.

Fees:

  • £75 Full (NHS, statutory and commercial)
  • £50 Reduced (self-funded places and voluntary sector funded places)
  • £20 Concessions (unwaged*, students and low waged self-funding places that cannot afford the reduced fee)

*If you are unable to attend because of financial reasons, please get in touch to see if we can work something out.

Special offer – buy one place get one free: to support the implementation of the approaches covered in this course we are offering a free place for another member of your team and/or family. To be eligible for this offer you must specify at booking. Unused places, which have not been cancelled more than 1 week before the course start date, will incur a £25 admin fee.

Facilitating Peer Support Groups for Young People who Hear Voices

Facilitation flyer3 day workshop, 23-25 January 2018, 10am – 4.30pm

@ The Forge, Centre for Professional Development, Teeside University, Vicarage Road, Darlington, DL1 1JW

This three day workshop provides trainees with the understanding, skills and confidence to set up peer support groups for young people who hear voices, see visions or have other unusual experiences, including: the role of peer support; strategies to enhance participation; planning and promoting groups in your setting; launching groups, and managing common initial challenges; facilitation skills and managing difficult situations.

Fees:

  • £175 Full (NHS, statutory and commercial)
  • £100 Reduced (self-funded places and voluntary sector funded places)
  • £25 Concessions (unwaged*, students and low waged self-funding places that cannot afford the reduced fee)

*If you are unable to attend because of financial reasons, please get in touch to see if we can work something out.

Special offer – buy one place get one free: My primary hope for this training is to help stimulate the development of peer support opportunities for young people in the area. My experience tells me that groups are more likely to succeed when people attend in pairs or groups of three. To make this more financially possible in such challenging times, I have reduced my course fees and am also giving every attendee the potential to register a co-facilitator for free.

To be eligible for this offer you must specify at booking. Unused places, which have not been cancelled more than 1 week before the course start date, will incur a £25 admin fee.

Free Public Awareness Event

Break The Silence

Break The Silence flyerCome along to this free event and …

  • Find out about Voice Collective peer support groups and the Hearing Voices Network
  • Meet other young people who hear voices or see visions, and their families
  • Challenge the stigma around voice-hearing
  • Find out about how people can learn to deal with difficult voices or visions
  • Hear about, and help support, local developments in the North East that can support young people who hear voices

Who is it for?

  • Young people who hear voices or have similar experiences
  • Parents and family members
  • Youth workers and anyone interested in supporting these developments in the North East of England

Book your place online:

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Working with Self Harm: A Fresh Approach (December – Kent)

About the workshop

Self Harm Training FlyerThursday 21 December, 9.30 – 4.30pm
@ Augustine House, CCCU Library, Rhodaus Town, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2YA.

Whilst there is a growing awareness of the prevalence of self-harm, it remains a challenging area for many who are trying to support those who use it as a survival strategy and/or means of expressing difficult feelings.

This workshop will provide a space for anyone who is involved in supporting people who self-harm to develop a greater understanding of the experience, their own reactions and ways of talking with someone about their self-harm without fearing making matters worse.

It is facilitated by someone with personal experience of self-harm, as well as experience of working with young people and adults who self-harm in a variety of settings.

Download: Self Harm Training Flyer

This one-day event explores:

  • The experience of self-harm and its many different possible functions.
  • Understanding our reactions to self-harm (as individuals and members of a team/service)
  • The relationship between self-harm, emotions and traumatic life events
  • Ways of, safely, opening up conversations around self-harm.
  • Ways of working with people to explore the role of self-harm in their life, and make sense of whether they wish to change this
  • Developing alternative strategies to self-harm to reduce distress and facilitate choice.

This workshop is for:

This workshop is aimed at anyone interested in understanding and supporting people who self harm, inc: friends, family members, nurses, therapists, psychologists, social workers, youth workers, support workers, peer support workers, occupational therapists, healthcare assistants, volunteers, psychiatrists, students and more.

Fees:

Full price: £75 (includes NHS, statutory and/or commercial agencies)

Reduced price: £50 (includes those who are self-funding and voluntary sector/charity organisations)

Concessions: £20 (this is a special rate for those unable to afford the reduced fee, intended for those who are self-funding and are unwaged, students and/or on a low wage. We ask that people only choose this if they cannot afford the £50 rate).

If you would like to attend, but cannot afford the fee you would qualify for – please get in touch. I’m keen that people don’t miss out because of a lack of resources … these are challenging times, after all.

 

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BBC Horizon: Why Did I Go Mad?

BBC and Various News Sources

This week I was one of three contributors with personal experience of things that often get called ‘psychosis’ (hearing voices, seeing visions and paranoia) on the BBC Documentary ‘Why Did I Go Mad?’. The title, suggested by one of Jacqui Dillon’s voices, was deliberately provocative in order to challenge what we mean by madness and – ultimately – show that there is a great deal of sense and context in those experiences often dismissed as ‘mad’. The challenge is that we don’t always get to hear those stories.

Rai and The Not YetsWhilst the documentary provided a whistlestop tour around a range of ideas and approaches, it was great to show that it can be OK to talk to voices (via the inherently relational ‘Talking with Voices’ approach or the hi-tec Avatar Therapy). More than this, it showed that a range of life experiences can be bound up with our experience of voices, visions, distressing beliefs or psychosis. This may not sound groundbreaking to many who read my blog, yet for a mainstream BBC programme – it was.

In the coming weeks I’ll write more about the process of filming it and my reflections on the varying reactions I have witnessed. For now, I’ll simply share the documentary itself (which can be viewed on iPlayer this month) and a range of reviews so you can judge for yourself.

PhoenixAlso – i’m running a 1 day event with the amazing Jacqui Dillon in July entitled: Making Sense of Madness – An emancipatory approach. If you want to find out more, see: www.madness-london.eventbrite.co.uk.

Why Did I Go Mad? BBC Horizon

You can watch this programme on iPlayer during May 2017: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08pltgy

Media Appearances

The following are some of the TV, radio and magazine appearances Jacqui and I engaged in around the documentary.

BBC Breakfast

Jacqui and I headed up to Media City to appear on BBC Breakfast. An interesting experience, it was good to think about people hearing a fresh approach to hearing voices whilst eating their cornflakes. The main message – voices can have meaning, and people can find many ways of living with them.

Radio 5Live

Jacqui and I woke up early on Tuesday 2 May and spoke with 5Live hosts Rachel Burden and Nicky Campbell about hearing voices.

Radio BBC London

Luke Mendham (episode producer) and I spoke about the documentary, psychosis and hearing voices on BBC London’s Drivetime.

Radio BBC Solent

Surrounding Press – Reactions & Reviews

BBC Radio 4 Thought for The Day: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p051xd21

New Statesman: www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv-radio/2017/05/what-causes-psychosis-horizon-why-did-i-go-mad-tries-help-us-understand

The Times: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/horizon-why-did-i-go-mad-peter-kays-car-share-2372wzc0d

Radio Times: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-05-02/whats-it-like-to-battle-with-a-dozen-people-talking-inside-your-head

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Making Sense of Madness: An emancipatory approach

7 July 2017, 10 am – 4.30pm, registration from 9.30am

Hackney House, 25-27 Curtain Road, Hackney, London, EC2A 3LT

https://madness-london.eventbrite.co.uk

This unique, one day event, featuring Jacqui Dillon and Rai Waddingham (recently featured on BBC Horizon: Why Did I Go Mad?), explores experiences often dismissed as symptoms of serious mental illness: voices, visions, paranoia, unusual beliefs and altered states, and reframes them as understandable human responses to adversity.

Drawing from personal and professional experiences of madness, healing and recovery, combined with emerging innovative research findings, Jacqui and Rai present an emancipatory approach to understanding and working with distressing experiences that prioritises respect, personal meaning, self-determination and liberation.

Download: Making Sense of Madness Flyer

It includes:

  • Understanding ‘mad’ experiences
  • Exploring factors that can contribute to and shape distress
  • Alternatives to diagnosis – moving beyond the illness model
  • Respectful ways of helping people in distress
  • Strategies to survive and thrive

This day is suitable for:

  • Anyone interested in understanding more about madness, creativity and the complex spectrum of human experience
  • Those involved in supporting another human beinga – whether this is as a friend, ally, family member, colleague, mental health professional, teacher, therapist, social worker, voluntary sector worker, manager or spiritual advisor
  • All those with lived experience of madness and distress

Fees:

  • Unwaged: £10
  • Low Waged Self-Funding: £50
  • Voluntary Sector & Self Funding: £90
  • Statutory & Commercial: £125

Please get in touch if you’re in a difficult financial position – we may be able to help.

Register:

https://madness-london.eventbrite.co.uk

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Radio Times: The Voices in My Head

25 April 2017, in Radio Times

What’s it like to battle with a dozen people talking inside your head? Rachel Waddingham tells her remarkable story.

By Moya Sarner, published in Radio Times

Radio Times ArticleRachel Waddingham sits cross-legged on the sofa and, with the enthusiasm of a children’s TV presenter, talks about travelling the world, the Masters degree she’s doing in psychology and her part-time job in the NHS working with people in crisis.

She doesn’t strike you as someone who has been labelled schizophrenic.

Aged 39 and married to Joel, Rachel says: “My life feels mostly awesome. I get stunned by it sometimes, all the little mosaic pieces. I still struggle a lot, and I’ve got a lot to understand about the things I go through. It’s not like I’m super-wise – but maybe, one day, I will be.” Continue reading “Radio Times: The Voices in My Head”

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Research: Young People who Hear Voices & Open Dialogue

In recent years I have taken a step into research – consulting on other people’s studies (e.g. Hearing the Voice at Durham University), taking part in research committees (e.g. Open Dialogue, Intervoice) and undertaking my own research.

You can find my Researchgate profile here: www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel_Waddingham

I am currently recruiting participants for two studies:

  • Exploring and engaging with the perspectives of people who have substantial criticisms of Open Dialogue
  • Exploring experiences of disclosure and non-disclosure amongst young adolescents who hear voices

If you know of anyone who may be interested in taking part, please share the following information with them. Continue reading “Research: Young People who Hear Voices & Open Dialogue”

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They Heard Voices: Screening and discussion

An independent documentary by Jonathan Balazs looking at the Hearing Voices movement & the schizophrenia label

Film imageOn Thursday 27th April from 6.30pm at Kennedy Lecture Theatre (UCL Institute of Child Health), I’ll be joining a panel to discuss a screening of  ‘They Heard Voices’ … a documentary I contributed to.

This screening is hosted by Mind in Camden, and the following information is taken from their site. If you want to find out more, check out their eventbrite page.

An “illness” with no “cure”, the label schizophrenia has persisted for over a century. This film offers multiple perspectives. Is schizophrenia hard science? Or an arbitrary, catch-all term with no real meaning? The film presents a series of wide-ranging interviews with voice hearers, medical historians, anthropologists and psychiatrists from Britain and America, presenting different people’s views side-by-side. The result is a tapestry of contrasting colours.

Continue reading “They Heard Voices: Screening and discussion”

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‘Open Dialogue in the NHS’ Seminars in March

Over the past three years there has been significant development of the Open Dialogue approach from Western Lapland in the NHS and in public mental health services internationally. Open Dialogue UK has been working for the past four years to further this development, and 10 NHS trusts are now represented on one of their two training programmes (largely teams from Early Intervention in Psychosis and Crisis/Home Treatment services).

Over the course of 6 days in March 2017, I’ll be travelling alongside a variety of NHS professionals and Nick Putman (founder of Open Dialogue UK) across the UK to introduce the work we’re doing to develop the Open Dialogue approach. All of these practitioners are participating in one of the Open Dialogue UK training programmes. The following professions will be represented at this event, either in person, or via video footage: psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy, nursing, social work and peer support. Continue reading “‘Open Dialogue in the NHS’ Seminars in March”

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My Baby, Psychosis & Me: A lesson in how not to make a documentary about mental health

HeartEarlier this year, after my own miscarriage, I settled down on the sofa to watch ‘My Baby, Psychosis & Me’ – a BBC documentary on the journey of two women through a Specialist Mother & Baby Unit. Watching it so recently after my own loss was always going to be painful – yet the issue of how women in crisis are supported after the birth is personally relevant. One day I hope to have a child. As someone whose distress is sometimes takes the form of psychosis, I was eager to connect with the stories of women who had trodden this path before me.

Despite my loss, as the program unfolded I was warmed by the obvious love that the two new mothers felt for their children. I saw beautiful possibilities. I saw how women could, in the midst of such distress, fight to connect with their babies. The bucket loads of courage Hannah and Jenny demonstrated as they navigated their way as mothers impressed me. I shed welcome tears, imagining what might be in store for my husband and me if we were lucky enough to have a child of our own. I felt, and continue to feel, so much gratitude for the families who shared such personal and vulnerable parts of their lives with us.

This warmth, and an acute awareness of how much it may have took for these families to put their stories in the public eye, makes my critique of the documentary itself that much more tricky. Since its airing, I’ve struggled to find a way of saying what it is I find so deeply disturbing about this show without invalidating or co-opting the stories of the women featured. It’s a tightrope. Yet, to stay silent now the documentary has received a Mind Media Award feels like a disservice to the very real issues it brings up for me as a woman, a survivor and someone who is trying for a baby. Continue reading “My Baby, Psychosis & Me: A lesson in how not to make a documentary about mental health”

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