READING RECOVERY COLLEGE

Transcription

1 READING RECOVERY COLLEGE AUTUMN TERM 2016 By Matt Batt

2 Welcome Welcome to our new autumn prospectus. Whether you are a returning student or new to Reading Recovery College, there s something for everyone in the wide range of courses we offer as an educational route to recovery from Mental Health challenges. The Recovery College offers a range of Courses that aim to promote good Mental Health and improve personal wellbeing. All our free courses are designed and delivered by people with lived experience of mental health challenges, clinical Staff and other professionals. Courses focus on recovery and self-management skills and range in length from one day workshops to longer courses running for 4-10 sessions. We have a brief registration process where you can discuss your learning needs with us. You can register on courses after this. You will be asked to complete an individual Learning Plan (ILP) with a peer trainer which will help you decide what you want out of the Recovery College and your future goals Anyone wanting to find out more about the Recovery College, a member of the team will be available every Monday from 12.30pm to 2.30pm at New Directions, 330 Northumberland Avenue (Opposite the sports centre, the No.5 bus stops Just outside) this will be an opportunity for an Informal chat about the courses on offer and Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 2

3 Contents how they are run. Page Courses at a glance 4 How to apply 5 The ILP Process Courses Building your life with mental health issues and challenges 6-7 Health and Wellbeing 8-11 Return to work 12 Our Values & Philosophy Education - You register as a student and choose What you want to learn. Co-production All Courses are developed and delivered by peer trainers who have lived experience of mental health problems together with a clinical trainer, mental health practitioner or other professional on an equal footing. As part of the course, Peer Trainers will use their own experiences to inspire students in their Recovery journey. This model of teaching is at the very heart of the Recovery College and allows for diverse perspective about living with mental health challenges A safe space We aim to provide a supportive friendly learning environment where students can share experiences and ideas in confidence in order to develop skills needed for living with with mental illness. Learning Support The Recovery College will do It s best to meet the needs of students with physical mental or sensory challenges that may be a barrier to their learning. We have a buddy system to provide valuable one-to-one support where it is needed most. Accessibility The Recovery College is open to anyone aged 18 and over with lived experience of mental health challenges, their friends, family and carers, mental health practitioners and clinicians. Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 3

4 MONDA Y Autumn Courses at a Glance Course Title Times Dates Venue Page Information Giving to 2.30 Every Monday New Directions South Reading Shared Reading 12/08 for 6 Central Library sessions Reading 9 TUESDAY Skills for Life to 2.30 Please see prospectus page 7 for details New Directions South Reading 7 WEDNESDAY Employment Mindfulness A Good Night s Sleep Coping with Festivals & Celebrations 1.30 to th October 2016 To be confirmed To be confirmed To be confirmed New Directions South Reading To be confirmed To be confirmed & 19/10 To be confirmed & 21/12 30/11 To be confirmed 11 THURSDAY Recovery Star to 2.30 Understanding Recovery to 2.30 Making Sense of Voices to st and 2 nd Tuesday of each month 3 rd Tuesday of each month ongoing New Directions South Reading 6 New Directions South Reading The Hamilton Centre 135 Bulmershe Road Reading RG1 5SG 6 9 FRIDAY WRAP, 3 sessions 9.30 to Understanding Medication 9.30 to Starting 09/09, 07/10 04/11, 02/12 30/09, 28/10, 25/11, 16/12 New Directions South Reading New Directions South Reading 7 8 Course s to be confirmed Page Five Ways to Wellbeing 10 Mental Health First Aid 10 Smoking Cessation 11 EE Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 4

5 How to apply Complete the registration form in the prospectus. You must register in order to book your place on the courses (We can help you with this) Return the registration form, including the equal opportunities form to: Reading Recovery College The Hamilton Centre 135 Bulmershe Road Reading RG1 5SG Call us on and we can arrange to help you complete the registration form or A member of the Recovery College team will be available to talk to you about the Recovery College and the courses we run every Monday from to 2.30 at New Directions South Reading. You will find instructions on how to get there on the back of the prospectus. Tel: Page 5

6 Understanding Recovery The Recovery Star Understanding your mental health Recovery Star: Building your life with mental health A significant aspect of recovery involves understanding your mental health and learning to support yourself to be an expert in your own self-care. These courses are designed to give service users back hope, opportunity and control. Understanding your mental health and how it affects different parts of your life begins with: During the two sessions with the support of mental health professional and peer support worker, you will identify those areas of your life that you are happy with and those that you would like to improve. This leads to 10 sessions exploring managing mental health, physical health and self-care, living skills, social networks, work, relationships, addictive behaviour, responsibilities, identity and self- esteem as well as the importance of trust and hope. Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 6

7 WRAP Skills for Life Building your life with mental health WRAP: Each student, as part of studying their Recovery Star will have the opportunity to work on their own Wellness Recovery and Action Plan (the WRAP) which will be as unique to each student as they are. This will look at recognising good mental health and what steps to take to look after it, knowing the things that are helpful and harmful and adapting our choices accordingly. Skills for Life: The Skills for Life course is a Recovery focused, ten week rolling programme which is based around the ten elements of the Recovery Star. The Skills For Life course looks at practical ways to increase their sense of wellbeing. It covers topics such as how to look more confident than you feel, building and maintaining social networks, money management, healthy eating, stress management etc. Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 7

8 Mindfulness Understanding Medication Mindfulness: Understanding Medication: Health and Wellbeing Some people may think about wellbeing in terms of what they have, but evidence shows that what we do and the way we think have the biggest impact on our wellbeing. Becoming more aware of the present moment means noticing the sights, smells, sounds and tastes that we experience, as well as the thoughts and feelings that occur from one moment to the next. Being more grounded and aware of our surroundings means we are less likely to be overwhelmed by the distorted perspectives that mental health problems can sometimes bring. This class is led by Mona Qassim, a pharmacist experienced in mental health field. Adherence to regular medication can be difficult to manage consistently at the best of times and if you feel uninformed about your medication can be part of the problem then this is an opportunity to find out. If you want to ask specific questions about your own prescription it is probably a good idea to bring your medication with you, but it may well be included in the course content anyway. Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 8

9 Making Sense of Voices Making Sense of Voices: Connection through Shared Reading Connecting Through Shared Reading Health and Wellbeing The traditional approach to working with voice hearers focusses upon inabilities and deficits rather than individuals ability to understand and cope with their voices and other experiences. This course is grounded on acceptance of lived experiences of voice hearing. Participants will be taught to employ the Maastricht Interview, an assessment tool developed by Dr Sandra Escher & Professor Marius Romme, which provides a structured method for understanding and working with a voice hearer s experience. This is a six weeks Programme that is aimed at bringing people together for a common goal and emphasises the importance of meaningful social engagement and the potential to tell a good story about oneself in a caring, supportive and non-judgmental environment. This clearly offers support and a sense of community which we all need. Shared Reading has been proven and tested for improving the well-being of people at risk of isolation or mental health problems. Its other benefits include: improved connectedness; increased reading for pleasure; aroused intellectual curiosity; rediscovery of self; feeling more open to others experiences and ideas; increased attention, concentration and engagement; increased awareness of possibilities. I can t read or write so I was worried about the group at first, but it doesn t matter. I can listen and follow along, and join in. out there. In the group we actually talk about real stuff feelings, emotions, human stuff. a member of the shared reading group Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 9

10 Five Ways to Wellbeing Mental First Aid Five Ways to Wellbeing: -Mental Health First Aid Health and Wellbeing A review of recent evidence suggests that building the following five actions into our day-to-day lives is significant for our wellbeing and recovery: Be active: Step outside Take notice (mindfulness): Be aware of the world around you Keep learning: Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving Give: Do something nice for a friend or stranger. Mental Health First Aid is an educational course which teaches people how to identify, understand and help a person who may be developing a mental health issue. In the same way as we learn physical first aid, Mental health First Aid teaches you how to recognise those crucial warning signs of mental ill health This class will explore each of these actions, how we can, and why we should integrate them in our daily lives. Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 10

11 A Good Night s Sleep Smoking cessation A Good Night s sleep: Health and Wellbeing Sleep is more important than you might think. A single sleepless night can make us irritable and moody the following day, so it s not surprising that chronic sleep debt may lead to long-term mood disorders like depression and anxiety. When people with anxiety or depression were surveyed to calculate their sleeping habits, it turned out that most of them slept for less than six hours a night. This is a two-session course that will look at the factors that can adversely affect our sleep. You might be surprised how many there are. To Be Arranged Coping with Festivals & Celebrations Coping with Festivals & Celebrations: Managing birthdays, Christmas, religious festivals, holidays and anniversaries can be difficult. They can bring up all sorts of difficult emotions and feelings. This workshop is designed to take the stress out of then and give you helpful tips and ideas on how to manage and get through them Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 11

12 Employment Thinking of returning to work, or getting your first job? This course will be delivered by Khadija Hussain, Individual Placement & Support Worker at Reading Community Mental Health Team. Employment Engaging in meaningful activity helps recovery. Being employed is a form of meaningful activity, which contributes towards recovery. Thinking of returning to work, or getting your first job? This course will help you: Reflect on why appropriate work is good for mental health What it s like to look for or return to work a talk given by someone with lived experience of returning to work following a period of ill health Explore your aspirations about work. Gain an overview of work and benefits and where to obtain more detailed advice Know who to speak to about help getting back to work Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 12

13 Reading Recovery College Registration Form All information from the registration form will be kept in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 Please post your completed form to: Reading Recovery College, The Hamilton Centre, 135 Bulmershe Road, Reading, RG1 5SG Or to: Are you a Returning Student? Yes No 1. PERSONAL AND CONTACT DETAILS Full Name Date of Birth Current Address Telephone Postcode Mobile Can we leave a message Yes/No Can we leave a message Yes/No address Preferred method of Contact (please tick) Letter By Phone Contact telephone in case of emergency Contact name Contact telephone 2. COURSE DETAILS You may choose 1 course for the list below Course Title Start Date Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 13

14 3. ABOUT YOU Reading Recovery College is for people with mental health challenges, their relatives, friends and carers and the staff of our partner organisations Are you living with a mental health condition? YES NO Do you have support for your mental health condition? YES NO Psychiatrist GP Care Co-ordinator Other (please state) YES NO Are you a carer for someone with a mental health condition? Are you a friend/family member of someone with a mental health YES NO condition Are you a volunteer or staff member working in mental health? YES NO 4. DISABILITIES AND LEARNING DIFFICULTIES (tick as many boxes as needed) This information will be used to make reasonable adjustments to support you and ensure the course is accessible for you Learning Disabilities Autism or Asperger s Syndrome Learning support needs 3.g. dyslexia, Emotional/Behavioural Difficulties dyspraxia, dyscalculia Physical Disabilities Need practical support Sensory Impairment Hearing Longstanding illness Sight Mental Health Dementia Other (please specify) Unseen Disability i.e. Asthma, Epilepsy, Diabetes 5. PEER MENTORS We have a small team of trained Peer Mentors who can support you in attending our courses Will you require a Peer Mentor YES NO 6. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Will you require an interpreter or signer? YES NO If YES, what is you first language? Signature: Date: Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 14

15 Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form We are committed to ensuring that all students are treated equally. This form is intended to help us maintain equal opportunities best practice. Please complete this form and return it with your application form. The form will be separated from your application on receipt. The information on this form will be used for monitoring purposes only. It will not be shared with the tutors. The answers you give are very important to us and will be kept confidential in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and only used for data analysis to improve our services. All questions are optional but the more information you supply, the more effective our monitoring will be. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence. Please tick appropriate boxes: Rather not complete at all Date: Postcode What age are you? Prefer not to say What gender are you? Male Female Other please state Prefer not to say Do you identify as the gender you were assigned at birth? How would you describe your ethnic origin? White English/Welsh/Scottish Northern Irish/British Irish Gypsy Traveller Polish Portuguese Sudanese Any other White back-ground (please give details) Asian or Asian British Bangladeshi Indian Pakistani Chinese Any other Asian background (please give details) Black or Black British African Caribbean Sudanese Any other background (please give details) Mixed Asian & White Asian & Black African Asian & Black Caribbean Black African & White Black Caribbean & White Any other mixed Background (please give Details) Other Ethnic Group Turkish Arab Japanese Any other ethnic group (please give details) Prefer not to say After you have ticked a box: If there is an ethnic category that is not included here that you think should be, please tell us: Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 15

16 Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation Heterosexual/Straight Lesbian/Gay woman Gay man Bisexual Other (please state) Prefer not to say What is you religion or belief? I have no particular religion Buddhist Christian Hindu Jain Jewish Muslim Pagan Sikh Agnostic Atheist Other (please state) Other philosophical belief (please state) Prefer not to say Are your day to day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Yes a little Yes a lot No (Do not answer the next question) Prefer not to say (Do not answer the next question) If you answered Yes, please state the type of impairment. If you have more than one please indicate all that apply. If none apply, please mark other and write an answer in. Physical impairment Sensory Impairment Learning Disability/Difficulty Other (please state) Are you a carer? Long-standing illness Mental Health Condition Development Condition Yes No Prefer not to say If yes, do you care for a? Are you: Currently serving in the UK Armed Forces A veteran/ex-serviceman or woman of the UK Armed Forces? A member of a serviceman or woman s immediate family? A reservist or in part time service (e.g. Territorial Army)? Please send the completed form to: Reading Recovery College The Hamilton Centre 135 Bulmershe Road Reading RG1 5SG Parent Child with special needs Other family member Partner/spouse Friend Other (please give details) Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 16

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18 New Directions South Reading 330 Northumberland Avenue Reading, RG2 8DH Free parking onsite and opposite at Academy Sport Centre. Local Bus route: 5 Compass Recovery College The Hamilton Centre, 135 Bulmershe Road, Reading RG1 5SG Free parking onsite (Signed Maiden Erleigh School) Local Bus: 19a, 19b & 19c Tel: compass.opportunities@reading.gov.uk Page 18