Empowerment in Mental Health (1 day)

The history of Mental Health services is a troubled one; organisational and individual attitudes and behaviour leading to highly oppressive and at times abusive “care”. The title of this course immediately raises issues of power and control that require careful consideration when supporting people in a Mental Health context.

The course examines the underpinning conditions that lead to oppressive outcomes and considers principles of practice, ethics and working methods that would promote the interests of users of Mental Health Services.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course learners should have understood:

• A brief overview of Mental Health services in the UK (to include: Psychiatric hospitals and Institutional practices)
• The components of Institutional care and the impact on Psychiatric patients
• What we can learn from this history
• The assumptions, structures and methods of support that lead to the disempowerment of service users
• How the Mental Health Act potentially impacts on the service user
• The desired outcomes for service users
• Principles of Practice in Mental Health services and Housing
• A philosophical approach to supporting service users in today’s climate
• What is meant by “Empowerment”
• What power we hold
• How we use it
• How we deal with power imbalances
• How we need to act in a professionally responsible way and respect service users rights
• What we can do to support the independence and self esteem of service users
• How we can promote their choices and responsibilities
• Structures and working methods that can help achieve this:
        -Working in a Person Centred way
        -Advocacy
        -Self Advocacy
        -Consultation
etc.

Training Methods:

• Tutor presentations
• OHP/PowerPoint
• Group work
• Chalk and talk
• Role plays
• Activities
• Handouts