Bringing the 'Earnest Professionals' and 'Grass Rooters' together

 

Conference room at RCPsych

Conference room at Coed Hill Rural Arts Space

Yes, we’re absolutely serious about the relational practice movement – and there are two ‘wings’ to it as it has emerged over the last few years, and gathered itself together.

The first is the ‘earnest professionals’ who see just how wrong services are at the moment, in so many ways, and want to make things better.

Many of them (us?) would disagree about a lot of details, from research methodology to the fundamental importance of psychoanalytic thinking – but ‘relational practice’ articulates something they hold in common. Those of us involved in ranting about it all have been surprised at how well it has caught on in our fairly small circles (except in criminal justice, where it is really making the weather with some of the high-level policy people). Sadly not so in the NHS, which is only just starting to soften its bone-headed dogmatism about whether things work or not. We don't know exactly where the other sectors are up to with 'relationality' (see previous post) - but we're going to invite some professionals who might be interested.

So that ‘wing’ includes clinicians, researchers, NHS managers, commissioners, some fairly senior civil servants (at least in CJS), and the odd politician (for example Norman Lamb, Tan Dhesi and John Alderdice). And we know a few teachers, clergy, employment and housing/homelessness to invite.

The other wing is the ‘grass rooters’ – most of whom don’t have much say in the system (though it is getting better through numerous small organisations calling for change).

It is mainly the ‘service user’ activists, and their friends and families, but does include some professionals and their organisations who are also arguing for change (like Compassionate Mental Health, and many other organisations and people we have met over the years)

This is what we have been calling the ‘campaign and communications’ circle (see the diagrams in the previous post).

These two groups came together very effectively under Nick Benefield’s leadership of DH’s National PD Programme (2002-11) and carried on doing so in BIGSPD (the British and Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorder) – where Nick and I started cooking up these ideas at the annual conferences, and presenting the 'work in progress' since 2011.

But this work is only for a limited audience and it should not be limited to ‘personality disorder’ – it needs to be all of mental health, and health, and all public services.

They all need to recognise the central importance of relationships to them working well (for service users’ and workers’ experiences, as well as organisational ‘efficiency’).

So two launches of the 'Relational Practice Movement' are on the horizon:

1 - for the ‘earnest professionals’ – a day conference at the Royal College of Psychiatrists on Tuesday 30 May. That date may be changed to ensure that key people are able to attend, and speak.

2 - a residential event for the 'grass rooters' - predominantly service users, family and friends, together with sympathetic professionals - held by Compassionate Mental Health at Coed Hills, Tue 21- Thu 23 March (tbc)

See you there, I hope!