‘We are the ones we are waiting for’

A mental health crisis exists when relied-upon specialist services cannot meet demand. If you are lucky enough to receive support in a timely fashion, you are in the minority. The vast majority of people are either waiting for support or receiving none. And we know that people deteriorate when they’re not getting some kind of help to hold and contain their pain. So, collectively, what do we do? Do we ignore this problem? Or can we, as empathic lay people, step up to the challenge?

A possible solution: Self Detective - in association with Community Counselling Cooperative CIC - have been piloting a scheme that encourages organisations to develop their own in-house, wellness-focused, wraparound support. This can come in many forms. For example (i) having a library of interactive resources available to individuals (ii) having trained facilitators accessible for one-to-one as-and-when listening sessions (iii) the creation of ongoing, informal peer support groups, run by trained facilitators.

What does good-enough facilitation mean?

Psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott coined the phrase ‘good enough parents’: they didn’t need to be perfect, they just needed to be there, providing a safe and stable environment in which to nurture their children. ‘Good enough’ facilitators provide the same nurturing environment for those who need it, using a blend of support and supportive learning.

What does the training include?

• 10 hours of [live or video conferencing] coaching for up to 5 individuals per agency at a time, be they staff, service-users, students, and/or volunteers.

• Access to a library of bite-sized interactive resources; templates for group work sessions, etc.
• Post-training supervision and support.

There are four elements to the training

• Defining facilitation. Creating a safe space. Setting up an agreement.
• Exploring power dynamics. I-it vs I-thou relationships. How to hold a space without being coercive.
• Understanding person-centredness. Exploring the 6 core-conditions.
• Each participant undertaking a 10-minute peer-reviewed facilitation exercise.

Once each participant has successfully demonstrated a competency in person-centred attributes, communication skills, listening skills, interpersonal skills they are ready to start facilitating.

Yes, but we already deliver programmes for our staff/service users

If you have established a wellbeing pathway, great. And it may still be the case that you can enhance this support further. Many training the trainer packages focus on how to deliver the resources within their programmes, while missing out on how to be a facilitator.  We see this as a missed opportunity. For once a person is a good-enough facilitator they can use these attributes/skills/tools not only within their day-to-day job, they can use them in their own personal life, too.

If you would like more information/costings, you can contact Simon via training@selfdetective.net or on 07549698050.

In the meantime, you can check out our video, our free facilitator handbook, some sample resources, and our testimonials, here.