Spotlight on: Talk For Health
Who are we speaking to today?
Mike Lawrence, Head of Programmes at Talk For Health
In one sentence can you describe what T4H do?
Talk for Health is a programme developed by Psychotherapists, which teaches a method for therapeutic talking and enables people to set up and/or participate in ongoing groups to support their own wellbeing and others’.
How did T4H begin?
Nicky Forsythe (Founder & CEO), out of her frustration with lack of access to and effectiveness of mainstream forms of therapy (both private and NHS interventions) undertook a qualitative research project whilst studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She found that there was an unpredictable mix of good and bad experiences across all different kinds of therapy. Negative experiences were characterised above all by an experience of disconnect – either a lack of sense of connection with the therapist, or a mismatch of agendas, or both. In successful therapies, the most important theme was the sense of clicking with one’s therapist – as one person put it, ‘it’s like finding your soulmate’. In this kind of relationship, it was possible to open up and confide, somewhere where you go to be yourself and it’s okay. Essentially, she distilled the ‘effective ingredients’ of different types of therapy, to create a 4-day programme in which people explore their own experience, feelings and emotions learning how to talk about this in an open and honest way with others in a peer-to-peer relationship. Participants learn how to actively listen to others sharing their experiences and respond using a set of basic counselling skills. By doing this, we create a network of people who can give and receive support to one another, empowering individuals to look after themselves and others.
What’s been your favourite project to work on?
We are currently working with the local NHS trust to embed our programme and groups into the offering they provide to service users locally, it is a chance for us to grow massively and scale the impact we have.
How can people & the community support T4H?
Come along to one of our Taster sessions or Programmes! We are delivering a Taster in partnership with BetterSpace as part of our member give back programme, so come along! You can sign up here
What has been your biggest achievement in creating a positive impact so far? On a team and or individual level?
Last year we won the ‘Long Term Impact Award’ at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Awards! On a personal level, at the end of every programme we run there is a huge sense of achievement from participants, with people often describing the experience as life-changing, so to witness this is a massive boost.
Do you have any opportunities available now?
We are currently hiring a Programme Manager, contact me on mike@talkforhealth.co.uk for more info.
How can people contact you?
My email is above, or give me a call on 07444050942.