A Place of Safety?: Recent Episodes
A Place of Safety? Podcast
Many voices are not heard in British mental health care (and beyond), significant flaws are overlooked. If you are not satisfied with the status quo or just curious, follow us!
Harry Dyson from McPin joins Vincenzo to discuss the current challenges of activism and change in the UK landscape. How does the implementation of 24/7 neighbourhood centres, based on Trieste's services, change the way Basaglian activism should approach the problems of our mental health system? What is the relation between building something new and the destruction of what was there before?
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In this episode Vincenzo looks into the way a mental health system based on theoretically flawed rules about safety affects an overarching system of rules which exist to make people accountable for what they do. This creates significant dilemmas for any Basaglian.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/a-place-of-safety--3410507/support.
In this episode, I discuss the new dilemmas I'm facing as the so called "Trieste model" increases its visibility across the UK. What should we do about activists who support the approach on paper, but end up advocating for its opposite in practice?
On top of this, I also talk about the abolition of the personality disorder label, particularly in relation to borderline personality disorder.
Michael joins Vincenzo to talk about his experience of mental health services in Scotland, over time. We discuss how services, by understanding suffering as a risk, end up caring mostly about dangerousness. This means that those in crisis are often met with a repressive approach, and those who are not considered dangerous are often met with a neglectful approach.
Sara London joins Vincenzo to disucuss her upcoming book: "The Performance Therapist and Authentic Therapeutic Identity: Coming Into Being".
We discuss why it's important in the current context, with psychotherapists having to measure themselves with a role that involves much more than just technical knowledge. We also discuss how the concepts of art and science are intertwined.
Read the book! And feel free to subscribe at the link below:
https://saralondon.substack.com/
Dr Micol Ascoli and I meet again to discuss the principles and history behind "law 180" and the Italian mental health reform, as well as its content and how it works. We discuss how it's different from UK legislation and what other systems could learn from it. Vincenzo has already introduced this topic in episode 10, so that episode is a good introduction to this one. On this occasion, Micol offers an important perspective on this, as a Psychiatrist who has knowledge of both the British and Italian mental health systems.
British and Italian Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist Micol Ascoli joins Vincenzo to talk about her experience of working in Uk mental health services, and about how we both experienced moving from a Basaglian background and system in Italy to the UK context. This conversation happens in the context of a range of mental health care scandals which have been recently in the news in the Uk. Bureaucracy is an interesting lens through which the crisis, and the system's response to it, can be understood.
Jerome joins Vincenzo to talk about his interest in ways of organising the economy that are based on cooperation. During his studies, Jerome became unsatisfied with traditional economic structures and interested in alternatives. Italian social co-operatives were a very interesting example to Jerome and this brought him to learn about Basaglia's interest in using them to build alternative system to the asylum in the community.
Take a look at Jerome's website:
econ.coop
For further information, see the page below:
https://linktr.ee/jerome.warren
Sydney Conroy, Phd student at Cambridge University, joins me to discuss how hard science, the medical model and the system's expectations affect practicing play therapy with children. We also discuss differences between her experience of the US and how the system works in the UK, and much more!
mentalhealth #psychiatry #NHS #UK
On this episode I speak to Robert, who is on his last year of training as a Psychiatrist. It's the first time that someone with a Psychiatry background comes on the podcast, so don't miss it! We discuss a number of topics including science, the gap between theory and practice, Open Dialogue and Insulin Coma Therapy.
Ben Tuttle is the CEO of hopeguardians.com , a new organisation that offers free therapy in the UK and South Africa. In this conversation we explore the opportunities and challenges of this ambitious project.
You can find more information, and also the promotional video we talk about during the episode (highly recommended!), at the link below:
https://hopeguardians.com/
If you have any question or suggestion, don't hesitate to get in touch!
Professor Helen Spandler and Dr Sonia Soans join me to talk about the history of Asylum magazine, our thoughts on the twitter mental health debate, activism in the UK and India, Democratic Psychiatry and more...
Please subscribe to the magazine, it promotes an important platform for a constructive dialogue between different ideas that finds little space elsewhere:
www.asylummagazine.org
Steve and Sam join us (for the second time) to discuss what they learned in their experience as nurse and service user
On this episode I give a brief overview on how my position on the role of science in support services evolved through my studies. Hopefully I explained what my position is with sufficient clarity.
I talk about Galilei, Kuhn, Popper, Feyerabend... since I'm not an expert in Philosophy, please correct me if I got something wrong!
A book has just been published on Basaglia's influence in the world. It's the beginning of a difficult conversation. Let's talk about it
Vincenzo shares some thoughts on the limited nature of a debate based on which treatment options to offer to patients in the current system.
Dr Lucy Johnstone joins Vincenzo to discuss the "Power Threat Meaning Framework", a new and highly influential approach that challenges traditional diagnostic thinking. We take a look at the rationale behind it and some of the criticisms that have been raised against it.
Here are some related links to know more:
The main PTMF website: https://www.bps.org.uk/power-threat-meaning-framework
A talk on the PTMF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWAv4IBsCjc
Another interview about the PTMF: https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/03/dr-lucy-johnstone-power-threat-meaning-framework/
Maria Teresa qualified as a Psychologist in Italy, she has worked in the mental health sectors in the UK and Italy and has completed a Sociology doctorate on the de-institutionalisation processes in two countries; on this episode she shares her perspective
In this episode Vincenzo looks back at the past year and discusses what apos has meant so far
Sonja and Vincenzo talk about the different meanings that alcohol use can have for men and women across cultures. How does society's way of understanding these issues shape the way we address them?
Steve and Sam join Vincenzo to discuss their experience of meeting as nurse and patient and then teaching together and co-producing their work in this respect. Among other things, we talk about the importance of the patient's perspective in care and the significant impact that lack of communication or trust can have on treatment, especially in terms of medication
The concepts of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy differ in the UK and Italy. In this episode Vincenzo discusses what background should be required to train in Psychotherapy and how different ways of framing these concepts can affect patients. Sorry if this episode is posted late, the next one should be published two Thursdays from now as usual.
What does building therapeutic relations look like? Vincenzo travels to Trieste to talk to two service users, Marilena and Marco, about their experience of a "youth group" within the Trieste mental health system.
Is Trieste the ideal mental health system? Should we aim to re-create the "Trieste model"? Not really. In this episode we look at problems with this perspective and why it will paradoxically never get us to the Trieste results.
In this episode Vincenzo reviews a highly influential book in the history of current mental health care in the uk.
Owen Spalding, a mental health nurse with experience of inpatient settings, joins Vincenzo in debating whether psychiatric hospitals should be reformed or destroyed.
Let us know what you think!
Today Vincenzo discusses the concept of mental illness. Does it exist? What are the implications of our evaluation?
The failings of the current mental health system have real consequences for people's lives. What Melanie has to say is relevant to all of us.
There was no podcast episode due to come out today but we need to get as many people as possible to sign this petition below before Tuesday at midnight:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/255823
Other links you may find useful:
http://www.curementalhealth.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/470129540220825/?ref=share
Matt and Vincenzo look into the reasons that are frequently brought up to justify why the "Trieste model", which is in itself a problematic definition, cannot be applied in the UK. Spoiler alert: they are not very convincing... let us know if you agree or not!
Sonia talks to Vincenzo about how psychological support is seen in India and how it takes shape in the support offered to her students. We discuss similarities and differences with the UK.
Vincenzo talks to Sam about the values that underpin sport nowadays. We discuss the implications of the current competitive culture for athletes and we question what it means for society to move in a direction where personal value is considered more and more an exclusive matter of good functioning and efficiency.
On this podcast we have often said that the British vision of mental health care is not the only one in the world and we talked a lot about Democratic Psychiatry and the Basaglian movement. It is however not only Italy that has a different history from the UK; in France the "Institutional Psychotherapy" movement developed an analysis of illness and care that has many potential implications for mental health care and society at large. Susana is a researcher with knowledge in this field and joins Vincenzo on this episode.
On this episode Vincenzo discusses why the fight to change things should happen within the system, what the obstacles to change are and how we could understand resistance by people in the system. To what extent do professionals see or not see that there are significant problems? and why...
On this episode we meet Jane and Lucy, who work with people who hear voices with a different approach from statutory services. We discuss the perspective of their two projects, the difference from a purely medical understanding of voices and the challenges that this represents.
For contact details of the services we discuss, please read below:
info@voicecollective.co.uk
voicecollective.co.uk
forum.voicecollective.co.uk
voicecollective.eventbrite.co.uk
@MiCPrisons
voicesunlocked.com
jfaulkner@mindincamden.org.uk
community group:
@TalkingSense_
Matt and Vincenzo have a discussion on the concept of diagnosis in mental health. How does this concept determine our way of framing problems and how is this relevant?
Dr Porsanidou talks to Vincenzo about our podcast's partner Asylum Magazine and her reasearch on reducing violence on the wards. We discuss how violence is thought of in the system and try to make sense of what she observed on the wards.
After having described the functioning of the Trieste mental health system in the previous episodes, on this episode we talk about Franco Basaglia and the history of the Italian mental health system, a system without psychiatric hospitals.
NOTE: Maxwell Jones worked in a hospital called Dingleton, not Dingwall as we say.. Sorry for the mistake!
After Vincenzo's visit to Trieste, Matt shares his views on that system and we move on to talk about coercive care more broadly. How do we create a system without coercion? Why is the current British system so persuasive to some workers?
On this occasion Vincenzo is in Trieste, Italy, which has a system without psychiatric hospitals, to talk to Marilena and Arturo about their experience there. Both are service users and Arturo is also working for the system.
We are joined by our friend Charlie to discuss the concept of PIE (Psychologically Informed Environments). We look at what this means in the current UK context and we have an interesting discussion on the strategy to change things!
Vincenzo has published an article for the upcoming summer edition of "Asylum, the radical mental health magazine", with which we will start working closely. Please subscribe to it!
Vincenzo and Matt discuss how professionals in the care sector are faced with a conflict between their individual skills and values and the demands of the system. How do people measure themselves with this contradiction?
There is an ongoing public push to de-stigmatise or "end the stigma" of mental health in Britain. Matt and I are joined by our first guest Sam to discuss how the intrinsic bias of our mental health system affects the way we approach the concept of "stigma".
In previous episodes we discussed a number of controversial concepts that the mental health system asks professionals to work with. In episode four we discuss how training is used to prevent democratic debate and to persuade people to abandon critical thinking.
There's a strong push in British mental health services for treatment to be evidence based. In this episode we look at the downsides and distortions of this approach.
A focus on an effective risk management culture is an essential element to bring about safety in mental health care... or is it? Matt and Vincenzo discuss the downsides of this approach...
Our first episode discusses how the mental health system in Britain prevents an authentic debate on its bases through the concept of "Best Practice".
For the Welsh presentation of Trieste services that we refer to in the podcast, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdk44vx9ra4