Recovery in Mental Health

Recovery in Mental Health : Participate in making the french situation evolve!

What is recovery in mental health?

Living with a sever mental disorder and being in recovery, it is possible! It is our reality! We are her to tell it!

We belong to a training which is part of socio-political movement called “Recovery in Mental health”. It was born in the US in teh 1960’s (taking part of the civil rights movement) and was designed and carried by people known as “sick”, having experienced the care system and considering themselves as “survivors of the psychiatry”( survivors of the system…). This movement has defended the fact that people facing the disease during their lifetime, were not convicted, regardless the severity of the disorder, they could recover, they could have a satisfying and fullfilling life. Recovery argues that the firt experts are the mentaly ill themselves.

Recovery is questionning the norm, shakies certainties and brings hope.  

We are the students of the Undergraduate Inter-University degree “Recovery Oriented Pratices”.

This training is by a unique and mixed student group: some are professionnals (from social and medical professions) others are people concerned by a personnal history of mental health difficulties and are making the experience of maintaining a recovery in their own lives. They are all together to discover the recovery philosophy and history to understand its approach to be introduce to the basic tools or predisposin attitude.

The “DESIU” is built, managed and conduced by both people concerned by mental health troubles and university researchers, carried by the three university of Aix-Marseille, Lille et Toulouse, in partnership with the french association of peer support workers based in Marseille.

Our goal: To promote recovery of people experiencing mental health illness in their lives:

• allowing “users of services” in recovery, structuring an expertise coming from their experience, to enter a professionnalization path to become peer mental health workers.
• allowing professionnals of the mental health sector to change their practices, to have a more accurate understandinf of the realities of those they work for every day.

The problem: 

With its specific and innovative format, about job which is not yet recognized by the state authority, this training doesn’t match with the classic founding solution system in France, which doesn’t enables students living with the minimal social benefits to pretend for funding.

The training take place, by its four weeks, in four different cities: Paris, Marseille, Lille and Toulouse, to allow the students to benefit extremely rich field experiences of this four cities.

Some have made depts putting them in a precarious financial situation to founf the training. Others (few) have missed teh second or third training week.

These students represent the hope for recovery for thousands of people living with mental health troubles in France.

For some, making this training is to make a bet out of poverty.

We decided to act, that is why we appeal to you!!

Context

What is a peer worker in mental health?

Peer workers are the cornerstones of this paradigm. From their own experience, they build what is called an “experiential knowledge”. They decipher their experience and are helped to build their way to be able to use it in peer recovery oriented professionnal relationship. They can mediate in care service, in direct contact with patients. They can be counselors, be part of the governance of institutions or work for local or national policy makers. they can train professionnals in mental health and other sectors better consideration and understanding of the experiences and needs of people living with mental health troubles. They can be researches.

Impact

How will be spend the money?

This crowfunding made by the association of the students and sustained by the association of peer support workers “FRANCE MEDIATION” will basicly permit some students to:

• Be able to pay for transport to get to the training sites

• Lodge during the week

• Dining

This training is the first in France and discusses concept taht are still not considered or known around France. Students of this degree are precursors. They have to build from A to Z what will be their buiseness, to convince their peers to consider alternative to existing practices, and the population in general to have another look at people with mental health problems.

Conditions “favorable” monitoring of training will help them to face the future more serenely and will help to bring out a collective reflection on what must be the professions of peer workers in mental health in France. The societal stakes are high! 

Heph us!