Services must work reflexively with people to be truly ‘trauma-informed’. Sticking to strict procedures prevents them tailoring their approach to create the safety and care people really need, causing extra harm instead of the help they promise…. more
It isn’t in our power to save every human being, but it is in our power to nurture that essence, that turning towards us with the will to stay alive…. more
The NHS promotes mental health for both its staff and patients but there seems to be a huge disconnect between their promotion and their practice. … more
I believe the solution cannot be found without structural change within services. We need policy makers to sit back and listen, carefully…. more
‘This is a good-sized book!’ was my first impression of We, The Heartbroken when I unleashed it out of its… more
“We experience relief & gratitude in sharing our work… people get to meet others from around the world who become friends & allies, our struggles become collective, we heal each other with our words & songs, we overcome the fragmentation & alienation caused by trauma, we use our poetry to manage overwhelming emotions & make sense of our experiences, to document extraordinary times in our lives, to revisit difficulty with new eyes, to celebrate where we have reached, to tell our stories; we revive hope.”… more
Read NSUN’s chapter in ‘Holding Our Own: A guide to non-policing solutions to serious youth violence’ … more
Art speaks where words fail, though sometimes they work in conjunction. Facilitating these tough discussions through a visual medium is my way of helping the mental health community. … more
We need alternatives which don’t yet exist in this country, because the starting point is always to look at what currently exists, rather than ask ourselves instead what is missing…. more
The statistics for racialised communities and the damage that’s enacted due to improper safeguarding and care are quite telling… NHS figures from 2020 revealed that Black communities in England were four times more likely to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act… more
Image credit: Voice that Shake! Book Review: Voices that Shake! A trilogy of youth led publications: Voices that Shake! An… more
What I have found since venturing into mental health work full-time is that because I care so deeply about the work, the boundaries have become a lot more blurred…. more
