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Introduction
Trialogue: Opportunity, discovery and emancipation through whole life recovery
- Trialogues are equal partnerships of people with mental health issues, family members and mental health workers.
- Mental health is often seen as the domain of service providers, carers and people who use mental health services. However within communities there is a huge diversity of knowledge and experiences that can be used to transform services.
- To empower communities to become proactive about mental health there is a powerful process called the "Trialogue" that encourages participation and open dialogue. This is achieved through the creation of a community forum where everyone with an interest in mental health participates in an open dialogue.
“where it is perceived as a joint action that joins people together in a temporary mutual world experience. Participants have to be willing to engage in this dialogue or a situation needs to be created where it can ensue” (Bakhtin 1981)
Subject to subject (with, not to!)
Co-creating and naming their world
Don’t have to abandon beliefs or values
Everyone is perceived as an expert by their experience
The collective expertise creates learning, transformation and communication skills
Respectful ground rules ensures open dialogue is possible
The common denominator is an interest in mental health
Germanic speaking countries
Open dialogue forums
Organisational development and delivery
Psychosis seminars
Aims
To develop the necessary human relationships that lie at the center of healing for people who have experienced extreme emotional distress, trauma, tradititional psychiatric services and practices, addiction and a variety of other challenges in life.
Objective
Through human relationships the Trialogue will seek to:
- understand the importance of our life stories and social networks
- discover ourselves as a whole person, our strengths, susceptabilities and needs
- appreciating the significance of our intimate, family and other important people in our lives
- connect, reconcilliate and move forward
- build resilience to overcome lifes difficulties
Development
The community will be established through the development of a community (not a service) though a focal point, a safe place owned by the Trialogue.
Co- produced and developed through a process of ensuring local ownership (the micro community) by:
Identify local stakeholders
Local service users, families workers
Management and organisational understanding, ownership and support
Underlying Principles
“Whole” local community involvement and agenda setting
Family Emanciapation from services as a goal
People together – Mutuality
Using non stigmatising/pathologising language
A safe, confidential place for exploring personal recovery
Triangle of Experiences and Opportunities
Leadership Community
Focus
No service providers no service recipients, human relationships at the centre
A healing process
A triangular and equal relation between experts by experience, experts by profession and families – with shared responsibility
A working partnership of discovery, exploration of self and others
Addressing difficult issues and realtionships honestly
Full and equal participation of social network and family
Sharing knowledge, understanding and acceptance of self
Exploration of life story
Reconcilliation with self and others
Dreams and goals, plans for future
What happens in Trialogue meetings?
Pick a topic
Right to speak or not
Anonymity optional
Moderated
Freedom to leave your hat outside the door
Guiding accord/ground rules
An open conversation
Transformatory in itself though not an action group
Educational
Interactive
Dynamic and Active
Overcoming barriers
Accepting
Participative
Leadership
Social Justice
Guidelines for meetings
Mobiles off
Personal safety maintained
Respect each utterance and perspective
Take on board others perspective
Not required to give up own values or perspective
One voice at a time
Option to speak or just experience
No talking over each other
When speaking about meeting outside respect what was said in the space and don’t personalise comments
Outcomes
Emergence of community leaders in relating to mental health problems and community response
Increased understanding of mental health problems among community members
Increased capacity among people with mental health and their families & carers to advocate for and determine supports needed in communities
Provision of a community focus for actions aimed at developing mental health awareness and action
Dissemination of learning of the impact of Trialogue meetings on individuals, services & communities
Sustainable capacity built incommunities to offer Trialogue forums
Mentoring of neighboring communities in developing community Trialogue forums by trained facilitators