"A very important service"

After I was discharged from hospital, I was recommended Recovery College by my Psych Doctor through Kingston PCHT. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I had struggled to make stick what I had been taught in hospital, and was struggling with the everyday at home. I've attended several courses over two terms, and I wanted to write in to say what a positive experience it was. 

I attended an open day at King Charles Centre. It was immediately welcoming with with hot drinks, biscuits, and help completing the forms, and information on what was covered on the different courses, and what was recommended for me. One of the best things about Recovery College is the Peer Support workers who have lived experience. They make you feel like they understand what you are going through, and often raise their relevant experience to help people on the courses.

In my first term I attended Mindfulness, Managing Stress, and Confidence and Motivation. In particular the Mindfulness course with Angelika was excellent, and I find it very useful doing informal practice each day. Its helped me manage situations that cause me mental pain better. In the Confidence and Motivation course, with Carla and Neil, I learned to make If/Then plans for difficult situations, and thats enabled me to do things that I was too anxious to do.

In the second term I have been attending Taking Back Control, 5 Ways to Wellbeing and Journalling. Taking Back Control has been a very good course so far, really trying to get you back in touch with who you are, and the stumbling blocks to recovery and what to do if you slide back. Kelvin and Peer Supporter Owen have both been excellent facilitators and the discussion of people's challenges is always useful.

The things that really come out from the courses is the opportunity to meet other people with similar problems to me, and share experiences. I also wanted to mention that the Recovery Cafes were a really positive thing, and a lot of people on the courses sought them out.

I do thing that the Recovery College is a very important service that helps people find help, put their lives back together and hopefully reduces the number of people going to A&E, when what they really need is the tools to live their lives.