Toward a new way of relating: An evaluation of recovery training delivered jointly to service users and staff

Abstract

Aim

This paper explores an innovative approach to recovery training in which the medium of delivery – as much as the actual content of what was delivered – challenged the conventional construction of professional relationships.

Methodology

The training group comprised service users together with the practitioners who normally worked with them and would continue to do so. The paper examines the staff experiences of the training and the impact on their practice through qualitative interviews conducted 6 months post-training with a sample of four staff participants.

Findings

The thematic analysis of the interviews demonstrated that this approach could be a powerful experience that brought about lasting changes in working relationships and professional identities. Particular themes that emerged included challenging power relationships and the value of the trainers disclosing their own lived experience and recovery narratives in creating a “safe space” for collaborative learning.

Implications for future practice

This approach demonstrated the potential to be transformative for staff and their relationships with service users, although care may need to be exercised when offering it to staff with little prior exposure to recovery-oriented practice.

Keywords:

• recovery
• training
• mental health
• service user
• collaboration
• evaluation
• staff