Voices of Experience

Thurstine Basset is a social worker who now runs his own independent training and development consultancy. His current clients include the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and Education not Discrimination at Rethink. He is the Chair of the Mental Health Training Forum, Middlesex University and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Brighton. Together with Theo Stickley, he is joint editor of Teaching Mental Health (Wiley, 2007) and Learning About Mental Health Practice (Wiley, 2008). Theo Stickley is Associate Professor of Mental Health in the School of Nursing at the University of Nottingham. Previously, he trained and worked in both mental health nursing and counselling. Theo has led on a number of educational research projects in collaboration with people who use mental health services. He uses narrative as a research method, especially amongst people engaging with arts activities. He leads the East Midlands Arts and Health Research Group; he is also a Director of City Arts, Nottingham, and leads the Art in Mind programme of work.

"The book has much to offer therapists who counsel those recovering and their carers, although its primary target is other mental health professionals and researchers." (Therapy Today, 1 September 2011)"They would also read of the value of the support provided by others who demonstrate empathy and compassion. I highly recommend this book and am happy to say a copy is now available in UWE's Glenside library." (University of the West of England, 1 September 2011)"Appealing to both practitioners and patients, the book features stories and poems on surviving/recovering from mental illness, coping strategies, and recovery/discovery (the latter term preferred by some)." (Booknews, 1 February 2011)"One of the unique strengths of the book is that it straddles the usual divide between "professional" and "survivor" literature. Whilst the contributors are all service users or survivors, many are also workers or academics, and the thoughtful introduction relates the contributors' ideas to current debates... I would recommend this book to all service users, survivors, mental health workers and students." (Open Mind, July/August 2011)"First-person narrative accounts of illness form a substantial proportion of the literature... (these) narratives form an interesting and well-edited collection." (Journal of Mental Health, December 2011)

• About the Editors viiContributors viii1. Introduction 1Thurstine Basset and Theo Stickley Poem: Recovery – Libby Jackson 122. The Antidote to Madness: Crystallising out the Real Self 13Peter Chadwick Poem: But What is the Cause? – Libby Jackson 203. Surviving the System 21Peter Campbell Poem: They Come and Go – Dave St. Clair 31Poem: Fixing Dinner – Dave St. Clair 324. Measuring the Marigolds 33Alison Faulkner Poem: The Tears I Cry – Mariyam Maule 455. Coping Strategies and Fighting Stigma 46Joy Pope Poem: Day by Day – Libby Jackson 576. Living with the Dragon: The Long Road to Self-Management of Bipolar II 58Peter Amsel Poem: In Exile – Mariyam Maule 757. Coping Strategies 76Ruth Dee Poem: Puppeteer – Esta Smith 848. What’s it Like Having a Nervous Breakdown? Can You Recover? 85Laura Lea Poem: A Journey beyond Silence – Mariyam Maule 949. The Bridge of Sighs and the Bridge of Love: a Personal Pilgrimage 95Peter Gilbert Poem: Have You Ever Felt Lonely? – Dave St. Clair 114Poem: He Saved My Bacon – Dave St. Clair 11510. The Holy Spirit – Healer, Advocate, Guide and Friend 116Richard Lilly Poem: Mist of Tears – Brice Jones 12011. CAPITAL Writings 121Thomas France, Timothy Bird, Richard Love, Kay Phillpot, Howard Pearce, Clare Ockwell and Jude Smith Poem: Nicely Nicely Nought – Martin Snape 141Poem: Feel Easy-Fit – Martin Snape 14112. The Value of Self-Help/Peer Support 142Caroline Bell, Sarah Collis and Joan Cook Poem: The Clear Sky – Dave St. Clair 15113. A Recovery Approach in Mental Health Services: Transformation, Tokenism or Tyranny? 152Premila Trivedi Poem: To What Could Have Been – Mariyam Maule 16414. Stand to Reason 165Jonathan Naess Poem: I Am – Libby Jackson 17315. Walking with Dinosaurs 174John Stuart Clark Poem: Negatives and Positives – Libby Jackson 18216. Conclusions, Discussion and Ways Ahead 183Thurstine Basset, Joan Cook and Theo Stickley Poem: The Heart of Humankind – Mariyam Maule 192Index 193