Relational Practice with Compassionate Mental Health

Rex, Neels, Sam, and our colleague Anando (from the Hank Nunn Institute in India) were delighted to bring Relational Practice to the most recent Compassionate Mental Health gathering, Light the Lamps, from 23rd to 26th Oct at Coed Hills in Wales.

The event brought together many people with lived experience, friends and families, and others with an interest in mental health services, including clinicians, managers, commissioners, and public health staff. They came from all over the UK and beyond, all to spend time learning from and connecting with each other in our effort to build kinder and stronger mental health services.

Our team alongside Brigid, the mastermind behind Compassionate Mental Health, and John, owner of the gorgeous Coed Hills art space

We enjoyed bringing some therapeutic community values to the beautifully vibrant green space of Coed Hills, and were touched by the passion that everyone in attendance brought to the gathering. While a lot of us sadly had challenging experiences of mental health services that could have been more relational and enabling, we were enthused by everyone’s ability to harness that pain and channel to build a better future for our mental health services both in the UK and around the world.

The beautiful landscape at Coed

By putting relationships at the heart and centre of the event, and allowing them to grow organically, Brigid and her team created a thoughtful, contemplative, and exciting space that is unique in the mental health world.

We are very excited to welcome some new members of the Movement after this gathering, and look forward to building more resilient and compassionate mental health services (and public services at a broader level) through these partnerships. We are stronger together!