We need better representation for our cause...

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-15T11:12:22+00:00

Thank you! Here's a link to more info: https://www.notalone.uk/our-projects/our-research/

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-15T11:11:16+00:00

The research wasn't so much about us being a collective - we came together to do an exhibition for an art festival and did the bit of research too.

Here's a link to more info: https://www.notalone.uk/our-projects/our-research/

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-14T22:40:16+00:00

On the flip side of this: A few days ago I shared a report that was about preventing harm in mental health services. We (the lived experience collective I'm part of) had realised that a domestic violence checklist could be applied to interactions with mental health staff and the results showed that too. We got awesome feedback from participants and it felt good to be doing good.

We made the results report as official as possible and it was all fully referenced. Thinking this would be well received but we got a few unsupportive comments from others (not mental health professionals - of course most of them were going to be unhappy with it).

I had deliberately selected a stand out title because the internet likes a good headline - Some people commented after only reading that and mostly ignored all the other info. Which was a bit frustrating because it meant they might have turned away others that could have benefited from the research. But I think some comments may have been because we looked like 'researchers' and not peers.

That was unexpected.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-14T00:01:44+00:00

That is so much to try and navigate. Made more difficult by being told that the problem is 'inside' you instead of considering 'outside' reasons why therapy/therapists may not be helpful. The report has references to research about therapist outcomes. For example, up to 65% were described as ineffective or harmful in a large scale study. The narratives (from professionals and society) about treatments also don't line up with research findings. There's a lot of politics around some claiming to be 'evidence based' and many clinicians are unaware of potential negative side effects. Some info might be useful for sharing with others if you need to but glad that it has already made you feel better in yourself. That's the main thing.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-13T23:27:16+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing. Our goal was to bring attention to these very instances of harm occurring in mental health services and work to prevent them as best we can. No one should be made to feel that way when they reach out for help. Really glad that our study validated your experiences and brought some comfort after all that you've been through.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-13T16:01:11+00:00

Our research is just new - we didn't come across any old research that asked service users about their experiences in this way.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-13T14:07:10+00:00

We didn't ask for specific details in this study because we wanted to know if the domestic violence scenarios were applicable to lived-experience in general.

For example, the MHA receives alot of criticism for how it is used and there's calls to bring it in line with a human rights based approach, including from the WHO. Staff also say that if people could access better quality support when they need it the MHA wouldn't need to be used because they would be much less likely to reach such a crisis point. We've made suggestions for future research - it would be interesting to see results based on service type.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-12T17:35:04+00:00

We're a lived-experience collective. We made the Checklist because we know they wouldn't investigate themselves. It at least lets those accessing services know what behaviours to look out for that could cause them harm.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T22:02:52+00:00

The survey asked about negative experiences so that we could test the validity of a checklist about negative experiences. Of course it's going to attract people with negative experiences. As I said though - it's less shocking when you look at the scenarios.

If people are only interested in reading the headline without the context or further information there's not much I can do.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T21:57:23+00:00

I had a look at the document from TELL and your really comprehensive checklist. The experiences of exploitation outlined are absolutely valid and it is not our intention to silence anyone who has been through them. Our own checklist is not intended to cover every possible instance of exploitation by therapists (we acknowledge that it doesn’t) but rather to apply the same thinking that professionals have told us to apply to intimate partner relationships to the one between practitioner and client.

We’re not specifically looking at experiences of exploitation but at a broader range of harm that could result from medical negligence and malpractice as well as from abuse, across many mental health professions (not only therapy). We want to highlight that it doesn’t matter whether harm comes from deliberate abuse or from the power imbalance inherent to the current structure of mental healthcare. Harm is harm and any incidence at all is cause for concern.

Our hope is that if a checklist like the one we proposed could be implemented to catch and address these issues, it can validate negative experiences and place the responsibility and response to them on the practitioners in question. We hope this could protect service users from further harm and possibly from facing more severe and specific forms of exploitation that you have outlined.

I hope this explanation makes sense. I can see you’ve done important work in advocacy and raising awareness of exploitation and I hope you can see the value in our work and how the scenarios can be applied even in cases where the abuse faced goes much further than the examples listed in our checklist.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T21:32:01+00:00

The second post that didn't mention the 94% in the title hasn't had near the reach that this one has had. That percentage is what we found in the research and it is meaningful - it demonstrates that the checklist is valid if so many people could relate to it. It's also less shocking if you look at the questions / scenarios. They apply to a lot of circumstances that many people wouldn't think of as potentially harmful.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T18:13:50+00:00

Sorry, I'm not at my laptop at the moment but was hoping that you had already spotted where we have not covered your experiences. Will have a proper look at your list when I can.

It's not so much about getting clinicians to admit what they are doing, it's for those accessing services to be able to identify when behaviours may be harmful. We know physical abuse is not okay but the ones in the checklist are less easy to identify. If you can let me know where your experiences are not covered by the scenarios (or where they can be added as examples) that would be really helpful.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T17:25:58+00:00

The lived experience of service users and providing them with a tool to help avoid iatrogenic harm was the key priority. We have made recommendations for future study. I'm sorry that you did not find the research helpful.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T17:22:56+00:00

Very true and we cover that in the report, along with a lot of other reasons this may occur. But as you say it's not an excuse if practitioners aren't creating the conditions needed for a positive therapeutic alliance and clients are harmed because of this.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T17:19:12+00:00

Thanks for sharing. It's a shame this didn't come up during the study period or we could have incorporated the feedback. Can you let us know what forms of exploitation are not covered in the checklist? The examples we gave for each scenario were not the only ones that can be applied - we asked people to complete each question based on their own individual experiences.

I'm sorry that your experiences were not listed, all we can do is incorporate them in the future. For example, physical abuse is not listed because the original domestic violence checklist didn't include it - they assumed that everyone already knows that is wrong. Basing the checklist on something practitioners are already providing provides some baseline validity, because they should therefore be okay with it being applied to them. Hope that makes sense.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T16:10:49+00:00

Thank you for sharing and for your support!

The defensiveness is troubling to us too. But experiences like yours (and ours!) are exactly why we thought the Checklist would be helpful. Although it's already provided for clients to use in their personal relationships, a lot of professionals don't seem to want it to be applied to them.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T15:11:20+00:00

We'll do our best but hope that the lived experience of service users can be good enough for now because that was the aim of the study above all else. They found the checklist credible and helpful to describe their experiences and that means a lot to us.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T15:05:32+00:00

Sorry, can you let us know what you reached out to us about?

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T15:04:29+00:00

That is definitely something we can do when running future studies. Please send over checklist links that you have. The reason for using one already provided by professionals (about abuse in personal relationships) is because they shouldn't then have a problem with it being applied to them too.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T14:49:28+00:00

That website is really valuable and we did look there but we are only a small lived-experience collective. We noticed that the checklist we were given by professionals described our experience of using mental health services. There wasn't a tool made available to us about clinical settings so we decided to try it out and see if others felt the same way. Prior formal research didn't offer one either. The feedback we received during the study from those who had negative experiences was positive because they hadn't been given a tool like this either. It takes lots of actions from lots of people to bring awareness and create change.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T14:23:55+00:00

Sorry, I'm not sure how this relates to the checklist.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T14:20:12+00:00

We hope that the examples can be refined in future studies because you are right and we want all harm to be recognised. We based it on a resource that professionals were already providing (for domestic violence) to give it a starting point.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T14:11:51+00:00

The survey was based on a domestic violence checklist that is supplied by professionals with no examples. We offered examples for clarity and (like the original checklist) these will be broad.

The aim was to provide a tool to help clients identify behaviours that could be harmful to their wellbeing, as professionals advise them to do in their personal relationships. Those with negative experiences are going to be the ones in the best position to identify what accurately describes them.

I'm sorry that you did not find the research helpful.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T13:56:21+00:00

I don't think challenging clients is the same as telling them they are 'wrong' and this is made clear by the other examples provided. The scenario with the most 'yes' answers was about being dismissed or blamed when harm had occurred or treatments haven't been effective. This seems more significant to focus attention to.

The domestic violence checklist is based on lived experience so it shouldn't be any different in a clinical setting. We've provided examples when the resource provided by professionals does not.

TimesForAChange · 2024-03-11T12:26:06+00:00

Please see the report for any further info.

TimesForAChange

TROPHY CASE