Conference: A Soteria House - A Real Alternative for Helping People through 'Psychosis'* - Making it Happen in the UK. A one-day conference for everyone interested in alternatives to current biomedical approaches to 'psychosis' organised by the Soteria Network.

Date: Tuesday 3rd November, 2009

Venue: Victoria Hall, Saltaire, Bradford BD18 3JS

Details:
• We know about the problems with current practice
• We understand that people want alternatives to hospitalisation and medication-based services predicated on dignity, respect and choice
• We believe the time is right to create a Soteria House in the UK

Speakers will include:
John Bola - world authority on minimal medication approaches to 'psychosis' and colleague of Loren Mosher (founder of the first Soteria House)
Fiona Venner - manager of the Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service
Adam Jhugroo - Evolving Minds, Bradford

The conference will start at 0945 (registration from 0900) and close at 1630. There will be a bookstall and workshops dedicated to exploring the practical issues surrounding setting up a Soteria House in the UK

Cost: There is no fixed price, instead we invite attendees to make a contribution based on their ability to pay across a scale from £0 to £100. We believe an appropriate contribution from waged professionals could be between £50 and £100, and from the unwaged or service users £0 to £15. Lunch and refreshments are included in the price.

To book a place please complete the accompanying booking form or contact Dawn McCarrick on Tel: (0121) 121 331 7151 - Email: dawn.mccarrick@bcu.ac.uk (Places are limited - please book early to avoid disappointment)

For queries please contact Paula Quick on (01629) 812738. For booking form click here. For conference flyer click here.

*A Soteria House was originally developed as a residential alternative for people diagnosed with ‘schizophrenia’, or 'psychosis', moving away from using such medical language and thinking to explain subjective experience. Common elements of the Soteria approach include finding personal meaning in the experience of 'psychosis' by "being with" clients; and no or minimal use of antipsychotic medication (with any medication taken from a position of choice and without coercion). The house is run with primarily non-medical staffing; preserving residents' personal power, social networks, and communal responsibilities; For more info please see www.health.bcu.ac.uk/ccmh/soteria_network.htm