Staff from a town centre shop, which provides mental health therapies and advice, visited a group of people who are recovering from problems with drug and alcohol, as part of a full day of activities to raise awareness and celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week 2016 (16-22 May).
The event saw the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Service from the Talking Shop, which is run by Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), visiting Aspire’s New Beginnings Recovery-Oriented Detoxification Service in Balby to talk to service users about mental wellbeing and support.
Paul Wade, Day Programme Manager for Aspire, who organised the event said: “Aspire Drug and Alcohol Service is run by RDaSH in partnership with the Alcohol and Drug Service (ADS). This means there are fantastic opportunities for partnership working with other services to make events like this as meaningful as possible.
“The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week was relationships, so Dennis Convery, a cognitive behavioural therapist from the Talking Shop came along to talk to service users about the importance of good relationships in helping us live longer, happier lives with fewer mental health problems, and answer questions about general mental wellbeing.”
Talking Shop Team Manager Tim Godley said: “People who are experiencing problems with alcohol or drugs may have underlying issues around their mental health, but it’s important they address their problems with addiction first.
“Once they’ve done that we can provide therapy and support to improve their mental wellbeing.
“This was a fantastic opportunity for us to share information and advice to Doncaster people who are already on their recovery journey.”
To talk to someone in confidence about drug or alcohol issues, please ring (01302) 730956, or visit www.aspire.community
For more information on services provided by the Talking Shop, please ring 01302 565650, or visit http://www.talkingsense.org/
