Slí Eile, the mental health recovery charity based at Churchtown, jointly hosted its first conference recently in conjunction with the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at MTU. The event brought social care practitioners, students, educators and therapeutic support agencies together to highlight the benefits of nature-based recovery.
Keynote speaker at the event was Consultant Psyc-hiatrist, Dr. Pat Bracken who previously served as Clinical Director of the Mental Health Service in West Cork. Dr Bracken has recently contributed to the World Health Organ-isation’s Quality Rights initiative, which promotes good practice in mental health services grounded in recovery, relationships, and human rights, drawing on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Dr Bracken outlined his work with the World Health Organisation and his thoughts on key aspects of mental health recovery.
Jess Angland, CEO at Slí Eile, spoke of her passion for her work, the support available to residents at Slí Eile and the vital support that the community plays in supporting people recovering from mental health issues. She outlined how Slí Eile operates a culture of safety, care and inclusion at the charity and how staff loved their work supporting residents to recover from mental health issues.
The day was designed to be participatory, reflective, and practice-focused and offered attendees the opportunity to learn, apply new support techniques and network.
Louise Beecher, Assistant Lecturer at the Dep of Applied Social Studies at MTU said they were delighted to host their first off campus event at Slí Eile, saying it was it was great to build on previous collaborations with the charity, thanked colleagues the faculty for their support in organizing the event and hoped attendees would learn from each other, foster connections and see first-hand what is offered at Slí Eile. Carmel, a resident at Slí Eile told of the many benefits of living at Slí Eile and the changes in her life since moving there.
Amongst the other presenters were Caitriona Lyons of Kerry Equine and Nature Therapies, and Shelly Berry of Rag Tree Equine Assisted Learning who discussed the Eagala Model of equine assisted services and the key role it can play in mental health recovery. This support model brings together a team of a counsellor or psychotherapist, an equine professional and horses to create a safe and supportive space for therapeutic growth.
Conference attendees were offered the opportunity to participate in nature-based activity workshops. Lorcan Gleeson of the Saoirse Project engaged participants in a breathing and relaxation exercise after discussing his adven-ture based therapeutic work with children. Ray Burke from east Cork based Active Connections encouraged people to learn new skills and use tools to light an outdoor fire, which was fun, thought provoking and built confidence in many of the participants. Emma O’Donovan, an MA student at MTU facilitated a mindfulness and creativity in nature workshop.
Geoffrey Stekelenburg, visiting Slí Eile for the second time from Iceland, spoke of intentional peer support and the importance of relationships in the mental health field.
It was a really successful day, feedback from atten-dees was extremely positive and many said they will try to adopt approaches discussed on the day. Another conference is planned for Burton Park later in the year.
The very popular Saturday community and farm produce market will open for the season on Saturday, May 2nd, which will host many stalls selling a range of organic farm produce, bakery products and arts and crafts.
Slí Eile is based at Burton Park, Churchtown, and supports people recovering from mental issues. It operates several social enterprises including an organic farm, a vintage shop, a bakery and a community market in order to raise funds to fund its work.