What is Recovery Education?
Recovery education takes a strengths-based and adult-learning approach to mental health recovery. It focuses on empowering individuals by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to meet their own personal recovery needs and goals. Central to this model of learning is lived experience, where people can share their experiences of what and who helped them on their recovery journey. This “peer-to-peer” learning fosters hope, builds resilience and facilitates peer support.
Principles of Recovery Education
Co-Production
All of our workshops and educational resources are co-produced by people with mental health challenges, their families, carers and supporters, mental health staff and our community partners. That means everyone has an equal say into the topics and content.
Adult Learning Approach
Recovery education is built on the theory of Adult Learning (Knowles 1968), i.e. that adults are self-directed, goal-orientated learners who want experience based learning that’s relevant to them and have real-life practical application.
Values Lived Experience
Central to our educational programmes is the voice of people with lived experience of mental health challenges. All of our workshops are co-delivered by people with direct lived experience and/or people who have cared or supported a loved one..
Experiential Learning
Learning through experience helps adult learners to apply knowledge in real-world situations, making learning more meaningful and effective. It involves 4 key processes of experiencing, reflecting, thinking and acting. (Kolb 1984).
Facilitates Peer Support – Learning Together
A key component of our workshops is the facilitation of peer-to-peer learning. This involves individuals with similar experiences supporting each other, fostering understanding, reducing stigma, and promoting recovery through shared insights.
Increases Recovery Knowledge & Capacity
Recovery education supports transformative learning. It provides opportunities for learners to challenge assumptions about mental health and find new ways to advance personal recovery, personal growth and self determination.
What To Expect
Our workshops are designed to be engaging learning experiences built around inclusion, supporting diversity and promoting mutual respect.
- Co-Produced Content
Our workshops will provide you with information and insights related to recovery. The content is designed to empower you with knowledge and skills to support your recovery journey. All our content is co-produced by people with lived experience of mental health challenges, their families, carers and supporters, mental health staff and community partners. - Structured Sessions
Our workshops will provide you with information and insights related to recovery. The content is designed to empower you with knowledge and skills to support your recovery journey. All our content is co-produced by people with lived experience of mental health challenges, their families, carers and supporters, mental health staff and community partners. - Interactive Learning
While the workshop is educational, it’s also interactive. You can expect opportunities to participate in discussions, and share your thoughts or experiences. This interaction helps reinforce learning and allows you to benefit from the experiences of others. When sharing experiences we encourage participants to focus on what and who helped them on their recovery journey. - Facilitating Peer Support
You’ll be in a group setting with others who may be on similar recovery journeys. While the focus is on education, there is often a sense of community and mutual support that develops as participants share and learn together. - Experienced Facilitators
Our workshops are led by our trained and experienced Recovery Education Facilitators. The facilitators are there to guide the learning process, providing a safe space to discuss a variety of mental health recovery and wellbeing topics. Facilitators may share their own recovery story. - A Safe & Confidential Environment
Workshops are conducted in a safe and supportive environment where confidentiality, diversity and inclusion is highlighted and respected. This allows participants to feel comfortable sharing and engaging in the learning process without fear of judgment. - Resources & Materials
You may receive handouts, worksheets, or other materials that you can use during and after the workshop. These resources are designed to reinforce the concepts covered and help you continue your learning and recovery beyond the workshop. - Personal Growth & Empowerment
The ultimate goal of the workshop is to support your personal growth and empower you in your recovery journey. - Opportunities for Further Learning
Many recovery education workshops are part of a broader educational programme, so you may have opportunities to attend additional workshops, webinars or get access to self-paced learning resources. These can help you continue building on what you’ve learned and deepen your recovery.
