Excellent piece! Always encouraging to read success stories. Models for mental health and wellbeing developed prior to the scientific revolution were allowed to explore and take a more holistic approach. They were not constrained by Descartes human as a machine or to the mechanistic reductionist model that focused on finding what is broken in the person and then endeavoring to fix the broke part. Reductionism allows no consideration of the whole person, whole situation, or the power of support by the whole community. Fortunately, today we have 20th century complex sciences and the recognition of humans as complex adaptive systems which provides validation and support for holistic approaches. Thanks for your ongoing work to share important information and stories like this.
So spot on Ben! Another great example of a city expanding the Fountain House (or clubhouse) model to an entire community is Trieste, Italy, a city of 236,000 people. "The central premise of the Trieste model is that mental health treatment should place the suffering person—not his or her disorders—at the center of the health care system....In practical terms this meant that people experiencing mental health challenges should live in the community. From: "https://www.onedoor.org.au/news-updates/blog/the-trieste-model#:~:text=The%20central%20premise%20of%20the,should%20live%20in%20the%20community.
Yes, love this, Josh. I have been a fan of what Trieste (and Italy) has done. Not many people know, but they shifted heavily away from psychiatric hospitals in the 1950s! Great share - thanks!
What goes on at Geel is similar to the approach that Canadian philanthropist Jean Vanier employed with his L'Arche program, based in France but which later spread to other countries. Certainly, Europe understands how to treat the mentally ill in a way that seems foreign to North America.
Thank you, David! I am learning that there are a lot of other examples out there. Seems many communities were able to find solutions that were much more humane and patient and family friendly than the US.
Excellent piece! Always encouraging to read success stories. Models for mental health and wellbeing developed prior to the scientific revolution were allowed to explore and take a more holistic approach. They were not constrained by Descartes human as a machine or to the mechanistic reductionist model that focused on finding what is broken in the person and then endeavoring to fix the broke part. Reductionism allows no consideration of the whole person, whole situation, or the power of support by the whole community. Fortunately, today we have 20th century complex sciences and the recognition of humans as complex adaptive systems which provides validation and support for holistic approaches. Thanks for your ongoing work to share important information and stories like this.
So spot on Ben! Another great example of a city expanding the Fountain House (or clubhouse) model to an entire community is Trieste, Italy, a city of 236,000 people. "The central premise of the Trieste model is that mental health treatment should place the suffering person—not his or her disorders—at the center of the health care system....In practical terms this meant that people experiencing mental health challenges should live in the community. From: "https://www.onedoor.org.au/news-updates/blog/the-trieste-model#:~:text=The%20central%20premise%20of%20the,should%20live%20in%20the%20community.
Yes, love this, Josh. I have been a fan of what Trieste (and Italy) has done. Not many people know, but they shifted heavily away from psychiatric hospitals in the 1950s! Great share - thanks!
What goes on at Geel is similar to the approach that Canadian philanthropist Jean Vanier employed with his L'Arche program, based in France but which later spread to other countries. Certainly, Europe understands how to treat the mentally ill in a way that seems foreign to North America.
Thank you, David! I am learning that there are a lot of other examples out there. Seems many communities were able to find solutions that were much more humane and patient and family friendly than the US.