Where a New Story Begins: Recovery College

Visiting a Recovery College in the UK in February 2020 was the catalyst for my decision to take a break from my career and study abroad.

While there are several Recovery Colleges in Japan, I think many people are not familiar with them.

I find them to be incredibly attractive places that I hope will become more common in Japan, so I would like to introduce what a Recovery College is.

A Recovery College is an educational facility that supports the recovery of people who have experienced mental illness. It is.

When described this way, people in Japan might imagine it to be a welfare facility.

However, a Recovery College is a facility that anyone enrolled in the national health insurance can use. Since I am also enrolled in the national health insurance, I have taken four courses for free so far, and I spent time with many people regardless of whether they had experienced mental illness or not (the "education" aspect is the key point here!).

"Recovery" regarding the term.

When translated into Japanese, it means "recuperation," but it does not have that meaning; rather, it is compared to a journey.

As for what kind of journey it is,

it is a journey to rebuild and rediscover strengths, and to gain the experience needed to live a fulfilling life with meaning and hope.

Strengths, the meaning of life, and hope differ from person to person, don't they?

Therefore, it is also a characteristic that the meaning of the word recovery changes for each individual. When I ask people who have used a Recovery College, "What does recovery mean to you?"

it is truly diverse, including new growth, discovery, evolution, acceptance, hope, the future, freedom, living... and so on.

What they have in common is that they are "moving forward." I feel that.

There are also various reasons for using a Recovery College.

For example, to aim for social reintegration after experiencing mental illness, to take a step back and reflect on yourself because you are tired of your current life, or to explore your own direction.

Recovery College is a place where each individual has a different purpose and moves forward on a new path in life through their experiences. It is.

Since it is a "college" (educational institution), the services provided are courses, and everyone who uses it is treated as a student.

Here, you are not judged based on whether or not you have experienced mental illness.

It is a place where you exist as an equal human being and move forward with your own life.

Another feature is that the courses provided are created based on the concept of co-production.

For example, suppose we are creating a course on "Good Sleep."

In this case, those involved in the creation are "Recovery College staff," "sleep experts (such as doctors)," and "people who have actually experienced trouble with sleep."

It is not created solely from expert knowledge, but is built through repeated discussions between actual experienced individuals, experts, and staff.

These discussions are, of course, held on equal footing.

If a doctor is an expert in knowledge, then a person who has had trouble with sleep is an expert in experience.

It is also appealing that the courses provided are completed by maximizing the unique strengths of each person.

In this way, there is absolutely no prejudice born from images of mental illness, and everyone exists as equals from the creation of the program to its delivery.

Not only are the concepts and the way the programs are created attractive, but the people who use them and the staff are also wonderful. I am experiencing this firsthand by actually participating.

I had to agree when a staff member confidently explained to me during my visit, "Once you participate, you'll want to participate again!"

...And while I cannot finish talking about Recovery College, the background of this facility is positive psychology and coaching.

For that reason, I am currently studying positive psychology and coaching while exploring how to realize this in Japan.

I believe that if I can create a place like this, a place where each individual is respected as a human being and can stop by when they are struggling to find the motivation to move forward again, I will be able to support more people than ever before.

To realize this ideal and contribute to building a slightly better society, I will continue to move forward on my journey with enthusiasm today.

Thank you so much for reading this far!