Frequently Asked Questions
How do you measure your success?
We use a variety of success indicators including the MMPI-2
test, HONOS, and through regular peer-review visits from the Community of
Communities.
Click here to visit
our success indicators page.
Back to top
How do you work with clients and
their families and children?
Many of our
clients have children. Children are
welcome at the community and we have a very positive ethos around children;
visiting children usually have fun! We
support clients with children with their parenting and to develop better relationships with their children. While
we do not do family therapy, we frequently work closely with the relatives of
our clients and involve them in supporting the therapeutic process.
Back to top
What is the gender balance of
your clinical team?
Our clinical
team is approximately equally balanced between male and female members of
staff. We believe that having a gender
balance in the staff team is one important way of creating a healthy
environment for our client group.
Back to top
What is the gender balance of
your client group?
The gender
balance of our client group reflects the proportion of men and women who are
referred to us, and since roughly 75% of referrals to us our female, our client
group tends to have a female majority.
Back to top
How long does the referral and
assessment process take?
When there
is a need for a client to move to us quickly, the referral and assessment
process can be quite rapid. Preliminary
visits can usually be arranged within a week and, if appropriate, a three-day
visit the following week. It takes
around a week to produce our assessment report. The length of time it takes to apply for NHS funding may depend on the
PCT which is funding the client; please contact us if you would like to discuss
a particular case.
Back to top
What are your fees?
Fees are
based on the outcome of reports from the three day assessment - please contact
us for more details of our pricing structure. Day membership and
individual therapy fees are negotiated on an individual basis.
Back to top
Are you funded by the NHS?
The large majority
of placements at Connect are funded by the NHS and we work closely with several
PCTs nationwide.
Back to top
Do you accept privately funded
clients?
The large
majority of our clients are publicly funded, however we do also accept
privately funded clients. Please contact
us for more details.
Back to top
How long do clients stay at
Connect?
We make an
individual assessment of the length of placement that would be required for
each client. Clients usually come with
funding agreed for a limited period, such as 6-months, and an agreement to fund
further treatment if it is clearly to the benefit of the client. In our experience, clients with problems at the
level of severity that we work with usually need around two years residential
treatment to make significant and sustainable change, allowing them to achieve
permanent independence from mental health services.
Back to top
What is your medication policy?
We have a
secure medication room where we store clients’ medication and issue it to them
as appropriate. It is not Connect’s
policy that new residents must be medication free on joining the community, and
we believe that appropriate pharmacological treatment is an important way of
supporting our clients, especially at the start of their work with us. Through the intensive support that is
available, clients are able to reduce their reliance on psychiatric medication,
and this is a helpful part of their therapeutic process as this medication
often masks difficult feelings. By the
time they leave, most clients take little or no psychiatric medication.
Upon arrival
all new clients must hand in all medication including home remedies. We support clients to become self-medicating
once we have risk assessed that they are safe to do so.
Back to top
How often do you assess/review your clients?
The
psychological test reports we create on our three-day visit form the basis for
our therapy plans. We use a variety of
strategies for monitoring and assessment, including:
Twice daily staff handover sessions.
Monthly clinical team meetings incorporating HONOS-Secure, risk assessments and
an ongoing therapy plan.
Six-monthly CPAs.
Six-monthly MMPI-2 testing.
Click here for information about success indicators.
Back to top
Do you work with clients with a history of psychosis?
Yes. Many of our clients have had
psychotic episodes and our core therapeutic model, Transactional Analysis, has
a long history of working with psychosis. One of the classical branches of TA, the Cathexis School, was developed
specifically to work with people suffering from psychosis. One of the ways it does this is to address
the developmental deficits that our clients bring into therapy. Psychotic symptoms are addressed by
establishing a consensual reality.
Back to top
Do you work with clients with substance misuse problems?
Many of our clients have a history of misusing substances as a strategy
for coping with their very difficult feelings. Often they have presented at rehabilitation services with this as their
primary presenting issue, but with complex mental health needs underlying this
problem. We are therefore well placed to
work with clients at high risk of substance misuse, since we can offer support
and alternative coping strategies in a similar way to how we work with clients
with a history of self-harm. We are not
a substance misuse rehabilitation unit, and if a client has a current chemical
dependency on alcohol or illegal drugs we would advise that they attend a
specialist substance misuse service before coming to us.
Back to top
Do you work with clients with
learning difficulties?
We have
frequently worked with clients who have been mistakenly diagnosed with a
learning difficulty. It is common for
our clients to have thinking disorders which may present as a learning
difficulty. We are able to work with
these clients as their problems with thinking are psychological and emotional.
Back to top
Do you work with clients with physical disabilities?
Many of our
clients have physical health problems alongside (and often associated with)
their mental health problems. Whether we
can work with a client with a particular physical disability depends on the
nature of the disability; please contact us for more information.
Back to top
Do you physically restrain your clients?
We
do not physically restrain clients; when clients are very vulnerable we work
with a system of structures which clients negotiate for their support. This can include for example a structure to
stay with another client or member of staff or a structure around a particular
area of risk, for example diet or finances. Working in a structured environment in which problems are picked up at a
very low level avoids escalation to more risky behaviour.
Back to top
Do you have open days?
Yes, though places are
limited; please contact us for more details. It may also be possible to arrange a separate professional visit;
please contact us.
Back to top
Can you take clients Sectioned under the Mental Health Act?
Many of our clients have
been Sectioned and many come to us from low secure settings. Connect is not a secure setting but we are
able to take clients on a treatment section so long as they are discharged from
it within a month. For further
information about an individual case, please contact us.
Back to top
|
