The philosophy of the academy is to deliver an educational rather than a therapeutic approach; not treating you but teaching you. Where a therapeutic approach can be based on problems and deficits, in education we focus on strengths, talents and resources. In the academy we will work with you to explore possibilities and develop your skills in order to achieve your goals and ambitions. Our facilitators will act as coaches and mentors, recognizing that participants can learn to find their own solutions to difficulties and that this is enhanced by the sharing of professional and lived experience of mental health and addiction services.

Our commitment to education will be evident in the language we use and the way that the courses are delivered.

A fundamental principle of the academy is that the courses are co-developed and attended and the majority are co-delivered. We believe that this mixture of expertise enhances the facilitators and participants experiences, knowledge and skills through learning together.

We will be using some traditional methods of learning and some innovative approaches. We will also be using digital stories in the training which are short video clips developed by people with personal experience of recovery about their individual journeys, what helped and what hindered. This training method really helps to bring recovery alive.

The courses will be delivered predominantly by two facilitators one of which will have a facilitator qualification. We will offer a variety of levels of sessions some just light taster sessions through to modular programs that will be assessed and require a degree of self learning (homework). Our aspiration is that in the future we will offer fully accredited courses.  All of our training will be delivered to a high standard and monitored for quality by our colleagues in Addictions and Mental Health who are members of the Recovery Academy Advisory Committee and through rigorous review of session evaluations.

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required
Email Format
Close