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Emma on the Edge

@EmmaontheEdge2

Compassionate revolution in crisis care. Has cats. Writes stuff informed by lived experience of mental illness, using services and working within them. she/her.

emmaontheedgeblog.wordpress.com
Joined September 2020
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Photo by Emma on the Edge (@EmmaontheEdge2)Photo by Emma on the Edge (@EmmaontheEdge2)Photo by Emma on the Edge (@EmmaontheEdge2)Photo by Emma on the Edge (@EmmaontheEdge2)
'Willingness and wilfulness' - when the wisdom becomes a weapon. emmaontheedgeblog.wordpress.…
When ‘Willingness’ and ‘wilfulness’ become weapons

When ‘Willingness’ and ‘wilfulness’ become weapons

Last year I was sent an appointment letter for a psychiatric assessment out of the blue with no explanation. Although it turned out to be my GPs’ usual procedure when moving to the area, I was imme…

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Bit personal this one. Some thoughts about hope (and muesli) from the edge. emmaontheedgeblog.wordpress.…
Thoughts about hope (and muesli) from the edge

Thoughts about hope (and muesli) from the edge

This isn’t one of my researched and academically referenced pieces of work, so if you’re looking  for a coherent argument, I would suggest you look elsewhere. This one is entirely subject…

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Currently ignoring the world and looking at this spectacular picture of Mr Hugo over and over.
Image from Emma on the Edge (@EmmaontheEdge2)
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Trying to write about reducing re-traumatising dynamics in MH services, but rage keeps making a mess on the page, threatening to invalidate my argument, because to complain about pain is to risk being dismissed as non-compliant, avoiding responsibility, my speech just a symptom?
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The overlooked intervention: Listening with empathy and compassion. In being heard and understood, we find our edges, our value, our agency and our self-solidity. This should be our primary expertise, before risk assessment, before skills coaching, before behaviour modification.
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Precisely this. We’re talking about a cultural shift towards safety for everyone, not interrogating people.
Tony Roberts (@FosterChangeUK) profile pictureTony Roberts@FosterChangeUK9 Dec 2020
Trauma Informed Care is not “Tell me all about your trauma” or “what happened to you?” Trauma Informed Care is assuming that everyone carries trauma and being sensitive to how that may affect them. You don’t need to know what the trauma is to be trauma informed.
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So true. So often we fail to acknowledge the contexts within which people exist.
Emily (@emclayton6) profile pictureEmily@emclayton68 Dec 2020
People who stuggle with their mental health when living with poverty, abuse and discrimination are not lacking in resilience, they're lacking in social justice.
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Some catches of the mental health system by Andy Baxter asylummagazine.org/2020/12/s…
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‘No intervention that takes power away from the survivor can possibly foster her recovery; no matter how much it appears to be in her immediate best interest’. Judith Herman (1998)
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Love this
Carolyn Spring (@CarolynSpring) profile pictureCarolyn Spring@CarolynSpring27 Nov 2020
Trauma symptoms are not a 'fault' in our brain. They are, amongst other things, signals to the rest of the tribe that something is amiss in the world - and we need the tribe to listen and take action if we're to fully heal.
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When. When. When. #TraumaNotPD
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As @HartleySamantha so eloquently states, current services punish people for being too broken or not broken enough. This ‘is actively harmful to people. It gaslights, it denies, it blames, it neglects, it stigmatises, it marginalises.’
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Yes 😀 This. Please.
Tamar, Warrior LXP ✊🏽🏹🧚‍♀️👸🏽🧙‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧞‍♀️⚔️ (@tamar_whyte) profile pictureTamar, Warrior LXP ✊🏽🏹🧚‍♀️👸🏽🧙‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧞‍♀️⚔️@tamar_whyte17 Nov 2020
Replying to @BeresfordPeter @Al_Richards_786
I don’t want participation any more. I want survivor led research, survivor led organisations, power sharing & employing us equally within non-SU led orgs. I want survivor commissioners and funders who will prioritise and directly fund us #PPIMustDie
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Supportiveness is defined by the supportee, not the supporter. It's not supportive to make others miserable, however good your intentions. You don't get to beat someone round the head whilst telling them "This is supportive!" Why not try asking & adapting?
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Are we OK? And does it matter? Why staff wellbeing is more important than anything else emmaontheedgeblog.wordpress.…

Are we OK? And does it matter? Why staff wellbeing is more important than anything else

Poor levels of wellbeing among mental health professionals is arguably the greatest barrier in the provision of effective mental health services, and undermines the chances of patients receiving au…

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(Aha - I have remembered how to tweet.) My proudest professional moment to date: Someone said to me ‘You [the team] made me feel like I was worthy of care so now I feel like I’m allowed to be kind to myself too.’ Kindness is never wasted. #compassionatecare
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Emma on the Edge retweeted
Amy Chandler (@DrAmyChandler) profile picture
Amy Chandler@DrAmyChandler15 Oct 2020
New paper, quite a different one for me, but I had a lot of fun writing this w/ Fiona Stirling 'Dangerous Arms and Everyday Activism: A Dialogue Between Two Researchers with Lived Experience of Self-Harm' journals.sagepub.com/doi/ful… #openaccess #selfharm #instagram #ECQI2019
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‘Skills’ and why we sometimes hate them emmaontheedgeblog.wordpress.…
‘Skills’ and why we sometimes hate them

‘Skills’ and why we sometimes hate them

‘While emma has an excellent understanding of DBT skills, she lacks the self worth to allow herself to fully engage with using skills’ (Letter from Psychiatric liaison practitioner based in A&E…

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What if we listened to pain instead of risk? emmaontheedgeblog.wordpress.…
What if we listened to pain instead of risk?

What if we listened to pain instead of risk?

Risk is perhaps the most intimidating element of mental illness. With growing awareness of suicide in the media, assessing risk and mitigating against it is a responsibility that is often handed to…

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