Community Housing and Therapy is a charity that operates as a Social Enterprise and runs residential units for those with severe and enduring mental health difficulties, and ex-service personnel who are homeless and have psychological difficulties. The charity’s objectives are to help people experiencing mental ill-health and emotional distress by providing residential accommodation with psychotherapy, care and support. CHT’s therapeutic and rehabilitative programme is designed to create a structure that will lead to recovery, employment and eventual independence. Each therapeutic intervention is focused to make an effective impact on relapse rates and reduce the likelihood of future hospital admissions.
All our staff are qualified psychologists and CHT is a members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Centre for Quality Improvement, the International Society for the Psychological treatment of the Schizophrenias and other Psychoses (ISPS), the Association of Therapeutic Communities (ATC) and Homeless Link. CHT runs its own training in group in psychotherapy which is accredited by Middlesex University and is currently being upgraded to Masters level. CHT staff attend conferences, present papers and publish in academic journals, and the organisation is at the forefront of thinking about the treatment of mental health and homelessness. Currently, CHT staff are working under Dr. Nick Maguire of Southampton University to roll out a programme of CBT training for workers in homeless hostels.
|
In 2006 Dr Barbara Rawlins of Manchester University carried out a qualitative research programme into 100 former clients of CHT. Her result will be published shortly. CHT’s six research assistants are currently working under the direction of Dr Mark Freestone, a research fellow from Nottingham University. He is leading a quantitative research project that focuses on designing and implementing a naturalistic analysis of the relationship between clinical outcomes and the therapeutic environment. CHT has entered into a partnership with The Centre for Social Work Research at the Tavistock Clinic and University of East London, under the direction of Dr Stephens Briggs. |
