Mothertongue multi-ethnic counselling service was set up in 2000 as a response to a need expressed by the communities for help with emotional and mental health problems in a way that was accessible for them.
Mothertongue provides therapeutic support services to the BME community by offering culturally sensitive counselling in different languages. The counselling is delivered from satellites in the community. .
The culturally sensitive counselling model has been developed by Mothertongue so that it is appropriate for the clients who access our service. Not only is counselling available in different languages, but we also pay attention to cultural differences, cultural identity formation, cultural concepts of mental health, different forms of communicating, challenges to professional behaviour and ethical standards when working cross culturally. We are accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
We have responded to the needs we have seen expressed by our clients in a variety of ways. Recently we have developed a model of cross - cultural parenting groups. We have trained our counsellors in facilitating these groups and they have already run two groups this year.
We have developed our own training programme for interpreters and counsellors working together and we have created a training DVD in a collaborative way of working for interpreters and mental health workers. We are piloting the provision of mental health interpreters to the PCT later this year.
Mothertongue also offers a cross-cultural support service delivered by volunteers who work to a model of empowerment of clients rather than direct interventions on their behalf.
Traditionally clients from the BME communities have not found it easy to access help for emotional or psychological problems for a variety of reasons including stigma associated with mental health issues and lack of trust in services. |
In an attempt to address this, Mothertongue has needed to engage actively with communities in order to deliver information verbally and gain trust. We have approached issues of mental health in an oblique fashion, from hosting craft workshops to presence at community events. Individuals have participated in workshops and gained a little knowledge of the organisation.
Our clients often experience their patterns of attachment more profoundly with a group (for example, the family, extended family or community) than with an individual.
Clients frequently return to the service as volunteers. There are a number of ways in which volunteers offer their services, from fundraising to supporting and providing advocacy for clients.
For many of the clients who choose to come back and volunteer with us, this can represent part of the creative cycle of healing and the wish to be of use to others. This, in turn, mirrors life in extended families and communities, where people move in and out of roles of dependency and leadership during different stages of their life cycle.
They thus maintain their connection with Mothertongue but in a more empowered role.
We have won a number of awards for our work , including in 2009, the Queen’s Award for Volunteering,
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