Charter Residential at Primrose Hill

With a history of relapse and poor management I sometimes wonder at my wisdom of taking on Primrose Hill as we had such a climate of prejudice to overcome.

Fortunately, under the careful and attentive management of Clare Sole, we have been consistently busy there since opening in 2010. I believe we are now gaining ourselves a reputation by earning it as a boundaried, accountable safe housing service for those needing extra support in their recovery journeys.

We have 10 beds and admit males and females from 18-65 years at different stages of their recovery, as long as they are abstinent and actively engaged in a 12 step programme or in treatment. It’s a lovely mid terrace Victorian house, has a support worker in residence and provides a temporary home from home.

We provide drug and alcohol testing, weekly planning and support, cooking support, an introduction to fellowship, community living with therapeutic duties, curfews and peer responsibilities.

Alongside treatment, or as extra support through transitions geographically, work-wise or relationship-wise, Charter Residential provides an extraordinary service that is affordable, effective and grounding.

We work with you to get well in the context of your life.

Specialist Eating Disorder Services Needed

Eating disorders are about the relationship between food and emotions, where a person seeks a sense of control over their emotions, over how they appear and over the impact their world has on them. It is common for an eating disorder to develop in a person’s early teens and so it would seem appropriate for there to be services specifically targeted for this age group. CAHMS do a great job, and I have met many people who have benefited from time with this service, but eating disorders – and addictions in general – require specialist knowledge and intervention. This is not about simply getting someone to eat, it’s about attending to the disturbance of self and your typical eating disorder will be extremely reluctant to put their eating disorder down. I think Helen Missen raises a very important issue in this report and I for one would be a willing signature on her petition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18755034

Recovery from anorexia is more than eating, but it has to happen…

Anorexia is a complex illness often borne of trauma experienced in the early developmental stages of a person’s life.  It is an illness related to a desperate need for control when there has been a painful experience alongside feelings of lack of control. That control is then displaced to food intake which in turn can make a person feel powerful that they don’t need food…translate this as not needing anything – love, attention, friends… Thus the anorexic is god, apparently surpassing and denying basic human need – this then feels safe.  Eating awakens an appetite, and this can leave the anorexic (unconsciously) terrified that their entire coping mechanism is breaking down. Crazy as it may seem an anorexic will opt for the paradoxical safety of starvation rather than the terror of being human and therefore vulnerable. This lady who the court has ruled should be force fed to save her life should also be provided with counselling – intensive, qualified, experienced anorexia and trauma counselling – to make the force feeding worthwhile and not just another abusive act that she tolerates until she can kill herself in another way. I do believe that ‘no hopers’ can get well and I have witnessed the miracle many times. But always the key to the miracle is to inspire from the inside. Battering on the outside only reinforces the defences…I hope she can ALSO find someone she can talk to and work with.

See more of this story at  http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/15/anorexic-woman-fed-judge?newsfeed=true