Glossary

Adversity

Adversity refers to a state or instance or continued difficulty where a person or group is impacted significantly by other people’s actions or lack of action. This experience is often characterised by the experience of not having the power or resources to change the situation. When children are exposed to adverse and stressful experiences, it can have a long-lasting impact on their ability to think, interact with others and on their learning.

Psychologically, Adversity and Trauma-informed

The process of acknowledging the role of adversity and trauma in the lives of individuals and groups ofpeople.. We use this knowledge to understand and frame how people cope or survive.

Relational Safety

Relational safety refers to a state or culture that is needed to allow individuals or groups to feel safe in a relationship with another person or group. It includes elements such as trust, choice, control, transparency and being strength-based. These elements are vital for individuals and groups to be able to learn, adapt and grow.

Survive

The thinking and behavioural patterns that we adopt in order to adapt to our experiences and cope with the impact in the here and now

Trauma

The deeply distressing experiences that people can encounter throughout life, and their subsequent effects. The word trauma is historically associated with a more medical understanding of experience, whereas adversity places more emphasis on the impact of a person’s wider social context over time.

Trauma is about

“ Experiences that cause intense physical and psychological stress reactions. It can refer to a single event, multiple events that are experiences as threatening or harmful, that have lasting adverse effects on the individual’s physical, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing”

(Samhsa, 2014)

Thrive

The process of development overtime, of growth and change.

Coproduction

Coproduction is the active involvement of people with lived experience of mental health problems the design and delivery of services.

Groups of people with lived experience, sometimes called experts by experience are partners in the design process. Their perspective is valued equally to the staff (experts by training) perspective in making decisions.

Coproduction is more comprehensive than simply service user or client involvement. Coproduction empowers those who use services and makes the most of their expertise and experience. It helps improve outcomes and it can save money by lessening the burden on services through, for example, reducing emergency and unplanned admissions.