Hello, my name is João, and I have been working at Hestia for 2 years. At first as a Mental Health Recovery Worker, and now as a Team Manager at a Mental Health Crisis service called the Folkestone Haven. I joined the Folkestone Haven’s team after completing a degree in Psychology with Counselling and whilst studying a masters in Therapeutic Counselling. When I found the Folkestone Haven, I was surprised yet very happy I that would get to use the skills I had learnt during my studies.
At The Folkestone Haven, I have been able to meet and support the most extraordinary people. I have met people from different walks of life and being able to support them from crisis to recovery has been very gratifying.
I have been particularly interested in working co-productively alongside our service users – they call themselves Haveners – to imagine, design and re-design a service that meets their needs. At the Haven we started with service users engaging in 1:1s with our members of staff to now also being able to join art sessions, peer support groups and our Men’s Group. I feel extremely lucky that I have been able to be part of designing these different sessions with our service users and honoured that they trusted me to share their skills and knowledge with me and our service.
As the team manager, I lead a team of 5 mental health recovery workers that support our service users. I must thank my managers for giving me the skills and the encouragement to step into this new role. I did not imagine myself where I am now 5 years ago, however, I am glad that Hestia has seen my potential and has allowed me to develop this much in just 2 years.
I would not hesitate to recommend working at Hestia, especially if you have a passion for supporting individuals finding their way to recovery.
