OASIS

Oasis is an independently run patient support group which meets once a week at Park Attwood, with the full support of the clinic. Oasis also takes place at other venues. The course run by Oasis is not part of the programme of patient care available to in-patients during their stay. But former patients are welcome to join this group, as are out-patients who return to Park Attwood intermittently for follow-up appointments, and others with no connection to Park Attwood.

exploring the inner and the outer journey

In Oasis we aim to provide a new resource for people with long-term health conditions, through weekly support in groups offering a range of complementary and artistic activities. Hidden sources of creativity and inner healing lie in each human being. We will explore this potential in Oasis.

Oasis is facilitated by experienced practitioners in Counselling and the Creative and Therapeutic Arts, with pastoral and medical support where appropriate.

To take part in the Oasis programme, no previous artistic experience is needed. Group meetings include time to share in a small group over a cup of tea or coffee. We will be working with conversation to explore our life-story, with biographical and artistic exercises in order to gain new insight and strengthen confidence. Addressing feelings such as fear, anxiety, love, trust and courage can give us new hope for the future. In each session there will be playful artistic exercises.

We aim to:

• address the whole human being in body, soul and spirit
• help to develop a wider appreciation of health and healing rather than focusing on illness
• address each persons hidden potential and facilitate an active engagement with their own healing process
• offer a safe environment where people may share, speak out freely about experiences and support one another
• provide biographical and artistic exercises to encourage greater understanding for the patterns and paths in life
• explore sources of inner and outer creativity
• awaken hope, love and a new purpose in life by mastering the emotional life rather than being swamped by it
• acknowledge that there is an inner journey that runs parallel to the outer one

three pathways

There are three pathways of 12 weeks each, taking place over a one year period. Participants may take each pathway separately if they wish, or attend all three. Each pathway will be accompanied by myths, legends and healing stories from various traditions. These provide powerful pictures through which we can explore our own journeys.

• 1st pathway: invitation to the inner journey
  Getting started, and sharing with others in a supportive space. We will look at our inner journey in relation to the outer one. Tracing our life-stories through biographical and artistic exercises helps us gain a new sense of meaning and purpose.
• 2nd pathway: finding a way
  We explore where we are now and what hinders us from moving forward towards a freer and fuller life. Here we find new ways of meeting difficult situations and the emotions they evoke through practical exercises in self-development. In listening and sharing, we deepen our ability to give and receive support.
• 3rd pathway: embracing the challenge
  Increasingly we invite participants to contribute and share their creative gifts with each other. Affirming our achievements and building confidence in our abilities forms an integral part of this pathway. Finding courage for the way ahead helps us to embrace the challenges that life presents in a positive way.

If you are interested in finding new, positive ways of living with chronic health conditions you can always arrange a meeting with Melanie Taylor or Lucy Trevitt who run Oasis. This can help you to decide if Oasis is right for you. The first three sessions can be taken on a trial basis. Oasis meets at Park Attwood each Thursday from 9.30am to 12.30pm. Contact us via email for further information or call the clinic for more details.

Click here to read a patients experience of Oasis.

"Oasis - well named; an area or period of calm in the midst of a difficult or hectic situation. It can also be a fertile spot in a desert. The very name suggests a good place to stop on a journey, and whether it is a camel train across the Sahara, or a personal journey through life, there needs to be safe restorative periods when you can stop and reflect on the journey past, and have a positive vision of things to come. So it is with Oasis: a chance for people, many with long term illness or caring for others who need a chance to take stock, reflect, celebrate who they are, and move on feeling supported as they go."