Forest Lodge
What is Walk of Fame?
Walk of Fame is an informal psychology led group in which we look at different people of interest each time. We have done quite a few people so far, including Amy winehouse, Charles Darwin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Princess Dianne. We examine these people and look at people beyond just a label or what they might have done (psychological formulation). We also give recommendations in what may help them, such as therapy, talking to someone, or continue to do what is already working. It is not about judging others, but rather compassionately understanding a person’s challenges, even if they may have done something that may be seen as ‘wrong’.
Feedback from our regular attendees:
- It’s something interesting to do and people enjoy coming to the group. You can learn new things about different celebrities and their problems. It has been helpful to know that other people in life that have been through challenging things as well.
- My advice I’d give to people thinking about trying Walk of Fame is give it a try as it’s a useful experience.
Feedback from staff members about Walk of Fame:
- At times, Forest Lodge’s client group find psychology difficult, and they can be reluctant to work with a psychologist. The walk of fame provides a safe and comfortable space for people to consider important aspects of psychology, such as how the impact of trauma and early development can impact on how we are now, protective factors and things that may help to keep us safe.
- Because service users identify the individuals they want to talk about, they have an interest and information that they can contribute. The group is very informal, and people can drop in and out of it throughout a session, again this makes for a more relaxed and comfortable experience. I see evidence of the efficacy of the group when service users talk to me about the group they have attended and compare their experience to the experience of the individual discussed.
Feedback from the group facilitators:
- It has been an absolute pleasure to bring Walk of Fame to Forest Lodge. One thing I love about the group is hearing people’s different perspectives on the people we look at. It provides for some interesting and important discussions. For example, we looked at Alan Turing who helped crack codes to save lives during World War 2. He was prosecuted for being homosexual and we had open discussions on the roles of society, stigma, and shame in the role of impacting his ability to cope with life and his mental health.
- Some people do not want to do psychology sessions and Walk of Fame has been a nice opportunity to work with those people, have important discussions about mental health, whilst still respecting their wishes of not doing psychology sessions.