Some Quotes About The Centre

"Jean who is 28 has been at the Centre for five weeks - this has been a first chance for me ... to come off all the drugs I have been on in the last ten years in different mental hospitals and to experience things without crutches, without being dosed up. I'm expressing my feelings which I've never done in the past. It is frightening, but I think it is a process I have to go through"

"Arbours 'succeeds' because it is prepared to allow people their own definitions and in doing so it creates the opportunity for human life to begin"

"One 16 year old girl referred by social services department in the North of England has been in over 40 homes and was considered incorrigible. She had repeatedly attacked staff, smashed windows and made suicide attempts. At the Crisis Centre she established relationships for the first time in her life and felt less and less the need to express herself through violence"

"I ... continued to observe the growth of Arbours with great admiration. They built a thorough analytic training for their students, created a low fee clinic for patients, established and nurtured their community houses, ran the Crisis Centre and earned themselves a unique and respected place on the London therapy scene." "One of the great strengths of Arbours has always been that it attracts, most often, and from many walks of life, potentially gifted therapists who have a strong sense of vocation."

"It is very stimulating to work with the committed professionals who run the Arbours. They attract talented trainees and staff from varied backgrounds and invest heavily in getting the best from them - for the benefit of their Clients."
"The Crisis Centre is invaluable as a safe haven acceptable to many of those suffering from mental illness and who so often cannot tolerate institutional settings. Residential communities help to fill the gap in the modern world. Hospitals are so often ill adapted to the treatment of the mentally ill and lack sufficient skilled resources for advancing beyond the containment to the development of patient/clients."

"Arbours helped me bring the fester in me to the surface... The healing is slow, but it is progressive and sure."

"Knowing someone was there to talk or comfort me at any hour if needed, was a great comfort in itself. I was treated with kindness, gentle understanding and respect, and at no time did I feel like a patient. I responded quickly to the relaxed, calm atmosphere and found answers to questions that had kept me on edge for years."