Patrick Lawrence
Through a thought experiment, Patrick challenged our perception of the same person as child or as adult.
Patrick Lawrence, CEO of First Step presented the work of First Step clinic in the community. Everyone has physical health and mental health. They are influenced by genetics, environment and life choices. The clinic makes dual diagnosis 1. Mental Health issue 2. Addiction. When talking with addiction, it is a response to trauma.
No death by powerpoint or statistics, the experiment challenges our views of a person. We were seeing potential of a rough upbringing in a little girl and wanted to help out to a human frailty, vulnerability and failing person in the same person as an adult that we would reject.
His views:
1 - Every person deserves every chance to turn their life around
2 - We should treat everyone with dignity and compassion
3 - We should concentrate in area of disadvantage and apply natural justice.
To conclude, Patrick said that the clinic has been collecting data from patient. From an initial diagnosis of substance consumption frequency and amount, he can see a drop of half of the consumption after being cared for by First Step clinic for over 5-7 months.
To find out more, visit:
http://www.firststep.org.au/about-us/
05-Sep-2017
