緣起
Where are we coming from?
羅斯林公園學院（Roslyn Park College）是全國學習網路（National Learning Network, NLN）開設的一間職業訓練中心，為身心障礙的成年人提供商業管理、程式設計、資訊工程、專業烹飪、藝術、表演、電腦輔助設計、多媒體設計、平面設計、攝影、飯店服務的課程。全部約有40位職員和250位學生，年齡從17到60歲都有，平均約30歲。NLN是復健服務組織Rehab Group的一部份。
Roslyn Park College is a vocational training centre run by the National Learning Network offering courses in Business Studies, Programming, I.T., Professional Cookery, Art, Performing arts, CAD, Multimedia Design, Graphic Design, Photography, Accommodation Services - to adults with ‘disabilities’. In total there are approximately 40 staff members and 250 students (age range is 17-60 with an average age of approximately 30). This is part of the Rehab Group.
起初，大多數是受到肢體或感官損傷的學生，隨著輔助科技的進步和政府決定朝向主流化教育進行，使教學的對像發生轉變。診斷出「精神疾病」而被登記為「殘障」的人數急遽的增加，目前大概有80％的學生屬於精神疾病這個一類。
Originally, the majority of students would have had physical or sensory impairments, but with the advent of assistive technology and the government decision to foster mainstreaming and inclusivity in education, there was a shift in the client group. The numbers of people registered as ‘disabled’ with a diagnosis of ‘mental illness’ increased dramatically. Currently, about 80% of students fall into this category.
我們（指作者）在提供數學、英語、電腦入門、社交技巧、自尊等基礎課程，由十個成員組成的補償教育學系裡任職。我們是「啟動學習課程」的促進者，密切的配合社會心理課程。這兩個課程創造了迎接、減壓環境，讓參與者能建立友誼，並且探究自己的下一步要往訓練、工作或教育前進。
We (the authors) are part of the ten member Compensatory Education Department which offers foundation courses in Maths, English, basic computers, social skills, self-esteem etc. We are facilitators on the CollegeStart course and work closely with the Psychosocial course. These two courses offer a welcoming, ‘de-stressing environment’, offering participants an opportunity to form friendships as well as researching their next move into training, work or higher education.
我們發現，最近三年半以來因為學生組成大幅的改變，有的方法需要相當大的調整，來達到外界的需要。慢慢釐清，也許這群學生自在的生活、自主和滿足的人生所面臨最大的障礙是精神醫療照護服務(psychiatric services)引發的依賴文化(dependency culture)。學生經常反應說感到未獲授權、判斷能力不被信任，常常接收到他們病永遠不會好的訊息。他們吃的藥常常使人萎靡，妨礙他們參與社群和接觸到能使他們朝氣蓬勃、心滿意足的支持力量。
Finding ourselves, especially over the last three and a half years, with such a radically altered client group represented a sizeable challenge in terms of adapting existing approaches to meet changing needs. It became clear that perhaps the biggest barrier facing this client group in relation to living full, autonomous and satisfying lives was the fostering of a dependency culture within the psychiatric services. Clients frequently reported feeling disempowered and convinced that their own judgement was not trustworthy: they often received the message that they were suffering from an illness that would be life long. The drugs they took were frequently enervating and prevented them from participating in the community and accessing the help and support needed for a full, active and satisfying life.
我們鼓勵人們重新連結他們的內在資源，回想起他們在事情開始不對勁之前喜愛或感興趣的事。對個人來說，成功的連結那些感覺很有價值，不過沒有共通的語言能讓他們在安全的環境清晰的表達他們的想法和困境、或是自在的和別人詳述經驗。當一般人感到自己被分析或是被看作是精神病時所做出的反應十分容易被當成是病態。這使我們的學生因為害怕用藥升級或被收容治療，非常的不肯和醫師講到自己的用藥上困擾或提出問題。
We have been encouraging people to reconnect with their inner resources - to ‘re-member’ the things that they enjoyed doing or were interested in before things began to go wrong. Reconnecting with that sense of success is valuable for individuals but it became clear that there was no shared language with which they could articulate their thoughts and difficulties in a safe environment and discuss experiences freely with one another. Normal human responses to stress can too easily be viewed as pathological when people feel themselves segregated and when the lens of psychiatric medicine is employed. This has meant that our students are often very reluctant to mention difficulties or raise questions with the medical profession in relation to their treatment for fear of having their medication levels increased or being hospitalised.
我們決定嘗試深度匯談論壇來瞭解依賴文化、來發展一套共通的語言，使人們能分享他們的經驗，也許為他們的情況帶來新的共識。深度匯談論壇是從我們近年來試著創造的環境浮現出來的一個提議，這是培養學習、決策和領導基礎的環境。
We decided to experiment with a dialogue forum to investigate the dependency culture, and to develop a shared set of understandings, a common language, so that people could share their experiences and, perhaps, come to a new consensus about their situation. The Dialogue Forum was one initiative that emerged out of the environment we have been attempting to create in recent years. This is an environment which fosters the pre-conditions for learning, decision-making and self-leadership.
