The Village Concept Respite Unit

The Phobic Trust has for many years had the vision to build a 'Village Concept Respite Unit' which will become the specialist education and treatment unit for consumers who require overnight (and longer) stays. This respite unit will accommodate 22 beds.

Artists impression of the 22 bed therapeutic unit

Statement of Purpose:

"To provide the people of New Zealand and their families a 'Centre of Excellence' a village complex, providing the highest standard of psychiatric, psychological, counselling, nursing and supportive treatment for the sufferers and families of the severe anxiety, phobic, eating disorders, mood disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders and associated illnesses. By achieving the above, we will ensure current and future generations of a safe haven for the specialist treatment, support, education and research of the above disorders".

Objectives:

The most important needs the building will meet are:

• To provide a safe environment for people of all cultures with acute anxiety disorders and obsessive, compulsive disorders with depression. It will provide time-out for patients/clients and their families when their symptoms become intolerable at home.
• The facility will house state of the art treatment utilised for an anxiety disorder and the range of disorders associated with anxiety disorders. The educational aspect of this work will contribute to teaching young people eager to learn another aspect of mental health. It will also be geared to multi-cultural learning.
• The needs of young people who are socially phobic and cannot go to school. A schoolroom will ensure that not only are they receiving their homework, but also socialising, which many young people cannot do when they are so disabled. Parents today often find it extremely difficult to take time off work and manage a school phobic child, hence many parts of the relationship fail.
• It will provide intensive tertiary treatment programmes towards recovery for clients.
• The objective being to involve closely patients/clients and their families in the treatment process.
• To provide and encourage research to assist in the development of knowledge and treatment modules.
• To reduce the pressure on an over inundated mental health system so that people are not admitted to acute wards inappropriately