Being asked to go to a meeting of any kind by Andrea Emmens is always an adventure. This was, quite simply, the best BFT Refresher Day to date, and while you’re all trying to guess what BFT stands for, no it’s not Best Fun in Town, although that does describe the day well. No BFT stands for:
Behavioural Family Therapy, a very necessary service, which keeps families together, while dealing with Mental illness, and keeping people from ending up in hospital.
This was my first BFT refresher day and I was wondering quite what else I would be led into, on top of what was in the programme. This meeting had all the earmarks of being a good day, indeed, it turned out to be brilliant.
After I delivered my bit on the 5 Sequences of Events all Carers fall victim to, Sarah, who was nervous, gave an incredibly moving account of her life with her brother, in her intoxicating Rotherham accent. You could have heard a pin drop as she captivated the whole audience with her brother’s struggle.
Then we had lunch, during which, Andrea pulled me to one side, and whispered that I would be dad in the next part of the Refresher Day Event. I had no idea what she was talking about, but then again I am getting used to being surprised when Andrea gets the bit between her teeth. As it transpired, I was dad to Lauren and her sister Alyson, as we sat together, centre stage, while Andrea and Christine came on stage like the Family Workers from HELL!
We had a whale of a time as Christine and Andrea did as many things wrong as they could during our interview, which felt more like a grilling at the Spanish inquisition! It was impossible to keep a straight face, as some of their antics became more and more bizarre!
After which the audience was asked to state all the things that was done wrong, well where do we start was the first contribution from the audience, the whole play was a catalogue of what you must not do. However, I have to admit the discussion afterwards was both lively and very enthusiastic indeed: bringing the best out of the best in this very experienced audience who deliver BFT during their work.
The day was policed by Tim Constable who represented the management. Tim made a huge contribution to the event and it is clear that managers would benefit greatly by going on a BFT course just as much as carers and family members do.
The whole day went like clockwork and was highly successful since it did exactly what it set out to do, that is, refresh people’s minds and fire up their imagination and enthusiasm.
I recommend this training course to anyone who carers about people and learn how to deal with families head on, and make a positive difference in their turbulent lives.