Journeys FAQs
Why are you called "Journeys"?
The name "Journeys" originated from the question, "If you could go back, would you choose not to have had depression?" Most people would gladly not have to re-live the pain of depression. But many people believe their experience has helped them improve themelves and their lives, eventually opening as many doors as had seemed closed to begin with. So, in a sense, the experience of depression is often a personal journey from an old life to a new one. But because each of us has to follow our own path and lead our own life, our experience is not of "a journey", but rather of "Journeys" toward recovery from depression.
Can you provide information for our health and well being event?
Journeys is happy to attend conferences, seminars and events. However, we are a small team, and cannot guarantee to meet your needs. If you are having an event and would like Journeys to be there, please contact us and give us plenty of notice.
Can you give a talk about depression at our conference/seminar/training day?
Journeys is happy to provide speakers, but you will need to contact us well in advance to guarantee our availability
Do you charge a fee for providing speakers?
This will depend on what kind of conference or event you are running, and the nature of your organisation. If you are a small charity, we would not charge a fee (although we may ask you to cover any travel costs). If you are a commercial company or if the event is for fundraising, we will charge a fee toward our salary costs, and will expect travel costs to be covered.
Are you a branch of Depression Alliance?
No. Journeys has been an independent, Wales-based company and charity since April 2005. We were the Wales branch of Depression Alliance between 1998 and 2005.
If you are a user-led organisation, how can you deliver professional services?
Even people who believe themselves to be "politically correct", or who would reject the accusation that they are prejudiced, have a habit of defining people according to their condition rather than seeing the whole person. Although terms like "depressive" or "schizophrenic" are no longer acceptable for this reason, terms like "service user" are often no more than a proxy for these derogatory labels, and reflect the incorrect view that people who experience mental illness can never fully recover.
In the real world, there are large numbers of people who happen to have direct experience of depression. But this experience does not define them. People who have depression are also fathers, daughters, wives, athletes, musicians, artists, managers, members of parliament, etc. People with depression work in just about every profession you can think of. Indeed, doctors have the highest rates of depression of all professions, and 1 in 5 Members of Parliament privately admit to having had mental illness.
In Journeys' case, our Director, Tim Watkins (who has a 1st Class Honours Degree in Economic Science from the University of Wales) is the least qualified of our staff. All of our staff and trustees are highly qualified professionals with considerable experience in their areas of expertise. That they also happen to have personal experience of depression does not define them, but we believe it adds an extra dimension to our understanding of depression and to the quality of the work we do.
