Mental health is at the forefront of our society. Following the COVID19 pandemic, the lockdowns and isolation, we can safely claim that mental illness is now the new pandemic. Mental health is in the headlines of our newspapers and awash on our social media (Royal Society for Public Health, 2017). At the same time, greater awareness through public health campaigns and sharing of personal experience has created an environment in which we are more understanding about those who are afflicted with such illness (Royal Society for Public Health, 2017). But there is more to mental health than a diagnosis.

Restorative Justice is a term that is most often used within the criminal justice setting, but research has been conducted within mental health settings where the concept has enabled patients to become more aware of their behaviour and improve their relationships with family, friends and staff (Cook, Drennan and Callanan 2015). Restorative Justice gives people the power to describe their experience in their own language, introducing a different perspective that encourages both parties to view these difficulties in a way that they may never have considered before.

Check out the Summary Findings from the Mental Health Matters best practice EU-funded project, in the UK, Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Hungary: https://www.rj4allpublications.com/product/mhmebook/