The Clubhouse
What is the Clubhouse Model?
Traditional day treatment models focus on the individuals’ illness and clinical treatment. In contrast, the Clubhouse model is not a clinical program. There are no therapists or psychiatrists on staff. A Clubhouse is designed to be a place where a personal with mental health problems is not a patient and is not defined by a disability level. Instead, a Clubhouse is a community intentionally organized to support individuals living with the effects of mental illness. To this end, Clubhouse participants are members, and not “patients” or “clients.”
The members and staff of a Clubhouse work side-by-side to manage all the operations of the Clubhouse, providing an opportunity of members to contribute in significant and meaningful ways. Clubhouse staffing levels are purposefully kept low to create a perpetual circumstance where the staff will genuinely need the members to accomplish their jobs. Thus, membership in a Clubhouse community gives a person living with mental illness the opportunity to share in creating successes for the community. At the same time, he or she is getting the necessary help and support to achieve individual success and satisfaction.
The Clubhouse model seeks to demonstrate that people with mental illness can successfully live productive lives and work in the community regardless of the nature or severity of their mental illness. Clubhouse communities hold the conviction that work, and work-mediated relationships are restorative and provide a firm foundation for growth and important individual achievement. It is also a strongly held belief that normalized social and recreational opportunities are an important part of recovery.
As a summary of its philosophy, the Clubhouse Model has adopted the Four Guaranteed Rights of Membership.
- A right to a place to come
- A right to meaningful relationships
- A right to meaningful work
- A right to a place to return
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Laurie Gilroy
For me, the Clubhouse social interaction has been the most helpful program in my recovery from bipolar disorder. I had to quit my job as a result of my illness. That meant I lost my “village” of people with whom I spent 8 hours a day engaged in work, but also with whom I conversed about a variety of topics. The members and staff at Crossroads Clubhouse have replaced my co-workers. We talk about football, of course, but also my favorite sport of ice hockey, as well as sharing healthy recipes, playing Skip-Bo, and going on Saturday social trips. The program has helped keep my depression in check and helped me maintain my self-esteem because I have friends who care about me for who I am, not what I do.
