The programme will begin on the 29th of April and will run until the end of August. There will be a series of 4-6 sessions, each lasting 2 hours, which you will be invited to attend during this period, plus a few additional tasks to complete in your own time. We’ll do our best to schedule these sessions to suit everyone’s availability.

You will work alongside design researchers from Andthen and a group of other young people from across England and Wales, where you’ll:

• Learn from Andthen about social research and how to do research about the future
• Input into the research project that Andthen is conducting with Mind
• Shape the approach and findings of critical research about young people’s experiences of mental health services and their preferences for the future. 
• Work collaboratively with other young people with experience of mental health problems.

We’re keen to shape the details of the programme with you, but broadly you should expect to attend 4-6 sessions that are around 2 hours long, as well as spend a maximum of 1 hour on additional tasks each week.

To be eligible to take part in in this programme, you need;

• To have current or previous experience of mental health problems.
• To be willing to use the knowledge you’ve gained from your past experiences to input into conversations around designing research, conducting research, building future visions and drawing learning out of research.
• To have the time to contribute to this programme.
• To be interested in designing and learning about research.
• To be excited about ways of improving support for other young people.
• To be able to join video calls (although you aren’t required to turn on your camera).
• To bring a positive, supportive, and open attitude to the group.

Andthen is working on a research project with the mental health charity Mind with the aim of understanding how Mind can best support young people with experience of mental health problems, with a particular focus on trauma. This research aims to help Mind deliver on it’s strategic priority of ‘supporting young people,’ that was recently outlined in their 2021 Strategy. The focus on trauma is driven in large part by a surge in experiences of trauma, as well as Mind’s ambition to establish effective trauma-informed work with young people in their activities.     
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While the team at Andthen are experienced researchers, it’s important that young people with lived experience of mental health problems are involved in deciding what we research, how we research, and ultimately how we frame our findings to Mind.

We want to create an opportunity for mutual exchange, where you share your valuable insight and knowledge, while we help you learn about Andthen’s approach to research and grow your own interests.

You should get involved if you are passionate about improving mental health support for young people, if you are excited to meet and collaborate with others who share your passion, and if you are interested in learning more about social research and researching the future.

Ultimately, your involvement in this programme will influence the way that Mind thinks about and approaches the work that they do with young people. However, other outcomes include:

• Shaping the way that Andthen conduct research with young people, through creating a ‘Young People Research Manifesto.’
• Building visions for the future of mental health support that will be used in research activities with other young people
• Ensuring that the learnings and recommendations emerging from Andthen’s research with Mind feel valid and appropriate based on your experience.

Yes, we’re able to offer a small bursary of £200 for each Young Expert in the form of a Love2Shop voucher.

We’re a small team of designers that do research. In particular, we research the future — what it could look like, and what people want it to look like. We believe that organisations need to think more intentionally about what they want the ‘ideal future’ to look like, so that they can make decisions and act in a way that encourages that ideal future. We also believe that organisations should work with the communities they serve to define what ‘ideal’ looks like in the first place. 
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You can learn more about us and see what we do here.

Unsure about anything, or want to learn more? Email lizzie@studioandthen.com. 

Mental health is about how we think, feel and act. Just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it.When your mental health is good, you can think positively, feel confident and act calmly. When your mental health is bad, you might find things difficult to cope with. For example, you might think nobody likes you, you might feel sad, or you might feel like you can’t control how you behave.

You can find information about different types of mental health problems here.

Traumatic experiences are defined as highly stressful, frightening or distressing situations, whether they are one-off or enduring. Trauma refers to the way in which people are affected by traumatic experiences, and is not limited to specific diagnoses (e.g. PTSD).

You can find out more about trauma here.

Some mental health services are starting to follow an approach called trauma-informed care. If a service says it is trauma-informed, this means all staff should follow principles such as:

• Understanding how trauma can affect people, including how mental health problems can be reactions to trauma
• Asking sensitively about past trauma, and offering appropriate support if you disclose it
• Being aware of the potential for mental health services to cause harm if delivered without trauma awareness
• Understanding your strengths and recognising what has helped you survive and cope
• Being trustworthy, transparent and involving you in your care.

You can find out more about trauma here.