What we do
Taiteen Sulattamo is a mental health association that exists to increase prosperity through art.
Taiteen Sulattamo is open to all and individuals are welcome regardless of skills, age, gender or diagnosis.
Taiteen Sulattamo organises a number of different art workshops focusing on the processes of performing arts. From themes that occur in workshops we choose a topic that our participants want to process. We involve the participants in every part of the process. Within the chosen theme we then create a professionally produced art project, a play for example. The process increases day-to-day management skills and the quality of life of the participants by engagement, involvement and expression.
Commitment towards a common goal – in this case an art project – and working as equals with professional artists has an invaluable impact on individuals in recovery.
We also engage in development projects which create innovations using arts methods in well-being and mental healthcare. These projects are funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. We offer our services to both individuals in recovery and health care personnel.
Development Project
Taiteen Sulattamo has started a new development project in the spring of 2022 called Kokemuksesi on arvokas (Your experience is valued)
The main focus of the project is to develop a common core curriculum, a quality certification system and a model for accreditation of prior experiential learning that benefits all experts by experience education in Finland.
We work in cooperation with a wide range of providers in the field. We are hoping to provide a clearer system that helps the educator to verify the quality and level of their educational program and for the expert by experience to reinforce their existing knowledge and skills.
Experts by Experience Activities
“Experts by Experience = people with lived experience of mental illness
There is rich evidence showing that people who have experience of using mental health services are uniquely placed to help plan and develop those services in the future. Service users and their carers are ideally placed to educate and de-stigmatise the issue of mental health one person; one team; one organisation at a time. ”
Taiteen Sulattamo has created an educational and operating model for experts by experience that utilises arts-based methods.
In our context an expert by experience is someone who has a history of living with mental illness and they share their experiences with people suffering from similar issues, their family or care providing authorities to provide experiential knowledge. In a crisis, internal experience can be difficult to put into clear words and that is where our arts-based methods give people a more sensory form of communication and help us to reach a deeper level of understanding than just words.
Taiteen Sulattamo ry offers educational program for mental health recoverers to extend their experts by experience expertise. Our Experts by Experience Educators also educate new Experts by Experience.
Arts-based Peer Support
Taiteen Sulattamo offers an educational program for individuals who are interested in acting as a peer support group instructor with an operating model based on applied arts.
The educational program and operating model are solidly grounded in recovery orientation and sociocultural learning theory.