Citation

Spencer L. Therapeutic Communities 2008; 29(4): 406-424.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper provides a brief biography of Neville Yeomans's (1928-2000) adapting of his father's research in complex natural systems to the social lifeworld. There is an outline of his pioneering of therapeutic approaches as the founding director in 1959 of Australia's first therapeutic community, Fraser House, located at North Ryde Hospital, Sydney. Yeomans's evolving of social epidemiology, sociotherapy, clinical sociology, and community psychiatry in Australia, as well as using social forces in large group therapy, splitting into Small Groups based upon social categories, cultural localities, work as therapy, research as therapy, and the engagement of residents in domiciliary care and suicide/crisis support is briefly described. Also outlined is his adapting of Fraser House self-help ways from the late 1960s in civil society; creating therapeutic contexts and places, evolving multicultural wellbeing arts festivals, dispersed non-residential therapeutic communities, wellbeing networks, self-help groups, and his founding of community mental health in Australia.

Language: en

Keywords

Self-help; Therapeutic Community; Community Psychiatry; Clinical Sociology; Fraser House; Mutual Participatory Networks; Social Epidemiology; Sociotherapy