Relationships are at the heart of everything we do.
At FARA, we believe meaningful change happens through relationships. Our training, consultancy and community learning programmes are grounded in Open Dialogue, Peer Supported Open Dialogue (POD), Relational Practice, Trauma-Informed Practice, Peer Support and Compassionate Leadership.
Whether we are working alongside women and girls, healthcare professionals, educators, researchers, charities or organisations, our approach is built on one simple belief:
Gatherings are where we come together. Relationships are what we take home.
Rather than simply delivering training, we create learning gatherings where people can think together, reflect together and develop more relational ways of working.
Open Dialogue is an internationally recognised approach that originated in Finland and has transformed the way many organisations think about mental health, crisis response, leadership and collaboration.
Rather than focusing solely on diagnosis or finding immediate solutions, Open Dialogue encourages us to slow down, listen deeply and create space for multiple perspectives. It values relationships, shared understanding and working alongside people rather than making decisions about them.
Today, its principles are increasingly being applied across healthcare, education, charities, community organisations, social care, leadership, coaching and workplace wellbeing.
Peer Supported Open Dialogue builds upon these principles by bringing together professional expertise and lived experience as equal and complementary forms of knowledge.
Developed through the Open Dialogue: Development and Evaluation of a Social Intervention for Severe Mental Illness (ODDESSI) programme—the world's largest randomised controlled trial of Open Dialogue—POD integrates trained peer practitioners into multidisciplinary teams alongside clinicians. This work has demonstrated the value of relationships rooted in authenticity, mutuality, hope and shared understanding, while helping to foster more reflective and recovery-oriented organisational cultures.
Many members of FARA's faculty have contributed to the development, delivery and training of Peer Supported Open Dialogue in the UK. This experience continues to shape our approach to learning, consultancy, research and community development.
Relational Practice recognises that people thrive when they feel heard, respected, included and connected.
Rather than asking "What's wrong with you?", relational practice encourages us to ask:
At FARA, we believe there are often multiple truths within every conversation. By remaining curious and making space for different perspectives, relationships become places where understanding, healing and meaningful change can emerge.
Peer Support recognises that lived and living experience is a valuable source of knowledge.
When people are supported by others who have navigated similar experiences, hope grows, relationships become more equal and new possibilities emerge.
At FARA, peer support is not about fixing people or giving advice. It is about creating spaces where people can listen, reflect, learn and grow alongside one another with dignity, compassion and mutual respect.
We offer flexible learning opportunities for:
Learning Gatherings can be delivered online, in person or as part of longer development programmes.
Our programmes include:
Alongside training, we work collaboratively with organisations to develop more relational cultures where people feel safe, heard and able to contribute.
Our consultancy supports organisations to:
Every organisation is different, so our work is always developed alongside the people and communities we serve.
Our faculty brings together practitioners, researchers, educators and people with lived and living experience.
Many of our trainers have contributed to national and international developments in Open Dialogue, Peer Supported Open Dialogue, relational practice and recovery-oriented approaches.
We believe expertise comes from both professional knowledge and lived experience. Rather than simply transferring knowledge, we create learning experiences where dialogue, reflection and relationships become part of the learning itself.
Whether you're looking to develop your own practice, strengthen your organisation or create more relational ways of working within your community, we'd love to work alongside you.
Together we can create spaces where people feel heard, relationships can flourish and meaningful change becomes possible.
Because while learning may begin in a gathering, its greatest impact is found in the relationships we build afterwards.
Gatherings are where we come together. Relationships are what we take home.
The website should feel like a global women’s healing and education organisation. It should be warm and relational but also powerful, informed and change focused. The central message is that women and girls are more than their trauma.
FARA does not define women by what happened to them — it supports them to reclaim identity, dignity, voice and future.
Charity registration pending – currently applying for registration with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
© 2026 FARA Gatherings UK – Faculty of Alternative and Relational Approaches. All rights reserved.
