Community mental health services in Patras offer valuable therapeutic support, but many young people experiencing psychosocial difficulties still face social isolation once treatment is underway. What is missing is not more clinical care, but structured opportunities to take part in community life, form meaningful relationships and take on active social roles, something treatment alone cannot provide.
Mental health services can treat and support, but they cannot, on their own, create lasting opportunities for people to belong. What is needed is a structured pathway that helps young people build relationships, get involved in the life of their community, and gradually take on social roles that go beyond being a mental health service user.
The project
Beyond Labels creates a structured pathway that helps young people move from receiving support to actively taking part in community life. At its centre is the First Friends methodology, which pairs participants with trained volunteer peers, alongside open community activities and partnerships with local organisations that give young people real, everyday chances to build relationships and social skills.
Rather than a short-term programme, Beyond Labels is built as a practical, transferable model: one that other community mental health services could adapt and use, grounded in the idea that recovery is not only clinical, but also social, built through participation, reciprocal relationships and a genuine sense of belonging.
Who the project is for
The project's direct beneficiaries are around 120 people: 30 young people aged 18 to 30 experiencing psychosocial difficulties, who take part in the Beyond Labels pathway itself; 40 trained young volunteers, known as First Friends, who support their inclusion; and 50 community members who take part in the open activities alongside them.
Its impact reaches further, to an estimated 250 to 300 indirect beneficiaries, including participants' families, and the community organisations and institutions that collaborate on the programme.
Project name: Beyond Labels
Proposing organisation: Association for the Mental Healt SOPSY Patras
Area of intervention: Inclusion & Social Development
Country: Greece