Founded in 1970, The Arbours Association is a registered charity providing personal,
psychotherapeutic support and places to live outside mental hospital for people in emotional
distress.
Our aim is to provide home-like, non-institutional settings where emotionally
distressed individuals can feel safe and contained whilst attempting to resolve their life
problems.
We believe that many people who might otherwise be trapped within an ill identity need the
opportunity and encouragement to come to terms with their problems. We intend that Arbours
should be a safe place where people may encounter selves long forgotten
and where they can contain and regain their experiences and achieve a sense of integrity and
autonomy.
We wish to relate to individuals as people not patients and strive to help them to take
responsibility for their lives, both practically and emotionally.
Since the first Arbours Community opened in 1970, the organisation has expanded into an
interconnected network comprising:
For over thirty years the Arbours has helped individuals with a range of problems including those
suffering from depressive or psychotic breakdown, self-harm, eating disorders, sexual problems,
anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties as well as problems relating to critical life
events, such as marital breakdown and redundancy.
UKCP registered; Registered Charity No. 263608; Member of National Housing Federation; Registered under the Companies Acts
1948 & 1967. Registered Office: 6 Church Lane, London, N8 7BU.