Who we are

Emerging Health Community Interest Company (CIC) is a ‘not for profit’ company working mainly in the field of personality disorder difficulties/complex trauma but also in other areas of mental health.

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Emerging Health CIC was set up in November 2016 and is the brainchild of Iola Davies, an experienced teacher, manager, consultant and trainer. Her passion and commitment to improving services for people with personality disorders/mental health difficulties and staff is rooted in her own professional and personal experience and is central to the work of Emerging Health.Set up initially to fill a gap in the development and management of training in personality disorders in the South West of England, Emerging Health has now developed to provide a range of services, including training, service development, group facilitation, consultancy and evaluation.

 

Emerging Health is led by Iola Davies whose background for 18 years was as a senior teacher and manager in schools. Iola’s passion (above) led to a career change in 2004, old skills and new skills being utilised in the sphere of mental health.

Iola is based in Bristol but works all over the country. Due to working in many ‘South West wide roles’ e.g as South West KUF lead and for the South West Development Centre, Iola has developed a South West of England specialism. Iola having a wide local knowledge of mental health provision across all sectors; criminal justice, health and third sector in the South West.

 

A further career development in 2010, working for the national personality disorder organisation

Emergence Plus, as South West /Wales manager, allowed Iola to develop more specific national

expertise in the field of personality disorders/complex trauma. This culminating in the role of

South West KUF project lead from 2012 to date and the gaining of an MSc in personality

disorders from Nottingham University Institute of Mental Health/Open University/Tavistock

and Portman Clinic in 2018.    

 

Over the last 15 years Iola has worked regularly with local experts from around the South West

of England, who are brought in to work with Emerging Health on specific pieces of work.

These colleagues coming from a wide variety of sectors and roles; prison officers, probation

officers, psychologists, people with lived experience, occupational therapists, mental health

nurses, social workers, etc. Emerging Health recruiting these local experts (professional and people with lived experience) when required. At Emerging Health, we work with, and see everyone as an equal human being.

 

The name of the company ‘Emerging Health CIC’ is key to its ethos and function.

The Collins dictionary (1987) definition of emerge is to ‘come out of’ or ‘live through’ a difficult experience. The name of the company is to reflect this definition; people with personality disorder difficulties (like Iola and many others) often emerging from difficult pasts to discover and become who they really are. The opportunity to move forward as a whole being, both mentally and physically, being key to this discovery.