The HMP Wymott Therapeutic Community is currently the only substance misuse prison rehab in England.
However, therapeutic communities (TC) have been around for a long time. The first example of a Theraputic Community in the UK dates back to WWII, when Northfield Military Hospital was adapted to help prisoners of war adjust back to civilian society.
In 2020, Delphi Medical became the provider for psychosocial substance misuse services at HMP Wymott. We innovatively re-imagined the TC programme, focusing on empowering clients from dependence.
What is the Therapeutic Community?
A Therapeutic Community is a community-led, living and learning environment that helps to promote social, psychosocial and behavioural change. The TC is a 12-month intensive structured programme that operates 24/7 where residents work together, live together and learn together.
The aim is to prepare clients for living and working back in society and reduce substance related offending. We put responsibility on individuals to recovery from their dependency and lead a substance free and more fulfilling life.
HMP Wymott’s Therapeutic Community (TC) is a 70 bedded unit separated from the wider prison. Residents have access to healthcare, gym, visits and chapel in the main prison. Our holistic approach is tailored to individuals to tackle wider physical and psychological needs.
What is the evidence base showing?
When on the TC, clients are supported across the programme via three stages Connect, Dependence and Freedom.
During these stages, clients are measured to identify progress through compliance drug tests, individualised care plan reviews, wellbeing questionnaires (WEMWEBS), Six Corners (SCARS) and end of treatment reviews.
The results from the Six Corners tests shows strong and statistically significant improvements in wellbeing comparing before and after a successfully completed residency.
After excluding clients whose residency began before 1 April 2022, WEMWBS scores also reflected a statistically significant improvement.
On every measure, wellbeing goes up substantially after completing a residency in the Therapeutic Community at HMP Wymott.
You can read our full evidence base here.
For more information, on our work in prisons, please visit our website.
