Gardens of self agency: reflections on the therapeutic community

Purpose This is a companion piece to our paper on the theory and application of self-agency in the therapeutic community. In that paper we discussed the concept of self-agency, how it may be reduced in people with complex emotional needs and optimised within the therapeutic community. This paper aims to reflect on the experience of being in therapeutic communities with reference to the theoretical constructs described there. Design/methodology/approach This paper contains reflections from a staff member and group member on self-agency, based on their experience in Therapeutic Communities. Themes were generated from a number of collaborative reflective conversations. Findings We found many aspects of the therapeutic community (TC) experience had salience to the concept of self-agency. This included how the group was set up and run, staff stance, emergence of self-agency within the TC and consequences for self-agency development. Originality/value Our experiences align with theoretical concepts described in the companion paper and can be used to generate further hypotheses about the development and importance of self-agency for progress in complex emotional needs.