– The purpose of this paper is to describe the learning from action (LfA) workshop held in Italy in October 2014 and to evaluate how well the workshop achieved its aims.
– The researcher joined the workshop as a member, and data were collected through participant observation. Evaluation was carried out using relevant audit standards and a follow-up questionnaire.
– The evaluation found that an authentic transient therapeutic community was created, which provided an effective learning experience for participants.
– The description is a single study based on the findings of a single researcher, as is usual with ethnographic work of this kind. Only a few participants completed the questionnaire.
– This is the first detailed research description of the LfA programme for training mental health practitioners who work in therapeutic communities. It provides a description of events, comments on how some of these impacted on the researcher-participant and an evaluation of the workshop.
