The Joshi Project

We’re fighting for a revolution in mental health treatment in Scotland and the rest of the world - It begins with dignity and compassion

Much gratitude to all who supported The Joshi Project in three Kiltwalks. You helped us raise more than £8,000 to improve mental health services in Scotland – A heartfelt thank you!

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Joshi’s Story and Our Vision

It’s time to change what doesn’t work…

By Mark and Catherine Smith

The Joshi Project is named for our beautiful, brilliant and gifted daughter, who died in January 2020, aged 24. Her tragic, final moments came after a lifetime of struggle against deep depressions, high anxiety and punishing OCD rituals, along with the persistent abandonment and failure of mental health professionals, who did not provide the care and support she sought and desperately needed to live. She was as smart and creative as they come, and surrounded by the love of everyone whose life she touched – but it wasn’t enough.


We have no doubt that Joshi’s life could have been saved had she had access to the right kind of support.


The purpose of The Joshi Project is to introduce a more compassionate and flexible system of mental health care in Scotland, aimed at helping the thousands –

probably tens of thousands – of people like Joshi, who have so much to give the world, but are stymied and oppressed by the confines of a system without vision.


The vision of the Joshi Project is to establish the “Trieste model” of mental health care in Scotland. This is a system of social psychiatry, based on a hugely successful model that has operated in the Italian city of Trieste for more than 40 years.

  • What is the Trieste Method?

  • Why Not Scotland?

  • Spread the Word

What is the Trieste Method?

At its core, the Trieste model is a network of Community Mental Health Centres (CMHCs), which are interlinked with the community for the benefit of the individual’s recovery. CMHCs operate a 24/7, walk-in policy and provide single-point access in an informal but safe space, where individuals are treated with compassion and dignity, and given advice, treatment and counselling.

Unlike the current system of mental health care, the needs of individuals – not a person’s disorders or diagnoses – are at the centre of each recovery plan. The focus of treatment is the individual’s life goals and long-term recovery, as opposed to a diagnosis and the management of symptoms. This is a system that works – at the psychiatric-treatment level and in its ability to reintroduce people back into their communities – by focusing on their aspirations and allowing them to live independent, fulfilling lives with the support they need.

The designation of Trieste by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “centre of excellence for mental health recovery”, along with the raw statistics on successful treatment outcomes in Trieste, provide the promise of what can be accomplished in Scotland.

What is the Trieste Method?

How Trieste Inspired Us 

In the aftermath of Joshi’s passing, during that time when the immobilizing physical and mental paralysis slowly gave way to anger and frustration, we were desperate to know if anything could have been done to save our daughter.

That's when we found Trieste.

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If You Need help

Unfortunately, the Joshi Project cannot provide direct support or advice in the event of a mental health crisis. However, please use this list of national and local organizations to find the help you need, whether it is during a crisis, or for support.

Click here...

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How To Contact Us

We would love to hear from you. Please reach out with any questions, comments, ideas or even your own stories. Click here for details