Category: Conferences and Events

“What does it mean to have a just mental health care system and who has access to it? Who decides who is labelled as mad?” These are the questions at the core of Disruption Network Lab’s upcoming conference, Madness: Fighting for Justice in Mental Health, which will be streaming for free November 25-27.

The international conference MADNESS: Fighting for Justice in Mental Health takes place on November 25 – 27 at Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin. The 28th Conference of the Disruption Network Lab investigates systems of mental health care and support, focusing on prevailing discourses and practices, biases and inequality. It is exploring the possibilities of a mental health system which puts human rights and justice in the centre of its practice. The conference introduces the perspectives of scientists, human rights and social justice activists, artists, doctors and practitioners as well as those closely affected – the people living with mental illness, through keynotes, panels, performance, film screening, workshops and meetups.

What does it mean to have a just mental health care system? Who is deciding who is labelled as mad? Who is telling the story of madness? Who has access to mental health care services? Can we decolonise psychiatry? Different perspectives and positions, such as scientific and social discourses, the medical practice, the fight against profit-oriented health care management, as well as the social, racial and ethnic differences of those affected, will be combined. This conference brings together researchers and practitioners but gives also specific attention to the perspectives and needs of people living with mental illnesses. The goal of the conference is to give visibility and voice to those closely affected, to emphasise the necessity for action in the way this problem is being treated and to think of examples for more humane policies.

To see a list of speakers, or to stream the conference, visit the Disruption Network Lab website.

Upcoming webinar with lived experience expert Dmitriy Gutkovich taking place Thursday, July 22nd:

“In this webinar, Dmitriy Gutkovich will present on how lived experience is reshaping support and strategy in the hearing voices community.

Major topics will include a brief history of the hearing voices movement, including its struggles from a social justice perspective. Dmitriy will address frequent voice-hearing challenges including belief structures, attention, hostility, isolation, and relationships; and how community solutions have helped impact what is a fundamentally individual experience. He will then discuss more recent research, and how social and individual perspectives on hearing voices can impact quality-of-life. Finally, he will conclude with a conversation on the challenges for building a knowledge base for lived experience solutions, unifying a hearing voices community, and changing the public narrative of stigma and discrimination on the experience.

In addition to 11 years of personal lived experience, Dmitriy has earned leadership roles in nonprofits including Hearing Voices Network NYC, Hearing Voices Network USA, ISPS-US, and the New York City Peer Workforce Coalition. He is the recently published author of “Life with Voices: A Guide for Harmony” and collaborates as a project partner for Yale’s Cope Project. He has also frequently appeared on podcasts and webinars, championing the role for lived experience in the national conversation.”

Admission is by donation, and you can register for free using the discount code “Freebie”. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hearing-voices-the-value-of-experts-by-experience-tickets-161228339303

 

The call for proposals for the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis US Chapter’s upcoming virtual conference is now open! The conference will take place November 5-7 and the theme will be “Moving Toward Shared Understandings in Psychosis and Extreme States: Professional, Individual, and Family Perspectives.” Proposals are due by July 5th. For more information, visit the ISPS-US website.

From the ISPS-US website:

Psychosis and extreme states are complex, multifaceted phenomena. Mainstream mental health care in the United States has historically presented a narrow view of both root causes and treatments for the distressing symptoms associated with psychosis, viewing these experiences from a purely bio-medical framework. However, scientific advances over the past decades, and greater awareness of social, cultural, and societal influences on mental health have opened up opportunities to shift the conversation toward more humanistic, person-centered understandings. Thanks to the contributions of people with lived experience, family members, and enlightened practitioners, many of the experiences associated with psychosis are now understood as ways in which the human mind and spirit respond to confusing, challenging, and often difficult environments and relationships. While much progress has been made, much work remains to be done.

Join ISPS-US at our 2021 Conference and Annual Meeting as we consider the progress that can be made when multiple perspectives are honored in the treatment and understanding of psychosis.

We welcome presentations that examine and build upon rich collaborations between people with lived experience, family members, researchers, and clinicians across theory, practice, and innovation. We especially encourage presentations that acknowledge and address the additional burdens faced by people of color whose efforts simply to live in an increasingly hostile world can lead to psychosis and extreme states. Join us as we seek to reimagine a future that offers greater hope, understanding, and possibility for all people who experience and struggle with extreme states.

This year we plan to include an interactive Creative Healing Space to present an array of therapeutic and creative arts modalities used for treatment, and as forms of self-expression that provide connection, comfort, joy, and healing. These can include origami, visual art, poetry, photography, music, dance, spoken word, and more. This Creative Healing Space was inspired by the ISPS International Congress, to be held in Perugia, Italy in September 2022. With permission, we will take these submissions with us to Perugia next year.

The date for the Living with Voices & Visions virtual event has been changed. The event will now be taking place on Thursday, May 6th. Please share the updated poster!

Join us Thursday, May 6th from 5-6 PM (PST) for an opportunity to learn about the BC Hearing Voices Network, hear personal experiences from those living with voices, visions, and unique experiences, and learn how to participate in local support groups.

This event is open to those who experience voices, visions, or other unique sensory experiences, their supporters, those working in mental health, and any others who are interested!

Speakers include:

Rory Higgs

Rory Higgs is a non-binary artist, writer, and activist living and working in Vancouver. Rory serves as a facilitator for Voices and Visions groups, and is the newly appointed administrator for the BC Hearing Voices Network. Rory’s work on this movement has been published in the Health and Human Rights Journal. 

KC Pearcey

KC has been a voice hearer and vision seer for nearly 15 years. He was a participant in Voices and Visions groups when they first started in Vancouver in 2013 and began co-facilitating the groups in 2018. He is also a Peer Support Worker for Coast Mental Health and has co-facilitated a Voice Hearers group for that organization as well. Additionally, he co-facilitates Living Well with Voices and Unique Beliefs for the North Shore Mental Health team. 

Zoom link: https://vancouvercoastalhealth.zoom.us/j/65896012879?pwd=L0pnb2d3YW9pY2o4Q S9nVmU4UGcvQT09

Questions? Email Gill Walker at gill.walker@vch.ca for more information.

UPDATE 19/04: The date for the Living with Voices and Visions virtual event has been changed! The event will now be held on Thursday, May 6th from 5-6 PM (PST).

Join us at a virtual roundtable on Monday, May 3rd from 5-6 PM (PST) for the opportunity to learn about the BC Hearing Voices Network, ask questions, and give your feedback on what you’d like to see at future groups/events! This event is open to everyone, including people who hear voices, see visions, or have other unusual sensory experiences; people who are questioning whether Voices & Visions support groups are for them; supporters and allies; and professionals interested in learning more about the BCHVN.

Details below:

Join us Monday, May 3rd from 5-6 PM (PST) for an opportunity to learn about the BC Hearing Voices Network, hear personal experiences from those living with voices, visions, and unique experiences, and learn how to participate in local support groups.

Speakers include:

Rory Higgs

Rory Higgs is a non-binary artist, writer, and activist living and working in Vancouver. Rory serves as a facilitator for Voices and Visions groups, and is the newly appointed administrator for the BC Hearing Voices Network. Rory’s work on this movement has been published in the Health and Human Rights Journal. 

KC Pearcey

KC has been a voice hearer and vision seer for nearly 15 years. He was a participant in Voices and Visions groups when they first started in Vancouver in 2013 and began co-facilitating the groups in 2018. He is also a Peer Support Worker for Coast Mental Health and has co-facilitated a Voice Hearers group for that organization as well. Additionally, he co-facilitates Living Well with Voices and Unique Beliefs for the North Shore Mental Health team. 

Zoom link: https://vancouvercoastalhealth.zoom.us/j/65896012879?pwd=L0pnb2d3YW9pY2o4Q S9nVmU4UGcvQT09

Questions? Email Gill Walker at gill.walker@vch.ca for more information.

2021 World Hearing Voices Congress: Survey

Intervoice and the Hearing Voices Network Ireland want to hear from you: what format do you want to see the 2021 World Hearing Voices Congress in Cork, Ireland take? The organizers are considering a hybrid virtual conference and have requested input from those who are potentially interested in attending later this year (online or in person). You can learn more or take the survey here.

22nd Congress of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis: Co-constructing Healing Spaces

The 2021 ISPS Congress will be taking place in Perugia, Italy in September. The theme will be “co-constructing healing spaces” and will explore what humane approaches to psychosis can look like and what work remains to be done, as well incorporating an arts-focused event, Healing Spaces: Happening Without Authors. To learn more, you can read the conference brochure or visit the conference website.