Category: Artefacts in Context

Mad Artists’ Gallery

Mad Artists’ Gallery Takeaways Appreciate the importance of art-making and creative self-expression as a healing practice for racialized mad people who often have adverse experiences in the traditional mental health system Understand art as a form of activist engagement with, and critique of, interlocking systems of oppression Recognize the value of art-making as a medium …

‘Claiming Space’

The ‘Claiming Space’ Unit Takeaways Analyse the diverse experiences of oppression and exclusion that exist for mad people across race, gender, class, culture and sexuality. Understand the importance of equitable political and community engagement and representation.  Explore how power affects racialized youth’s experiences of mental distress in a range of contexts and the importance of …

Disappearing Completely

Disappearing Completely Takeaways Understand how the intersecting oppression of racism and sanism within mental health systems and in the community affect racialized people experiencing mental distress Analyze the intersections of race, gender, citizenship and mental distress for racialized people in Canada Appreciate the impacts of cultural expectations, stereotyping, and racism on individuals’ experiences of mental …

The “Inexplicable Maze”

The “Inexplicable Maze” Unit Takeaways Recognize that the mental health system is structured to enforce racism, sexism, sanism, and other forms of oppression Understand the effects of trying to navigate a system that has been created and mobilized to oppress, negate, and abuse those who are already marginalized Appreciate the importance of intersectional resistance and …

Psychiatric Hollywood

Psychiatric Hollywood Takeaways Recognize how emotions can motivate us to engage with ourselves, our own beliefs, and others through self-reflection and dialogue Acknowledge how diagnosis and treatment can stigmatize and oppress marginalized groups and survivors of trauma Understand how fiction and non-fiction art can participate in bearing witness and storytelling Components Psychiatric Hollywood Audio Series …

The ‘days’

The ‘days’ Unit Takeaways Appreciate the connection between art and healing Value of the role of art as an alternative to, or combined with, mental health care Understand the importance of creative self-expression for conveying the complexity of lived experience at the intersections of madness, race, gender, and sexuality Recognize the importance of creating a …

The Doreen Befus Story

The Doreen Befus Story Unit Takeaways Recognize the historical role of medicine, science and the law and their institutions in violating the human rights of mental health patients Understand the danger of unchecked professional power and authority as evidenced in the theory and practices of eugenics Appreciate the possible consequences of professional practice that negates …

Us and Them

Us and Them Unit Takeaways Recognize the profound dislocation of self and identity in mental health crises Appreciate the importance (and challenges) of empathic and critically-informed practice in bridging the distance between mental health practitioner and service user Component The component for this unit is a reflection on the distance between the patient and the …