Category: Community Expert Contribution

Component Evaluation: Language and Visualization

Component Evaluation: Language and Visualization Timing: 35 minutes; flexible Mode: In-class OPTION 1: In groups of 2-4 have students write down the word capitalism on a blank sheet of paper. Ask them to visualize the connections between capitalism, oppressions, and mental health that are discussed in Cheers to Capitalism. Once those connections are established, encourage …

Component Evaluation: 1 Play

Component Evaluation: 1 Play Timing: 15 Minutes Mode: In-class; Online Select one of the plays prepared by Branwen Willow and Cat Omura and have students read the parts in a large discussion group. Then use the corresponding set of questions, which were carefully developed by these community experts, to generate discussion about the play. Online, …

Component Evaluation: 3 Plays

Component Evaluation: 3 Plays Timing: 45 Minutes Mode: In-class; Online Have students read and act out their play scripts. Online, students can listen to the audio recordings of the plays prepared by Branwen Willow and Cat Omura. Use the questions below, which were carefully developed by these community experts, to generate class discussion about the …

Component Evaluation: Group Think Tank

Component Evaluation: Group Think Tank Timing: 30 Minutes Mode: In-class; Online Ask your students to download, read and reflect on Margo’s recovery story and collectively make a list of the different tools that Margo found helpful.  Next, have your students brainstorm other practices that would be helpful in the process of recovery and consider how …

Past, Present, Future

Past, Present, Future Unit Takeaways Appreciate system user perspectives on mental health policy Understand relations of power in the mental health system (patient/doctor/nurse/staff) Components The components for this unit are three short plays, fictionalized accounts of mental health experiences in the past, present, and imagined future. Play 1: “But Now We Know Better”  (past) Transcript …

Tools for Recovery

Tools for Recovery Unit Takeaways Recognize the importance of peer support in developing coping strategies and new skill sets Value creativity and community engagement as pathways to confidence and wellbeing Acknowledge systemic barriers to recovery Component The component for this unit is a recovery memoir by community expert Margo Robinson setting out what she thinks …

Component Evaluation: Expressing Ideas in Art

Component Evaluation: Expressing Ideas in Art Timing: 30 Minutes Mode: In-Class; Online An art intervention can be an original piece of art or an interaction with art that has been created by another person.  Exploring course content through the production of artistic interventions allows students to process information in a multimodal fashion. Ask students to look …

Question Man

Question Man Unit Takeaways Appreciate that patients may experience mental health services as oppressive and soul-destroying Understand the importance of practitioners working with patients to help reclaim strengths and strategies that were part of their identity before they experienced mental health difficulties Value voice, resiliency, resistance and experiential knowledge in supporting good mental health Component …

The Psychiatric Gaze

The Psychiatric Gaze Unit Takeaways Appreciate the negative impact of power imbalances and distance in the mental health system between those who provide and those who use services Understand the damage that can be done in the practitioner-patient relationship when patients are understood through their diagnoses rather than their skills and life experience Recognize the …

MoVay’s Way

MoVay’s Way Unit Takeaways Appreciate the importance of service user perspectives in determining appropriate plans for care and wellbeing Recognize the importance of exercise, food, and sociability in supporting good mental health and caring for the whole person Component This component is a 3 minute video made by puppeteer and community expert Lori E. An …