#peer movement

Consciousness is where it’s at for the New Bohemian. Get Centered with Contemporary Innovative Modalities and explore New Frontiers in the Noogenerative Dimension!

Peer based movements stem from self-advocacy and tend to be self-empowering. Nobody is a better expert on you than yourself.

Communities exist on all levels in all time-frames. They learn, adapt and grow.  From the membership community of peers, to the professional community, to the community at-large, all aspects of community benefit synergistically via our Community Engagement Initiative.

I’ve been aware of Darby Penney’s work documenting the lives of patients of Willard Hospital for a number of years now. I first learned of the hospital suitcases project from the exhibit at the State Museum and it eventually launched my interest in the state hospital system, the kirkbride plan, and all the topics that discussed in my 2010 thesis. I’m always grateful to the previous generation of peers and ex-patient movement who showed us the way, (we, as in peers who entered the system in the 1990′s and 2000s after the era of deinstitutionalization). We had no direct experience of the state hospitals that were whole cities unto themselves, it was incredible to share a room with, and listen to Darby Penney. Our hospitals were smaller places, --and somewhat meaner --they lacked both the archaic horrors of “treatment” the old state hospitals are reviled for, but also the high-minded ideas of “moral treatment” and the stunning landscapes and architecture of the era of hospitals preceding it. All lacked the funding to implement the most progressive modes of care in those eras. It was a great talk, with lively discussion afterwards. Some photos for people who missed it.

So, story time. Some months ago I was approached about attending a conference on mental health and the peer movement. I’d love to do this sort of thing. My thesis was a bit literature, a bit psychiatric history and peer/psychiatric survivor history. The conference though, was in Vegas and expensive. Then, the person started messaging me about submitting a paper. I was running out the last few weeks of a run on high motivation and high productivity that burned out a little after that conversation. I thought I might actually do a bit of research and academic writing again. My motivation and energy burned out and I have been sapped and struggling with my creative projects. To make matters worse, I got no definitive answers on scholarships for the conference or if anyone was going to help with my travel costs from New York to Nevada. I don’t know the person, but I stated tonight when I was messaged again about attending, that it was unlikely for financial reasons. The response I got was rude and dismissive. Note to people who do conferences for peers: We’re not psychologists. We don’t make bank. Some of us are still supplementing our work with an SSD check. Even if I had a full-time peer position, where I live they don’t pay particularly well, --and certainly not well enough that I can non-nonchalantly drop hundreds of dollars on travel and more for my entry to the conference. You want people like me at your conferences, you have to make it possible for me to be there.  

shared via Social Work Helper