Grappling with the Biomedical Model: The Case for a Paradigm Shift

We are ...a community of mental health workers, clinicians, psychiatrists, current and prior users of mental health services, advocates, artists, and survivors of trauma and adversity, who are interested in exploring the link between personal and societal transformation.

Institute for the Development of Human Arts

Part of IDHA's 2025 virtual training series  TENDING THE FUTURE OF CARE

<h3>*ASL and captioning provided*</h3><h3>NOTE: 2.25 CE credits are available for this class (click <a href="https://www.idha-nyc.org/tending-the-future-of-care-ce" title="https://www.idha-nyc.org/tending-the-future-of-care-ce" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a> for more information)</h3><h3>To learn more, please visit: https://www.idha-nyc.org/tending-the-future-of-care</h3><p><br></p><h2>Class Description</h2><p>In this critical moment of institutional collapse and political attack, there is a growing need to grapple with the biomedical model’s dominance in mental health care – and its function as a smokescreen covering up its historical roots in slavery, its use as an instrument of colonization, and its reinforcement of white supremacy. Related concepts in mental health equity work e.g. cultural humility, structural competency, and the “access to care” narrative) promise progress but often fail to reckon with the deep-rooted histories of systemic oppression, surveillance, and carcerality embedded within the field. As public institutions like SAMHSA and NIMH are dismantled, we are invited to move beyond existing frameworks and reimagine care humanity, relationality, and political consciousness.</p><p>Through personal narrative, historical analysis, and visionary practice, this class offers an opportunity to critically examine the biomedical model and raise fundamental questions about the path forward at a time of crossroads for the mental health field. Faculty will present research demonstrating the model’s long-standing failure to improve outcomes, and highlight ongoing efforts to abolish coercive mental health practices such as psychiatric restraints, challenge the carceral logics embedded in mental health systems, establish anti-racist clinical standards, and critically interrogate mandated reporting. Participants will be invited to examine how these shifts support a departure from medicalized models and deepen their own commitment to building ethical, justice-aligned forms of care.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><h2>Learning Objectives</h2><ul><li>Critically analyze the biomedical model as a political and historical construct rather than a neutral framework for care</li><li>Identify how mainstream mental health narratives like “access to care,” “cultural humility,” “structural competency,” and “global mental health” can obscure histories of systemic violence</li><li>Reflect on the relationship between mental health systems and the carceral state, including the use of restraints, mandated reporting, and involuntary treatment</li><li>Explore possibilities for creating new care practices grounded in autonomy, dignity, and self-determination</li><li>Practice unlearning professional socialization that perpetuates systemic harm in order to support anti-racist, non-carceral clinical practice</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>Faculty</h2><p><strong><strong>Rupi Legha, MD</strong></strong>, is a psychiatrist, independent scholar, and founder of the Antiracism in Mental Health Fellowship. She brings both heart and rigor to her work, taking her role as Dr. Legha seriously while staying deeply connected to who she is as Rupi. A graduate of Harvard Medical School and double board-certified in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry, her work reimagines mental healthcare through a lens of humanity, justice, and collective liberation across generations.</p><p><strong><strong>Robert Whitaker </strong></strong>is the author of five books, three of which tell of the history of psychiatry. In 2010, his Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness won the U.S. Investigative Reporters and Editors book award for best investigative journalism. He is the founder of madinamerica.com, a website that features research news and blogs by an international group of writers interested in “rethinking psychiatry.”</p><p><br></p><h2>What You Get</h2><p>Registration includes the 2.5-hour class session and access to IDHA’s School for Transformative Mental Health on Mighty Networks (our virtual learning community where you’ll have the opportunity to engage with other students and your faculty).</p><p><br></p><h2>Questions?</h2><p>Email us at contact@idha-nyc.org</p>

When Help Hurts

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

Grappling with the Biomedical Model: The Case for a Paradigm Shift

More events from Institute for the Development of Human Arts

Discover more events from Institute for the Development of Human Arts, from Health to other experiences you might love.

When Help Hurts

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.

Grappling with the Biomedical Model: The Case for a Paradigm Shift

More events from Institute for the Development of Human Arts

Discover more events from Institute for the Development of Human Arts, from Health to other experiences you might love.

When Help Hurts

You might also like...

Browse more events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.