About the Event
The framing of mental health challenges as rooted in brain chemistry has become dominant in psychiatry and popular culture, contributing to the widespread belief that emotional distress is best explained through a biomedical lens. These narratives frame intense human emotions and behaviors as pathological and mysterious – disconnected from the realities and contexts of people’s lives. This approach can be deeply harmful, obscuring the social, political, and relational roots of suffering and limiting possibilities for care, connection, and healing. But what shifts when we challenge these assumptions? What new insights emerge when we see distress not as dysfunction, but as a reasonable response to the conditions of living?
Join us on Wednesday, May 28 for a virtual, interactive event that challenges dominant narratives of what is often called “mental illness.” Together, we’ll explore the limitations of diagnosis and consider how to reclaim diverse states of being, moods, and thoughts as meaningful expressions of human experience, rather than symptoms of disorder. The event will offer a more organic, expansive framework for understanding mental health experiences – drawing from history, the facilitator’s experience, and a range of alternative approaches. Through a combination of large- and small-group dialogue, participants will be invited to reflect on how these ideas might reshape personal and collective approaches to care and the broader landscape of mental health.
This event is particularly geared towards mental health “professionals,” including but not limited to social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, and nurses. People with lived experience, activists, artists, researchers, and other community members are also integral in our efforts to demystify distress, and encouraged to participate.
Donations
IDHA is a small organization that strives to meet the accessibility needs of our community to the best of our ability. Our events are by tiered suggested donation to ensure we can provide closed captions on our events and other programs, though we strive to never turn anyone away. The suggested donation for this event is $10, and we appreciate donations of any size for those who have capacity to give.
Access
ASL interpretation + automated closed captioning will be provided. The event will be recorded and shared with all registrants. Please submit any additional access needs to contact@idha-nyc.org.
Facilitator
Al Galves
Al is a psychologist in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He is President of MindFreedom International and a past Executive Director of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry. He is the author of Lighten Up. Dance With Your Dark Side (self-published by Agora Books) and Harness Your Dark Side (New Horizon Press, 2010)
