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THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WE FACE CANNOT BE SOLVED AT THE SAME LEVEL OF THINKING WE WERE AT WHEN WE CREATED THEM. -Albert

THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WE FACE CANNOT BE SOLVED AT THE SAME LEVEL OF THINKING WE WERE AT WHEN WE CREATED THEM. -Albert Einstein. Client Culture . Maria Maceira-Lessley Patients’ Rights Annual Training Friday, October 8, 2004.

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THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WE FACE CANNOT BE SOLVED AT THE SAME LEVEL OF THINKING WE WERE AT WHEN WE CREATED THEM. -Albert

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  1. THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WE FACE CANNOT BE SOLVED AT THE SAME LEVEL OF THINKING WE WERE AT WHEN WE CREATED THEM. -Albert Einstein

  2. Client Culture Maria Maceira-Lessley Patients’ Rights Annual Training Friday, October 8, 2004

  3. "NEVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD; INDEED, IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS.” - Margaret Mead

  4. Introduction to Client Culture • How the concept of Consumer Culture began • How Consumer Culture became Client Culture • CNMHC Client Culture Focus Groups • Pros and Cons of Consumer/Client Culture • Cultural Competency Plan Requirements

  5. Definition of Client Culture “Mental health clients bring a set of values, beliefs, and lifestyles that are molded, in part, by their personal experiences with a mental illness, the mental health system and their own ethnic culture. When these personal experiences are shared, mental health clients can be better understood and be empowered to effect positive system change.” - DMH Info Notice 02-03

  6. Diagnosis/Labeling Medications Hospitalization Societal/Familial Stigma Economic Impact Housing Feeling Different Culturally Incompetent Services Forced Treatment Oppressive Mechanisms:The Impact on Quality of Life

  7. “TRUE JUSTICE WILL NEVER COME UNTIL THOSE WHO ARE NOT INJURED ARE JUST AS INDIGNANT AS THOSE WHO ARE”Mr. Kweisi Mfume 9/2001 NACCP President at Purdue University

  8. Diagnosis/Labeling • Mystical, incomprehensible process • No clear explanation of “why” or “how” • Feeling marked or scarred for life • Feeling ashamed and weak

  9. Medication • Tremendous fear • Power differential • Loss of control over one’s life • Drugged and dependent

  10. Hospitalization • Locked doors • Trauma of being held against my will • Warehoused with nothing to do but sleep • Threaten with physical force if I did not comply

  11. Societal/Familial Stigma • Loss of credibility • Social Isolation • Feared and shunned; outcast • Loss of respect from friends and family

  12. Economic Impact • Unexpected termination of employment • Change in social class • Inability to pay bills and provide for children’s needs • Dependent on social security

  13. Housing • What type of housing can you afford with social security? • Constant competition between paying rent and meeting other basic needs • Being evicted and having to live with relatives who fear you

  14. Feeling Different • Sense of being in a “fishbowl” • Feeling as if you are not like the others around you • Feeling like people could tell I was drugged and crazy

  15. Culturally Incompetent Services • Dependence encouraged • “Medication support” = social control • They know more about my needs than I do • Self-advocacy and peer support not valued

  16. Forced Treatment • Traumatized watching others being “taken down” • Coerced into “voluntary” hospitalization, then not being allowed to leave • Not wanting to come back ever

  17. "YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD." - Mahatma Gandhi

  18. OUR SAVING GRACES

  19. Alternatives to TraditionalMental Health Services • Self-Help • Peer Advocacy and Support • Education • Political Activism • Empowerment • Spirituality

  20. Self-Advocacy • That wonderful feeling that “I know what’s right for me” and not being afraid to say so….

  21. Self-Help and Peer Support • Hearing others have been through what I have been through • Helping someone navigate the system and avoid heartache • Learning that I am not alone

  22. Education • Learning everything about my labels and medications so I can make good choices • Feeling confident to challenge my old beliefs about the “medical model”

  23. Political Activism • Telling my story to influence change in the system • Speaking out against social injustice • Getting to “The Front of the Room”

  24. Empowerment • Knowing that I can recover • Believing in myself again • Wanting to make a difference to prevent anyone else from being traumatized

  25. Moving Mental Health Forward • How the Client Culture can make it happen… • Questions and Answers

  26. "WHEN I DARE TO BE POWERFUL, TO USE MY STRENGTH IN THE SERVICE OF MY VISION, THEN IT BECOMES LESS AND LESS IMPORTANT WHETHER I AM AFRAID." - Andre Lorde

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