Shinah House Working to Provide a Place for Healing and Hope

photo from http://www.shinahhouse.org/index.html

I had the pleasure of speaking today with visionary, social entrepreneur, advocate and mental health survivor, Sharon Unger from Cardston Alberta, founder of Shinah House. There are plans underway for a community centre and ranches across Alberta where women suffering from mental illness can participate in a variety of programs including art and music therapy while learning about nutrition and healthy eating. And that's not all. Women will have an opportunity to take part in the day to day activities of the ranch from collecting eggs to milking goats and grooming horses.

Shinah house is working to create places for healing where hope can be found. At the Shinah House website Unger describes her approach “By addressing the whole spectrum of life issues all can achieve improved wellness and personal growth through excellent nutrition, spiritual self-awareness, emotional connectedness, physical fitness and development of interpersonal skills”.

To learn more about Shinah House visit the website

Mental Health and Cities, CAFÉ SCIENTIFIQUE Discusses Links Between Neighbourhoods and Mental Health

posted by: Cheryl McLean
Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

Urban Moods and Urban Myths:
Do Neighbourhoods Matter for Mental Health?

Join us in a spirited exploration of the science – and philosophy – linking mental well-being and urban living.

This edition of CAFÉ SCIENTIFIQUE is moderated by philosopher Mark Kingwell. Urban health scientists Patricia O’Campo, Jim Dunn and Kwame McKenzie. They will discuss:

• How do scientists measure links between neighbourhoods and health?

• Who is affected?

• When do neighbourhood initiatives produce good results for mental health?

Panelists:

Patricia O’Campo, PhD, Director,
Centre for Research on Inner City Health,
St. Michael’s Hospital

Jim Dunn, PhD
Research Scientist,
Centre for Research on Inner City Health,
St. Michael’s Hospital

Kwame McKenzie, MD, MRC Psych
Senior Scientist and Deputy Director,
Schizophrenia Program,
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Moderator:

Mark Kingwell, PhD, DFA
Professor, Department of Philosophy
University of Toronto

For more information see PDF flyer

Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival in Toronto November

photo from the website at http://www.rendezvouswithmadness.com/

Rendezvous with Madness

November 6 - 15
Toronto, Ontario
Info: 416-583-4339

Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival is an annual film festival that presents features and shorts touching upon the facts and mythology surrounding mental health and addiction. Each program focuses on a different theme. Post-screening panel discussions involve filmmakers, artists and people with professional and personal experience with mental illness and addiction.

See the programme here

and I've included for you below a link to an animation created by Henry Banger Benvenuti
"Rendezvous with Madness" produced in 2006 by Workman Arts...
front row seats at Youtube
see it now here

and visit the artist's website here

One Woman Show "Crazy" True Stories Based on Experiences With Anxiety and Depression

March 25, 2008
There were a few days between entries, almost two weeks in fact, having just returned from a "singing" vacation in Maui, Hawaii. It seems I am still not quite landed as I find myself still standing in my dreams at the summit of the volcano Haleakala.




Back in the real world there are other views and vistas to inspire as I am filled with optimism reading about the many new projects currently underway in arts and health.

New Drama by Gail Schwartz About Realities of Anxiety and Depression

We recently received a note from dramatist Gail Schwartz of Vermont:

"I'm really looking forward to spending time at the site (blog "Arts and Health Crossing Borders) I've already enjoyed my visits there and am amazed and encouraged by how much work is happening in this field. I am currently touring my solo show, "Crazy," based on my experiences as a person diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I'm currently collaborating with VSA Arts of Vermont who received a grant to tour my piece with a community panel discussion and creative arts workshop as part of an anti-stigma campaign. We are completely immersed in the work and it's been incredible."

Gail Schwartz Creator of the One Woman Show"Crazy"

I asked Gail about her process developing the one woman show "Crazy" and she told me she began work in 2001 as part of her graduate studies.

"The preliminary creating was done without any final project in mind; I was dealing with my own crises through my artwork, a process that was brand new to me at the time (a suggestion from an advisor). Only later, once out of the crisis, did I begin to envision putting some of the pieces and stories together to create the show that is now "Crazy."

"I decided that I would commit to seeing this project through to its maturity, as long as it took to ripen and blossom. It is now 2008 and it is in its 30th draft. I feel the script is finished and I am starting to tour the piece on a larger scale. Through working on the stories, transforming my own struggles into art, as well as through sharing them as an activist and learning more about alternative ways of relating to my pain, I've found new ways of being that promote a positive sense of myself and encourage staying connected, both to myself and to the larger society and world. My current tour, a statewide tour of Vermont communities, produced by VSA Arts of Vermont and funded by the Vermont Community Foundation, is a manifestation of my transformation. "

"I am no longer out in the world doing my work alone; rather, I'm working in community, in collaboration with a team. What an amazingly wonderful change!"

Find out more about Gail Schwartz and her work in drama and health at: Third Story Window

Visit us again for more news updates at "Arts and Health Crossing Borders" with more posts to come about the arts in health, training and education.

Cheryl McLean

Mental Health Art Exhibition, Framing the Phoenix, Call for Artists, London, Ontario

(click for larger poster and full information) Framing the Phoenix

Call for Artists

This from the CMHA London-Middlesex;

This annual event in London, Ontario is very exciting and inspiring to those of us who are impacted by mental health and addictions. It is a deeply moving and often joyful event that takes many months of preparation. Now, it's time for you to highlight your gifts by preparing or putting those final touches on a submission for this annual art show.

Please see the poster above (click for enlarged version) for guidelines and note that the DROP OFF DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS APRIL 30, 2008 from 2 to 5 pm at RMHC, London.

Spread the word! We welcome submissions from anyone who has been touched by mental health issues, mental illness and addictions. This includes those of us who have experienced or continue to have these experiences, as well as family, friends and professionals. We know that we have all been touched by this in so many different ways and this is an opportunity to highlight this experience during Mental Health Week.

Trix VanEgmond
Team Leader, Public Education
CMHA, London-Middlesex
http://www.london.cmha.ca/

The Mental Health Public Education and Bereavement Program for Survivors of Suicide is funded by the United Way of London and Middlesex.

See "Emerging Into Light" a place to share original stories, art, fiction or poetry, life stories or stories from someone who has touched your life in a significant way.

Youth and Homelessness, Toronto Youth Use Arts to Express True Stories of Life on the Streets

We heard recently from CCAHTE subscriber and researcher Katharine King about the Youth Pathways Project http://www.tyss.org/process.html , a youth research project at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, which took place in collaboration with the University of Toronto. This research helped offer an opportunity and a place for youth to share their voices and express true stories about living and surviving on the streets of Toronto.

In a recent email Katharine reported, " I've been a subscriber to CCAHTE for several months; it is a valuable resource for those of us doing interdisciplinary work in the arts and health,education and research."



In this post we share with you information about the Toronto Youth Street Stories project.

YPP Dissemination Team

Patricia Erickson

Katharine King

Tara Fidler

Christine Wong-Chong

Nora Ottaway

"Toronto Youth Street Stories (TYSS) grew out of the YPP, Youth Pathways Project http://www.tyss.org/process.html conducted by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto. The YPP study focussed on issues of ethnic and sexual diversity, drug use, and mental health faced by youth living in high-risk environments on or close to the street. The study generated new knowledge about the quality of life experienced by street-involved youth, as well as factors that influence their pathways into either a more stable and healthy adulthood, or a continued existence on the street. The YPP findings are critical to informing policy related to substance abuse treatment, child protection, mental health promotion, and violence prevention in street-involved youth.

The insights and anecdotes that the young people shared gave an extra dimension to the data and statistics generated by the surveys and interviews. These youth obviously had a desire to share their stories, but often lacked the means and opportunity to do so.

TYSS was created as an innovative way to collect these stories, disseminate some of the knowledge gained from these studies, and paint a multi-dimensional picture of the realities experienced by youth living on or near the streets of a major Canadian city.

In the summer of 2007, a team of researchers and facilitators organized a series of writing workshops at different youth agencies in downtown Toronto. With the assistance of peer facilitators, local authors led the workshops by sharing their writing and challenging the youth to create their own characters, rhythms, and writing styles.

The youth wrote stories, poems, and short essays dealing with issues one might expect from a street-involved population, such as physical and sexual abuse, drug use, and violence. But they also wrote about pregnancy, parenting, work, money, family, love, music, beauty, religion, sexuality, isolation, and joy."

Pitiful

Curse us for the cards that life has dealt us

You hate us because we portray a “bad image” of your streets

Yet right in front of us you discard your empty coffee cups

Polluting the very streets you accuse us of destroying.....

I’m addicted to the streets now
To the rain that pours and washes away the scars and pain
To the snow that falls and smothers my flame of anger
To the winds that blow and clear away the debris of hurt...

From the poem "How Dare You" By Poet/ "No Compromise"
see more TYSS youth contributions at http://www.tyss.org/poetry.html

Workman Arts Challenges Myths, Showcases Talent, Celebrates Creativity and Mental Health

Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival

Exploring the facts and mythologies of mental illness and addiction as presented through film.

Busk a Move Music Festival

Showcasing live performances throughout Toronto.

Being Scene Art Exhibition

Exhibiting works by artists who have received services from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

Madness and Arts World Festival

Celebrating the world's first arts festival devoted to creativity and mental health.

A standing ovation for Workman Arts!

Workman Arts (WA) Company provides artistic opportunities to individuals who have received treatment for mental illness or addiction and attempts to combat social exclusion through the arts. Since its inception, WA has produced sixteen original plays, toured over thirty theatres, and played to more than 125,000 people. The organization hosts an annual film festival and art exhibit, supports an in-residence visual art studio, and was founder and host of the first ever Madness and Arts World Festival.


Check out the WA site at: http://www.workmantheatre.com/

Psychosocial Literary Magazine Seeks Writers and Supporters

Open Minds seeks writers, readers and supporters

I was pleased to hear today from Dinah Laprairie, Editor of Open Minds Quarterly

OPEN MINDS QUARTERLY is a psychosocial literary magazine that publishes the writing of consumer/survivors of mental illness (poetry, fiction, essays, first-person accounts). Be part of the change. Learn more about Open Minds Quarterly and how you can participate, either as writer, subscriber, or supporter.

More info:

http://nisa.on.ca/index.php?option=content&task=category&sectionid=3&id=11&Itemid=30

Report on Mental Health and the Arts Proposes Key Recommendations

This report summarizes the discussions at The National Art Centre Roundtable on mental health and the arts that took place September 27, 2006.

Read more and see roundtable recommendations:
http://www.nac-cna.ca/en/allaboutthenac/publications/corporate/roundtable_2006_e.pdf