Visions articles

In October 2017, heART space, an art show and healing space, gave youth and others in Victoria a place to grieve, heal, and celebrate the lives of those who have died of an overdose. heART space displayed art created by people living on the streets who died of an overdose and art created to memorialize loved ones, and community members offered healing sessions like art therapy and hand drumming in the space. Marion shares the incredible impact that can happen when you create space for expression and conversation to help a community grieve.

Kristy shares practices in meaningful engagement with youth advisors that she and her team developed for the Canadian Mental Health Association’s BounceBack Youth Advisory Committee.

When young people experience trauma, abuse, abandonment, or other difficult experiences, the system labels them "at risk" or "vulnerable" and makes it sound like the youth themselves are the problem. But the real problem is in the stigma and discrimination that excludes and marginalizes youth who are just trying to survive the best they can. When we build positive relationships with youth and offer inclusive and non-judgemental support, we bring people into our communities rather than push them aside.

Hazel is a WRAP® facilitator on Vancouver Island. WRAP® (Wellness Recovery Action Plan®) is a structured program designed to help participants articulate their wellness goals and then to develop six wellness action plans—what she calls a kind of “earthquake preparedness” for mental health. Find out the key pieces in the WRAP® toolbox and the practical and emotional help that peer support can provide to put the plans into action.

The idea that something must always be wrong and need to be fixed or cured underlies our current medical and mental health systems; it is what fuels our society’s self-improvement mindset. Brandi spent a lot of time looking for ways to save people (including herself) from experiencing the blips and dips of life. Find out how her initial excitement around mindfulness and meditation as a "solution" ended up changing her entire worldview around what "getting better" is really about.

When people are in hospital and receive hospital (inpatient) mental health services, they experience particularly tough times when symptoms return because they’ve lost contact with their everyday lives and familiar routines. Shu-Ping describes a type of support not talked about as often as medication or psychotherapy—occupational therapy—and how occupational therapists can help people resume their lives in the community quickly following short-term hospitalization.

Experiencing psychosis, and the loss of contact with reality it’s associated with, is frightening and disruptive. Return of symptoms can be common and equally stressful. Tom has worked in the field of psychotic disorders for 30 years, including evidence-based practice around prevention and treatment. He shares what we now know helps the most to reduce or avoid relapses, including key parts in a relapse prevention plan.

Words are powerful: they can frame how we think and talk about the kinds of changes people may make related to substance use. Consider how often people use “relapse” as the use of any substances at all or “falling off the wagon” implied as failure. Gaëlle sheds a light on these and other common biases that shape how we support or hinder people’s personal agency.