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The Massachusetts C/S/X Network
Editor's Note: Andrew Palmer Interviewed Deni Cohodas for the information in this article concerning the Advocacy Unlimited Classes. The Advocacy Unlimited organization is based in Connecticut. This Connecticut organization, of consumers/survivors and ex-patients, has become an effective political network in that state. Deni is working with Yvette Sangster, the former executive coordinator of Advocacy Unlimited of Connecticut. The goal of the classes is to train a selected group of Massachusetts c/s/x in the advocacy and community organizing methods that have proven successful in Connecticut. It is M-POWER'S long held vision to create a more potent political network of c/s/x advocates here in Massachusetts. This article describes the efforts of the AU teachers and students. We hope to realize our dream of a statewide c/s/x network through their efforts. Applicants for the seats in the class were interviewed during June in Springfield at the case management office of the DMH. Students chosen for the training are Inez King of Springfield, Martha Hay of Pittsfield, Linda Stein of Springfield, David Stark, Scott Cinsavich of Westford, Michael Jones of Cambridge, Linda Stalker of Springfield, and Debbie Whittle who resides in New Hampshire. The Peer Advocacy Project is being modeled after the Advocacy Unlimited organization based in Connecticut. Advocacy Unlimited is a successful Peer Advocacy and political network of consumers/ survivors and ex-patients which has become a model that consumers/survivors in Massachusetts are seeking to adapt to our state. To this end M-POWER and the fledgling organization CHANGE (Consumers, Helping and Networking for Growth and Empowerment) are conducting a series of classes to train consumers/survivors/ex-patients here to be the peer advocates of the c/s/x network here. One of the crucial goals of the classes is to impart to Mass consumers/survivors the skills necessary to work as advocates in their own area Mental Health communities. Another goal is to create a consumer/survivor advocacy network which will be strong enough to significantly effect the legislative process. For example, if an issue is of great importance to Advocacy Unlimited of Connecticut, its advocates are able to exert enough influence in order to modify, help pass, or even to kill legislative bills. The network of advocates in Connecticut also work in various mental health settings as advocates and educators. Advocates in Connecticut receive a 13 week course, plus orientation and closing classes. These classes are really seminars, each weekly class is 8 hours long. Massachusetts students currently training in Springfield are following a similarly rigorous schedule. After 13 weeks of classes, the newly trained advocates in our state will donate six hours of their time per week, in various mental health settings throughout the commonwealth. A minimum of two hours per week of this time will be devoted to advocacy. Another two hours minimum will be spent developing and/or presenting workshops on various mental health issues. The final two hours will be devoted to networking with groups. The M-POWER and CHANGE advocacy classes had an auspicious and inspiring kick off in early July. The very first class was a presentation on the history of the mental patient’s rights movement. This history lesson was given by Steve Holochuck the Director of DMH'S Office of Consumer and Ex-patient Relations (OCER) . The purpose of the History class was to help students to understand that they are part of a wider, time honored movement for social change. By giving the movement’s history Steve showed the students that earlier champions for human dignity in mental health have preceded them. The students heard the details of the movement's past victories for human rights The presentation was inspiring. Many of those present felt that Steve was passing the torch of our movement n to a new generation of c/s/x activists, within whose hearts the desire for justice will continue to blaze. The second part of the first seminar was a talk by Moe Armstrong on recovery. Moe personally views himself as not having a disability, he prefers the term psychiatric condition. Moe sees the term recovery as code terminology that might justify cutting government funding for the necessary supports, which he believes to a greater or lesser extent, all c/s/x will need throughout life due to the psychiatric condition. Moe also talked about his travels around the country and around the world and his experiences in various locations. The purpose of Moe’s talk was to show people what recovery can be about. However, all of the classes also serve to connect students to prominent Massachusetts activists in the movement. These introductions will develop and build political bridges for the c/s/x activist network we hope to create here in Massachusetts. It's important to note that every speaker at each seminar has donated all of their time for teaching these classes free of charge. Class two on July 20th was taught by Susan Cavaciuti, the topics she addressed were coping with stress and methods of good time management. Experienced advocates know that when they have an office they can easily become overloaded with lots of issues that place great demands on their time. Students heard from Susan, who is an effective and experienced advocate. She gave instruction on how to handle stress, and the skills needed to manage ones time in the position of advocate. As Deni put it the class on the following week: Body language & nonverbal communication, “was a blast!” At this class people learned how body language effects interactions during negotiations. A speech was read by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which recalled the Civil Rights Movement. In the speech Dr. King relates tales of sit-in protesters at segregated lunch counters in the South during the Jim Crow era. These protesters sat straight up in their chairs during the actions they took to end segregation. Dr. King’s speech emphasized the importance of body language in regards to individual dignity and collective victory during nonviolent confrontations. Another component of the class was a nonverbal role play, each person in the class took a turn playing the role of a consumer prohibited from using the telephone. For five minute periods classmates also took on the other roles of advocates and shrinks engaged in silent physical debate. This exercise gave new vision to the class members on how power is projected nonverbally through body language. The students saw quite plainly that during negotiations physical cues such as eye contact, posture, and other movements of the body can determine the outcome of any advocacy goal. During the second part of the day Attorney Jonathan Delman, Executive Director of the Mass Consumer Satisfaction Team, spoke on Informed Consent Law, health care proxies, and advanced directives. Jon described the informed consent policy of the DMH which is known as “96-3.” This is the policy which M-POWER hammered out with the DMH over many years. The original campaign from which this policy originated began back in the early 90s through the hard work of the membership of Boston M-POWER. At that time many of the members of the Boston Chapter were suffering from the serious and often irreversible side effects of various psychiatric medications. Jonathan Delman explained the history of the campaign as well as the traditional legal doctrine of informed consent to the students. To put it simply: you as a consumer of health care treatment, have the right to be informed of the benefits, risks and possible side effects of any proposed medical intervention. And upon being fully informed of the risks, benefits and possible side effects of such treatment, you the health care consumer have the right to consent to or to refuse such treatment. It was an eye opening experience for many of the students to find out there is a law, and a policy, about informed consent which is designed to protect our rights. Since most mental health consumers--particularly those of us who have been incarcerated on inpatient wards--have not historically been informed about this time honored legal right to informed consent. Jon also talked about advanced directives and the health care proxy. In situations where you the mental health consumer anticipate being deemed incompetent at some future date. Advanced directives, and health care proxies, are legal procedures with which your wishes--made known. The process is documented on legal forms when you are still acknowledged by the courts as quite competent. If and when one is deemed incompetent these legal documents specify in advance the treatments and/or medications which should or should not be employed. The choice of your treatment guardian is also determined when you fill out the advanced directive or health care proxy form. Deni became very excited when she described “one of the coolest things about the classes is that all students must do a 3-5 minute speech which is then read for the entire class.” These speeches are then critiqued by one’s classmates. A tightly focused speech of three to five minutes in length is the item advocates need to produce in order to hold the interest of legislators. Therefore, the pros and cons of these assignments, and ways to improve future speeches, always fuel class discussions. Students realize that the skill of public speaking is crucial as it is required for legislative lobbying and leading workshops. Furthermore a thorough grasp of speaking formally in public is a skill of paramount importance to advocates when media coverage is involved. Deni gushed with pride as she exclaimed that: “ the cool thing about it is that people are watching themselves improve and grow according to the hard work everyone in the project is investing. People are doing homework, reading newspaper clippings, studying news video clips, and then writing speeches for the class to work on together. Through all this intensive work I can see people gaining self confidence as public speakers.”
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