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Starting a New Chapter for CHANGE
The Planning Team for the M-POWER-sponsored Massachusetts Leadership Academy (MLA) recently completed its first phase when members met late last month to discuss "Turning the Page: Our Accomplishments and the Next Step." MLA is probably better known for beginning to create a statewide consumer network: CHANGE (Consumers/Survivors Helping, Advocating and Networking for Growth and Empowerment). As reported previously in this newsletter, MLA is a citizen leadership and advocacy training initiative for consumer/survivors and expatients who wish to become effective advocates. Supported by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), members come from all across the state, with membership from within and without M-POWER. Since coming together last Spring, the group has created both a values statement and mission statement, held three retreats and many small group meetings, meeting on an ongoing basis for strategic planning, and is currently adapting the original Leadership Academy materials. Although the organization's coming out party has been postponed for the moment, three regional gatherings are currently planned, kicking off with a Southeast Regional Gathering April 10 at Plymouth Public Library. The gatherings will all feature a keynote address by Pat Deegan on the history of the psychiatric consumer/survivor movement, an introduction to CHANGE and its goals, and workshops to determine what topics are of greatest concern to each region. Providers will attend the keynote speech as well as lunch, but will participate in separate workshops. Consumers will be asked to participate in the Better World survey that was first used at the Imagine Care conference in 1999. The Western regional gathering will be held May 11 at Mount Marie in Holyoke, from 12 to 4 p.m. A Northeast regional gathering is currently being planned for the Boston area during the week of June 18. We hope these efforts will eventually culminate in a statewide gathering to be held at a later date. These gatherings are also given sponsorship by the Department of Mental Health (DMH), Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP), the Division of Medical Assistance, the Center for Mental Health Services, and the DMH Office of Consumer and Ex-Patient Relations (OCER). The results of the first Better World Survey indicated consumers place a high priority on seeing mental health providers being trained by consumers. As a result, CHANGE will hold six provider trainings during the next several months in various parts of the state. It will also hold its first leadership academy for a minimum of 20 consumers/survivors in the early fall and is currently seeking interested participants, who should talk to M-POWER's Special Projects Coordinator Melinda Mank at 617-929-4400. During the last meeting of the Planning Team, we took some time to acknowledge our accomplishments and singled out some highlights of the time we have spent together. The human component-new friendships and the process of getting to know each other was acknowledged as an important highlight by a majority of members. Particularly exciting for many members was being thrown together with people from all over the state, with divergent experiences and views of the mental health system and what they hoped the Planning Team and CHANGE would create. Our commitment to reaching consensus also contributed to the strong sense of teamwork. A bulk of the work we accomplished was done during a series of three intense retreats, and a lot of trust was generated through this process, especially as we hit periods of total overwhelm. As one member described it, one of the most empowering experiences of being on the team was being able to be completely herself while hitting rough spots, and having that be okay with the group. Members took a minute to acknowledge the work of members that decided to leave the team early, and acknowledged that we still had a lot to learn about cultural competence and sensitivity, and that remains a top priority for us in the days ahead. UPDATE By all accounts, the first regional gathering surpassed expectations. Over 75 persons from the Southeast attended this event, held on one of the first perfect sunny days of Spring. Since our previous attempts to involve consumers from the Southeast in the Planning Team had been unsuccessful, it was a real thrill to listen to them speak, both in the open discussion period of Pat Deegan's presentation, and later, in small groups. (This gathering will be discussed in greater detail in the next issue of the Nutshell).
Those involved in pulling off this first regional gathering-Deborah Delman, Melinda Mank, Andrew Palmer, Rita Callaghan, Linda Stein, Ann Stillman, Steve Holochuk, Nan Donald, Ellen Boley, Kathy Anderson, Anne Thoegersen as well as MBHP staffers Jennifer Tripp and Ken Krivitz debriefed near Plymouth Rock at the end of the day. Deborah summed it up well when she observed: "It was exciting to see networking in motion. It was wonderful to hear everyone connect today, and to see this 'voice of the Southeast' coming together."
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