After Ann Masten’s lecture we are more than ever convinced of the importance of campaigning for the next step in resilience research and practice, which explicitly addresses the political nature of poverty and discrimination and tries to tackle inequalities, that which is consistent with the Boingboing resilience approach.
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Angie here again. Sunny morning in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You ever heard of Ann Masten? She’s mega famous in my world. I’m listening to her speak right now. She’s a US psychologist, working mostly on human development, and has just written a new book called Ordinary Magic. Ann’s been working on resilience for so long that she’s now won a lifetime award for it. Congratulations Ann.
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Cindy Blackstock has just taken the Canadian government to court for injustices to aboriginal children. Cindy looks at the audience and tells us that her mentor gave her some advice which I just love – ‘don’t fall too much in love with your own organisation. And don’t fall in love with your own business card, as you might have to give them both up in the end to fight for your children.’
Read MoreDemocratising distress is about not packaging mental distress as something that can only be fixed by ‘experts with a privileged hotline to the truth’. Carl spoke about how informal community spaces frequently foster mental wellbeing through normal, everyday human practices. Being a good neighbour, treating people with compassion, making human connections, providing a space to just ‘be’ without labels and judgement were all part of the picture.
Read MoreIt is clear that a considerable amount of mental distress work is undertaken in organizations and services in our communities that are not rationalised as mental health interventions. However there have been few sustained attempts to centre these kinds of agencies and organizations.
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