Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
The American mental health system is broken beyond repair. Rather than trying to tweak a system which fails everyone, it is time to commit to a bold vision for a better way forward. This podcast explores the American system against the plumb line of an international best practice, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), in Trieste, Italy. The 40-year old Trieste model demonstrates how a community-based treatment system upholds the human rights of the people served. The Trieste story is anti-institutional and models the therapeutic value of social connection. Topics will address contemporary challenges in the American failed mental health system as contrasted with the Italian approach toward accoglienza – or radical hospitality – as the underpinning of their remarkable culture of caring for people. Interviews will touch upon how the guiding principles of the Italian system – social recovery, whole person care, system accountability, and the human right to a purposeful life – are non-negotiable aspects if we are to have any hope of forging a new way forward in our American mental health system. This podcast is curated and hosted by Kerry Morrison, founder and project director of Heart Forward LA (https://www.heartforwardla.org/). Heart Forward is collaborating with Aaron Stern at Verdugo Sound as the technical partner in producing this podcast (https://www.verdugosound.com). Kerry Morrison is also the author of the blog www.accoglienza.us.
Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
The special community at Luna e l'Altra and the role of peer support: A conversation with Beatrice Stanig
Beatrice Stanig is a young woman who is making her way in Trieste. She is a member of the Women’s Association, Luna e L’Altra and a peer support worker in the mental health system. She has also written a book, Sei Innocente and started the process to work on a second.
In this conversation, we cover several topics that help to provide insight into the way in which community based mental health system comes alongside the users who depend upon it. We touch upon:
- The special place in holds in her heart for the women’s association, Luna e l'Altra which has provided her a place of community and purpose since she first stepped across the threshold when she was 22.
- Her role as a peer support worker and her desire to see this profession recognized by the Italian system in order to create a viable path toward economic independence for those who do this job.
- The recent creation of an association in Italy meant to organize peer support workers. It is called the Associazione Italiana Persone Esperte in Supporto tra Pari (AIPESP). Translated that would be the association for experts in peer support. Here is another article that describes the formation of this association.
- Her thoughts (and personal experience therewith) about the “power gap” that exists between system users and the clinicians and staff professionals in the mental health system and why it is important to have another person in the room when users meet with the professional staff.