Webinar: Becoming a Radical Advocate for Self-Determination

Date

May 27, 2016 at 10:30am - 12pm

Access

Open to the Public

Presenter

Jenn Cusick

Organization

BC PSR Advanced Practice

Location

Webinar

Becoming a Radical Advocate for Self-Determination: 
The revolutionary perspective within the PSR/Recovery movement
Presenter: Jenn Cusick, CPRP, Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator

Most of us get into the mental health field because we want to give back, or help. We will spend some time in this webinar looking at the radical/cutting edge shifts that have occurred in the field over the years. We will examine how as service providers, our desire to “help” sometimes gets in the way of a person’s journey towards greater self-determination. We will look at our own feelings around the need to “help”, and the desire to see a positive outcome. We will look at how we can foster environments that move people towards greater self-determination.

Session objectives:

1. Exploration around radical advocacy through looking at some history of the recovery movement– highlighting some radical advocates.
2. We will identify what self-determination is.
3. We will examine how our worldview influences the service we provide.
4. As supporters and service providers we will examine the way we provide support, and look at some shifts that will support the people we serve towards greater self-determination.

Jenn Cusick (CPRP, Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator) has been working in mental health for the last twenty years. During that time she has been a relentless force for innovation. She sees sparks—programs and projects with the potential to serve humanity in bright new ways—and tends to them until they catch fire, transforming their surroundings.

She managed a peer support program in her community beginning in 1999. It was on a work trip to Arizona when she first learned about Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), and decided that Western Canada needed WRAP! In 2002 she introduced the Mary Ellen Copeland’s revolutionary Wellness Recovery and Action Plan to British Columbia, advocating for agency support until the model was integrated into all health authorities in the Lower Mainland of BC. WRAP is continuing to grow in B.C, and today Jenn is involved in several WRAP expansion projects in Western Canada.

In November 2014 she created a new company called Luminate Wellness in order to satisfy her itchy visionary spirit, and share what she has learned from her time on the frontlines of wellness and recovery with an even broader community.

Luminate Wellness specializes in WRAP, workplace wellness programs, and Appreciative Inquiry. Integrating the philosophy of a strength-based approach in all services.

She began working on a contract basis with The Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery in 2009. Since launching Luminate Wellness she held contracts with Fraser Health, Island Health, Vancouver Coastal, and Alberta Health Services supporting them to train facilitators. As well as training she is supporting some health authorities with the development, expansion and creation of infrastructure for their WRAP programs. She is also working with organizations and businesses outside of mental health to support the mental health of their employees.