This course is currently available exclusively as a gift with any ticket to Kindling Community: IDHA’s End-of-Year Celebration & Fundraiser on Sunday, December 7.
Purchase a ticket at any tier to receive early access!
Public enrollment will be announced soon.
Mad Studies Symposium
Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health
Description
The Mad Studies Reader brings together writing and artwork from activists, scholars, clinicians, and artists to explore the growing field of mad studies. As people excluded from mainstream definitions of mental health are increasingly finding ways to get their voices heard, the Reader traces this progress and offers both hope and awareness of the challenges ahead as we work to build a world that embraces rather than divides.
Inspired by the book and by the increasing solidarity and excitement around mad studies and allied fields, this course was originally offered as a live event organized to bring activists, scholars, clinicians, and artists together. Participants will have the opportunity to hear directly from dozens of contributors across disciplines, movements, and geographies as we explore mad studies as a field of inquiry, a framework for transformation, and a movement for change.
What you’ll learn:
Key contributions of mad studies to rethinking mental health care
The role of complexity, multiplicity, and meaning-making in shaping how we understand distress and healing
The role of art, storytelling, and cultural production in expanding possibilities for rights-respecting and liberatory approaches to care
Connections between mad activism and broader movements for racial, economic, disability, and gender justice
How activists, scholars, clinicians, and artists can work together to strengthen community care and transform mental health systems
Faculty
This course features dozens of contributors to the Mad Studies Reader, including activists, scholars, clinicians, and artists whose work helped shape the field.
Faculty include the book’s co-editors – Bradley Lewis, Alisha Ali, and Jazmine Russell – alongside Debbie-Ann Chambers, Sascha Altman DuBrul, Leah Harris, Jacks McNamara, Lorna Collins, Issa Ibrahim, Sabrina Chap, Kelechi Ubozoh, Raj Mariwala, Benon Kabale, Chris Hansen, Erica Fletcher, Lennard Davis, Hayley Stefan, Noel Hunter, Marilyn Charles, Jennifer Poole, Stephanie LeBlanc, Gitika Talwar, and Will Hall.
Audience
This course is for:
Mental health and physical health professionals, including: clinicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, peer specialists, recovery support specialists, housing specialists, nurse practitioners, wellness support workers, coaches, holistic practitioners
Students
Activists
Family members and advocates
Anyone who works or plans to work with people experiencing mental health-related challenges
What You Get
Over 5 hours of video content drawn from the live event — 20+ talks from advocates spanning disciplines, movements, and geographies
Exclusive readings from within the Mad Studies Reader
Robust resource lists, reflection questions, and discussion prompts to support deeper engagement in your practice, organizing, or study
The opportunity to connect and dialogue with other community members inside the course
FAQ
When does the course start and finish?
This is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course, content, or platform?
We love hearing your feedback on what we can do to improve our efforts to bring transformative mental health to the public! Shoot us an email at contact@idha-nyc.org and let us know your thoughts. If you disagree with any of the perspectives shown in this course - that's great! We encourage differing perspectives, so feel free to leave a comment in the course - so long as your comments remain respectful and you speak from your own point of view.
I am a person struggling with mental health issues/a family member of someone who is struggling. Can I take the course?
Absolutely! Just note that this course is geared towards professionals in the field, and will speak mostly to those working in a formal support role. However, we welcome anyone who wants to join!
Are refunds available?
At this time, all sales are final, we cannot offer refunds after purchase.
Are Continuing Education (CE) credits available?
Unfortunately this course is not available for CE credits at this time. We encourage you to check out the rest of our self-paced course library to view which courses are currently available for CEs.