Page 143 - ReAwaken Ebook 1st Ed

Cherie McGregor - Academia is a vital tool for Lived

Experience systems-change activism

The mental health system is driven by a commitment to evidence-

based practice which prioritises knowledge produced
through academic research and published in peer reviewed

journals. Academia is also responsible for the education and
qualification of the health professionals, researchers and policy

makers that guide decision-making and service delivery in the
mental health system. For these reasons it is essential that Lived

Experience systems change activists have a recognizable voice in the research and
education. This interactive workshop will explore the role that activism in the academic

space can play in further driving Lived Experience systems change agendas.

Chérie McGregor is currently the Consumer Services Coordinator for the Sunshine Coast

Mind and Neuroscience Thompson Institute. Chérie is also a Lived Experience systems
change advocate in the public mental health system, a Lived Experience academic and

works in commissioning mental health services for a regional PHN.

Andrew Fort – Psychiatric drug withdrawal, listening to

the voices of (Lived) Experience

Psychiatric drugs can be helpful in many people’s experience,

whilst others have found them either ineffective, or quite harmful.
Many people are looking for support to reduce or come off their

psychiatric drugs, or to help them deal with existing withdrawal
effects from these drugs. Finding this support can be really

challenging. Many prescribers don’t understand the potential
intensity of these experiences; misunderstanding them as signs of

relapse, or symptoms of another ‘illness’, or labelling people seeking this support as ‘non-

compliant’ or lacking insight.

Andrew works in private practice to support people seeking to negotiate these
challenging experiences. While the ‘evidence’ presents narratives of mild, short-term

‘discontinuation syndrome', Andrew sees and hears the diversity of people's experience.
Andrew is a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and therapist, committed to finding gentler

ways to help people in distress. He has a particular interest in experiences commonly
called ‘psychosis’, and in the healing power of human connection and relationship.

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