Page 22 - ReAwaken Ebook 1st Ed

Monya Murch - Reconnect and rehumanise, a re-

sponse to the impact of trauma and addiction

Any addiction is a secondary issue that comes out of a primary

problem. Addiction does not happen in a vacuum. Our main-

stream approaches to addiction are often limiting and can be
unhelpful in the long-term when their primary focus is on addiction and users being ‘the

problem’, rather than understanding the behaviours as adaptations to, or symptoms of,
(deep) discomfort or a hostile environment. The talk will aim to allow space for conversa-

tions around the impact of trauma, the possibility of reconnection, and the importance
to re-claim one’s humanity.

Monya Murch has a background in social sciences, later specialising in addiction, trauma-

informed practice and perinatal mental health. Monya is currently working with individu-
als and families experiencing gambling-related harm and severe mental distress. She also

facilitates weekly therapeutic groups.

Jo Watson - A call to action

Challenging the illness myth promoted by western psychiatry that

uses invalid constructs to pathologise people’s pain and survival

strategies, Jo will share how she has personally experienced moving
from isolation and hopelessness to feeling part of a massive move-

ment for change. She will tell her story about how joining with allies
in activism was the only congruent way forward for her personally,

politically and professionally and will encourage others to consider whether the same
could apply to them.

Jo Watson is a psychotherapist and activist with a history in the U.K. Rape Crisis move-

ment of the 1990s. She has worked therapeutically for the last 24 years with those who
have been victims of sexual abuse/violence and has campaigned on women’s survivor

issues for the past 3 decades. Jo actively challenges the biomedical model of ‘mental

health’, arguing that emotional distress and suffering is primarily a result of what people
have experienced, which all too often arises within social injustices that need to be

named. Jo is the organizer of the one day event A Disorder For Everyone! with Dr Lucy
Johnstone and is part of the Mad in the U.K. team. Jo is also a founding member of

‘United for Integrity in Mental Health’ (UIMH) (launched in 2019) and creator of the Drop
the Disorder! Facebook group.

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