| Details | | Publication Date: | 1995-01-01 |
| Size | | Height: | 9.3 in | | Width: | 6.0 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 16.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
"If the mental health system wants to help people rather than control them--if that system truly exists for its clients rather than for itself and its own self-perpetuation--then I challenge the system to read this book, take it seriously, and follow its directions. I appeal to mental health professionals: Read this book, listen to your clients, and work with them as empowered, equal partners to plan the future mental health system. Make it a system that truly helps, not the existing one that hinders. Make it a system that reflects what is best in our society, rather than controlling and hiding away what society most fears." --From the Preface by Howie the Harp, Mental Health Consumer "Systems and agencies that have been professionally controlled for the last century are on a collision course with the growing consumer/ex-patient advocacy movement, which asserts quite simply that people with psychiatric disabilities are people first, with fundamental rights to control their services, their basic life choices, and their aspirations." --from Chapter One RETURN TO COMMUNITY is an impassioned call to action that provides a comprehensive, practical approach to fully integrating people with serious mental illnesses into the community. It offers all the substantive information readers need to begin organizing for change in communities and service systems. Drawing from resources not currently available in the professional literature--primarily the voices of mental health consumers themselves as well their families--this path-breaking work lays the groundwork for a critical rethinking of how we view people labeled "mentally ill." Defining "community integration," the author examines current and past approaches to meeting the needs of people with psychiatric disabilities, demonstrating how they have been inadequate. Carling then maps out a pioneering paradigm for community integration, which consists of an active partnership among mental health professionals, community leaders, policy makers, families, neighbors, employers, and realtors. Describing ways to prepare the community to organize for change, the book discusses the need to first address the pervasive nature of stigma, which is reflected at every level of society. Drawing from his own extensive experience, as well as from firsthand observations of model programs in place throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia, the author offers detailed guidance for organizing a program of action in mental health systems and in local communities, including: * planning strategies and developing a clear mission * gathering information on consumer and family needs * assessing the capacity of the community to support individuals with psychiatric disabilities, and * working with key constituencies Multiple examples of successful, practical approaches to providing housing, employment, social integration, and mental health treatment are described. Presenting a variety of strategies for revamping existing mental health support systems, the book suggests ways for communities to actively work with individuals with psychiatric disabilities and their families. The work concludes with a discussion of the challenges the mental health field faces going into the 21st century. A uniquely practical resource, RETURN TO COMMUNITY offers valuable information to anyone concerned with community mental health and public mental health systems, including people with psychiatric disabilities, family members, mental health professionals, county, state, and federal policymakers, housing professionals, and employers. It is also a useful text for graduate and undergraduate students of community counseling, psychology, social work, and psychiatry.
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