Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's ability to fulfill their daily routines and roles. OTs have training in the physical, psychological, and social aspects of human functioning deriving from an education grounded in anatomical and physiological concepts, and psychological perspectives. They enable individuals across the lifespan by optimizing their abilities to perform activities that are meaningful to them ("occupations"). Human occupations include activities of daily living, work/vocation, play, education, leisure, rest and sleep, and social participation.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a United States-based nonprofit organization originally founded as a grassroots group by family members of people diagnosed with mental illness. NAMI identifies its mission as "providing advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives" and its vision as "a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares". NAMI offers classes and trainings for people living with mental illnesses, their families, community members, and professionals, including what is termed psychoeducation, or education about mental illness. NAMI holds regular events which combine fundraising for the organization and education, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks.
Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and reproductive health education.
Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening, or counseling. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, as equals to give each other connection and support on a reciprocal basis.
Psychiatric rehabilitation, also known as psych social rehabilitation, and sometimes simplified to psych rehab by providers, is the process of restoration of community functioning and well-being of an individual diagnosed in mental health or emotional disorder and who may be considered to have a psychiatric disability.
The recovery model, recovery approach or psychological recovery is an approach to mental disorder or substance dependence that emphasizes and supports a person's potential for recovery. Recovery is generally seen in this model as a personal journey rather than a set outcome, and one that may involve developing hope, a secure base and sense of self, supportive relationships, empowerment, social inclusion, coping skills, and meaning. Recovery sees symptoms as a continuum of the norm rather than an aberration and rejects sane-insane dichotomy.
The National Center for Trauma-Informed Care is a United States based medical charity, funded by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Created in 2005, it assists publicly funded agencies, programs, and services in making a cultural shift to a more trauma-informed environment — an environment intended to be more supportive, comprehensively integrated, and empowering for trauma survivors.
The Consumer Action Network (CAN) is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit, professional peer advocacy program incorporated in the District of Columbia in February 2003. The organization’s mission is to empower mental health consumers by promoting recovery and self-advocacy.
Grow is a peer support and mutual-aid organization for recovery from, and prevention of, mental illness.
A peer support specialist is a person with "lived experience" who has been trained to support those who struggle with mental health, psychological trauma, or substance use. Their personal experience of these challenges provide peer support specialists with expertise that professional training cannot replicate.
The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) is an international non-profit headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota that provides direct care for those who have been tortured, trains partner organizations in the United States and around the world who can prevent and treat torture, conducts research to understand how best to heal survivors, and advocates for an end to torture.
The National Empowerment Center (NEC) is an advocacy and peer-support organization in the United States that promotes an empowerment-based recovery model of mental disorders. It is run by consumers/survivors/ex-patients "in recovery" and is located in Lawrence, Massachusetts in Essex County.
Recovery coaching is a form of strengths-based support for people with addictions or in recovery from alcohol, other drugs, codependency, or other addictive behaviors. There are multiple models, with some programs using self-identified peers who draw from their own lived experience with substance use and recovery and some utilizing people who have no lived experience but some training in support, depending on local standards and availability. They help clients find ways to stop addiction (abstinence) or reduce harm associated with addictive behaviors. These coaches can help a client find resources for harm reduction, detox, treatment, family support and education, local or online support groups; or help a client create a change plan to recover on their own.
A crisis plan is the physical manifestation of crisis management with respect to the creation of a real document – digital or otherwise – outlining a personal or organizational reaction to crisis.
The Banyan is a non-governmental organization based in Chennai, India that was founded in 1993 by Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi Jayakumar to cater to mentally-ill and homeless women in the city.
Michael Huggins is the American founder and Executive Director of Transformation Yoga Project, a non-profit organization teaching yoga and mindfulness as a tool for personal change in the lives of people within drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, the criminal justice system, community transitional centers and VA hospitals.
Whole Health Action Management (WHAM) is a peer-led intervention to facilitate self-management to reach whole health goals through peer coaching and support groups. It is a method of utilizing the power of peer support to support healthcare delivery, and to counter high rates of chronic physical health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity among those with behavioral health diagnoses. The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions (CIHS) developed the WHAM program to "encourage increased resiliency, wellness, and self-management of health and behavioral health among people with mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and chronic physical health conditions." WHAM is based on a collaboration between peers and health professionals. Peers encourage clients to get routine health exams and comply with physician recommendations. They frequently discuss common health behaviors such as smoking cessation, physical exercise, stress reduction, and healthy food choices. WHAM is very similar to Peer Support Whole Health and Resiliency
The TAMAR Education Project is a manualized 10-week mental health intervention for justice-involved women and men with histories of psychological trauma which combines psycho-educational approaches and expressive therapies. It is designed for clients who have a recent treatment history for a mental health condition, a substance use disorder, and a history of physical and/or sexual abuse. TAMAR Groups have been implemented inside detention centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and in the community.
Lindsay G. Oades is an Australian wellbeing public policy strategist, author, researcher and academic. He is the Director of the Centre for Wellbeing Science and a professor at the University of Melbourne. He is also a non-executive Director of Action for Happiness Australia, and the Positive Education Schools Association. He is a former co-editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing.
Trauma- and violence-informed care (TVIC) describes a framework for working with and relating to people who have experienced negative consequences after exposure to dangerous experiences. There is no one single TVIC framework, or model, and some go by slightly different names, including Trauma Informed Care (TIC). They incorporate a number of perspectives, principles and skills. TVIC frameworks can be applied in many contexts including medicine, mental health, law, education, architecture, addiction, gender, culture, and interpersonal relationships. They can be applied by individuals and organizations.
