Allyship and solidarity, not therapy, in child and youth mental health: Lessons from a participatory action research project with psychiatrized youth

Abstract

While globally advances have been made to recognize children as social actors in their own right, for psychiatrized young people their experiences of distress are often seen as a limitation and thus used as a justification for denying their meaningful participation in matters of concern to their lives. However, what would it mean if ‘mental illness’ was not seen as a ‘limitation’, but rather as an ‘epistemological position’ from which the social world is experienced, understood and acted upon? What would it mean if our theories about ‘distress’ and ‘helping’ were premised on the subjugated knowledges of psychiatrized children and youth? The consumer/survivor-led research movement has made significant gains in answering these questions for the adult, but not necessarily for the child and youth mental health field. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the significance of psychiatrized young people setting and executing their own research and, ultimately, practice agendas. Presented are the outcomes of an evaluation of a participatory action research project examining the stigma of mental illness conducted with seven psychiatrized youth, 14 to 17 years old. The outcomes suggest our roles as practitioners and researchers need to shift from being ‘agents’ working on behalf of to ‘allies’ working in solidarity with young people to change the social conditions of their marginalization. The article concludes with the limits of consumer/survivor-led research for addressing adultism and, instead, ends with a call for decolonizing children’s mental health.

Creating or taking opportunity: Strategies for implementing expert by experience positions in mental health academia

“…There is much to be gained from EBE and allies working together, although this does not negate the value of EBE‐led teaching and service delivery. Collaboration and coproduction therefore have an important role in ensuring that what is communicated, and implemented, truly reflects the input of EBE (Gordon, Dowell, et al, 2020; Liegghio, 2020). Coproduction is a term often misunderstood—essentially it involves everything being done collaboratively—co‐planning, co‐design, co‐delivery and co‐evaluation.…”

COVID-19 and Youth Living in Poverty: The Ethical Considerations of Moving From In-Person Interviews to a Photovoice Using Remote Methods

“…The method consists of three steps that can be executed in as many sessions as necessary at a pace flexible and adaptable to the needs of the participants. As an individual and also collective experience, the three steps can lead to both personal and collective conscientization of the issues under study, that is, moving from depoliticized (individualized) to the politicized (structural) understandings of the experiences and issues under study (e.g., refer to Liegghio, 2016Liegghio, , 2020.…”

“…Together these three phases have the potential of creating a powerful experience for the youth of feeling valued and valuable, of being connected to a bigger cause, and of belonging to a collective experience (Liegghio, 2016, 2020)—all positive factors for fostering both personal and collective resilience (Caragata et al, 2018; Mullin & Arce, 2008; Ungar et al, 2005). In itself, the photovoice may represent an important community response for building the personal and collective resilience of youth living in low-income, lone mother households and for interrupting the negative effects of the pandemic in “real time.” With bans in place against meeting in person, remote methods make it possible for the youth to come together to meet using interactive video conferencing.…”

heART space: Curating community grief from overdose

“…As an example of participatory arts and collaborative curating, heART space was a community-driven collaboration where much of the control over the project rested with the youth. Liegghio (2020) highlights how in participatory projects, the community participants have a strong epistemological position about their circumstances, positioning them as the drivers of knowledge about their lives. For Liegghio (2020), this means the researchers, curators or project grant holders, need to take the position of allies in the process of building projects with young people rather than taking control.…”

“…Liegghio (2020) highlights how in participatory projects, the community participants have a strong epistemological position about their circumstances, positioning them as the drivers of knowledge about their lives. For Liegghio (2020), this means the researchers, curators or project grant holders, need to take the position of allies in the process of building projects with young people rather than taking control. In the case of heART space , the youth involved had lived experience with grief, drug use and homelessness, which positioned them as drivers of the project.…”