COSIG CONFERENCE BROCHURE.pdf - Drexel University College ...

COSIG Co-Occurring Disorders Conference, Hershey PA, May 15-17, 2006
Shared
“Experiential Knowledge”
• Since positive outcomes were evidenced
regardless of intervention condition, were
there “forms of experiential knowledge”
that Mental Health Peers and “Non-Peer”
Paraprofessionals shared?
• In what way might both groups have
served as “peers” for the patients?
Shared but Unacknowledged
Familiarity with Drug Use
• Some peers had a history
of substance abuse, but
little experience in drug
treatment or AA/NA.
• Peers as residents of
low-income communities
were intimately familiar
with drug addiction and
its dangers.
• Some paraprofessionals
had a history of
substance abuse, but
little experience in drug
treatment or AA/NA.
• Paras as residents of
low-income communities
were intimately familiar
with drug addiction and
its dangers.
• Some paras had a history
of involvement in drug
sales.
Relevance of Peer/Para Drug Use
Knowledge for Former In-Patients
MICA Internship Program: Going
Beyond “Experiential Knowledge”
• Patients were encouraged to “leave drugs alone”
after leaving the hospital.
• Peers and paras could often spot the warning
signs of illicit drug use in outpatients.
• Paras sometimes warned outpatients of the
dangers of getting involved in selling drugs or
going to “bad areas.”
• Money management promoted spending on
food, utilities, other basic necessities.
• Unlike the peer counseling approach, the MICA
Intern training centered on a clinical approach to
mental illness.
• While MICA Interns brought in their own
experiential knowledge of drug addiction and
drug recovery, they knew little about the clinical
features of serious mental illness.
Different Drug Experiences,
Different Identities
“That’s Deep!”
• Once on the wards, MICA Interns soon learned that
patients’ drug use practices differed from their own.
• MICA Interns also learned that patients had very
different understandings of their own drug use, and
reported different experiences of being high.
• Interns were shocked to realize that patients were
relatively isolated in their drug use, not part of a “street
culture” or “drug subculture.” Drug use did not provide a
positive or negative source of identity for patients.
• Patients could not directly
identify with the Interns
on the basis of their drug
use histories.
• NA/AA meetings were
outside the scope of
patients available social
skills and cognitive
functioning.
• Relationships would have
to be built through an
encounter with the person
as he/she is affected by
mental illness.
• Relationships could be built
by talking about patients’
“scamming” or addict-like
behavior.
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