Below is a list of online courses, or collections of online courses, which are likely to be helpful to those interested in expanding their understanding of psychosis well beyond the “medical model.” Note that I haven’t viewed all these courses and some may contain content with which I might disagree: but I included them here because I have reason to think they contain useful information. Please do give me feedback about them!
Mad in America Continuing Education offers a large variety of courses that “envision a new paradigm of mental health care” with a more critical perspective on drugs and an interest in what works in the long term. Free or very low cost, many come with continuing education credits.
Working to Recovery: Online Open Recovery College Ron Coleman, Karen Taylor and others have put together a series of courses, some of them very thorough, specifically “developed to give the student a foundation of knowledge, skills and confidence to work with a range of people who can or are experiencing mental distress, to enable them to move forward with their recovery.” A special focus of many of the “foundation” courses relate to the hearing voices movement, and how to start a hearing voices group.
Nine Myths About Schizophrenia, with Richard Bentall: Clinical Psychologist Richard Bentall challenges nine myths of schizophrenia accepted by mental health professionals and proposes a more humane, scientific approach to care.
Hallucinations, with Richard Bentall: Are the voices in our heads more than just mental disorders? Clinical psychologist Richard Bentall uncovers the origin of hallucinations and argues they have been radically misguided.
BIPOLAR DISORDER: CRACKING THE CODE with Terry Lynch, advertises itself as “– a course for people diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and anyone who wants to really understand bipolar disorder – including family members of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder.” If you provide your email at the above link, you get access to some free preview videos, but the full course costs £145
Integrative Mental Health for You Courses – International and Online http://imhu.org/courses/
Integrative mental health attends to biological issues, psychological and social problems, as well as the area of spirituality to optimize wellness. They offer continuing education units to healthcare providers to expand their knowledge and skills in working with people in spiritual emergency and applying integrative methods of diagnosis and care. At least one course on psychosis is offered for free.
The History of the Mad Movement & Alternatives to Biomedical Approaches covers “Transformative & Liberatory Mental Health Practices Beyond The Disease Model.”
Caring for People with Psychosis and Schizophrenia is a FREE 4 week course that explores some key issues around caring for someone with these diagnoses. Produced by King’s College in the UK.
RECOVERING OUR FAMILIES Taught by Krista Mackinnon. This course introduces families to key recovery principles, leaders, research and resources that are person and family-centered, trauma-informed and strengths based. This interactive, facilitated online class combines emailed lessons with recovery exercises, videos, online resources and a password-protected website with private facilitated group discussions and peer support.
And then there’s the 3 online courses that I produced:
- CBT for Psychosis, An Individualized, Recovery Oriented Approach
- Working with Trauma, Dissociation, and Psychosis: CBT and Other Approaches to Understanding and Recovery , and
- Addressing Spiritual Issues Within Treatment for Psychosis and Bipolar
All of my courses come with CE credits for US most professionals.
