Workshops
Social Change 2023 · A new way of thinking about mental health
Thursday 27 April 2023 at Hilton Reykjavík Nordica
Registration started at 8:00 on the second floor at Hilton Reykjavík Nordica. Attendees chose their workshops at registration.
Room H+I
- 8:00
Registration and coffee
- 8:30
Introduction to Psychodrama, the action of the soul
Trausti Ólafsson
The Austrian-American psychiatrist Jacob L. Moreno developed the method of applying techniques from the theatre as tools to deal with mental disturbances and trauma. Moreno called his method psychodrama, a Greek term which literally means the action of the soul, and his approach was one of the first attempts to group psychotherapy. In the workshop the participants gained some insight into Moreno’s psychodrama and saw how some of his techniques are applied in a psychodrama session.
- 10:20
Operating outside the box
Ann Mari Lofthus and Ragnhild Fugletveit
- 12:00
Lunch and networking
- 13:00
When living isn’t possible any more: Shifting the focus from the individual to societal changes
Fanney Björk Ingólfsdóttir, Svava Arnardóttir and Sigurborg Sveinsdóttir
Fanney, Sigurborg and Svava are activists fighting for social change in the mental health sphere and have all worked in NGOs relating to mental health. They co-wrote a book, “Boðaföll”, about alternative approaches to suicidality and self harm with three others. They are people with lived experience of distress and survivors of psychiatry.
- 14:45
Peer support
Nína Eck, Lisa Archibald, Chris Hansen and Amanda Francis
Room G
- 10:20
Batahús: Introduction and breathwork
Vagnbjörg Magnúsdóttir, Guðrún Ebba Ólafsdóttir, Agnar Bragason and Sverrir Borgþór Aðalbjörnsson
Batahús, a halfway house for people who have completed their prison sentences, is an individualized support resource that works with people on a peer basis based on the ideas of a trauma-focused approach. At the workshop, one resident presented the Breathwork journey, which is part of Batahús’s work inside the prisons.
- 12:00
Lunch and networking
- 13:00
Where do you come from? Interculturality and peer support in mental health
Dumitrița Simion
In a society that is increasingly more diverse culturally, mental health support should be designed to meet the needs of people with various backgrounds. The workshop tackled the role of interculturality in mental health services, introduced examples of good practices and opened a conversation about what can be learnt from peer support when it comes to bridging different cultures.
- 14:45
Bataskóli Íslands – Iceland Recovery College
Helga Arnardóttir and Sigrún Sigurðardóttir
Bataskóli Íslands – Iceland Recovery College is a place where people struggling with mental health challenges can come and participate in a variety of courses that all focus on mental health and recovery in different ways. Each course is a work of cooperation between specialists in the field of the course and peers (people with experience of mental health challenges).
The recovery college is free of charge, no referrals or diagnosis is needed, anyone that sees themselves as having mental health challenges is welcome. The school is also open to people who have a loved one with mental health challenges and seek to better understand and support them.