Dr Sophie Stammers, one of the researchers working on the University’s ground-breaking Project ‘PERFECT’, has developed and launched a free online resource pack for running workshops exploring questions in the philosophy of mind, relevant to theories about, and experiences of, mental health, especially those related to unusual beliefs and experiences.
Unusual beliefs
The downloadable pack was developed in cooperation with mental health group ‘Mind in Camden’. It is for a series of six discussion-driven workshop sessions that explore questions in the philosophy of mind relevant to theories about, and experiences of, mental health. For instance, they invite participants to consider critically:
- Examples of unusual experiences and beliefs which arise in absence of any mental health crisis or psychiatric diagnosis, as well as alongside these,
- Why some unusual beliefs and experiences have been pathologised, while others have not; and why some instances of irrationality have been identified with ‘madness’, and others have not, and,
- The claim that unusual experiences and beliefs are predominantly negative: the series explores both the costs and the benefits of these cognitions, and, in particular, considers their role in supporting a unified and coherent sense of agency, and how they can contribute to knowledge.
Workshop series
The workshop series is suitable for everyone with an interest in mental health, including people with lived experience of unusual beliefs and experiences, those involved in mental health advocacy, mental health service providers, and clinical practitioners.