Disalienation as System Change: Relational and Community Approaches to Recovery- 3:30-4:15pm Alienation, Trauma, and the Voice That Speaks: Understanding Psychosis Spectrum Experiences Through a Social-Relational Lens - Carina A. Iati, PsyD, Jeannie Bass, CPS
- 4:15-4:45pm Housing as Key to Social Connections and Improved Health - Joël Doty, MA, MBA
Alienation, Trauma, and the Voice That Speaks: Understanding Psychosis Spectrum Experiences Through a Social-Relational Lens - Carina A. Iati, PsyD, Jeannie Bass, CPS
Research consistently shows that psychosis spectrum experiences are not distributed randomly across society — they emerge disproportionately among people who have experienced the most profound forms of social rupture: poverty, racism, displacement, and abuse. Not because these populations are inherently more “at risk,” but because alienation, disconnection, and powerlessness are among the most potent incubators of extreme states.This presentation draws on the Reframing Psychosis Spectrum Experiences curriculum to argue that destigmatizing psychosis is not merely a clinical or linguistic act — it is a political and relational one. When we stop asking “what is wrong with this person?” and begin asking “what happened to this person, and in what world did this experience make sense?”, we align ourselves with the disalienating tradition that ISPS-US has long upheld.This presentation is shaped equally by clinical knowledge and lived-experience wisdom. Presenters will speak from direct experience of how social alienation — including within psychiatric systems — shapes the experience of psychosis and the possibility of recovery. That perspective grounds the curriculum's trauma-informed, socially-aware framework throughout, and informs the presenters' shared argument that meaning-centered, community-embedded care is not merely a clinical alternative — it is an act of social repair.
Housing as Key to Social Connections and Improved Health - Joël Doty, MA, MBA
Most housing models are not designed to facilitate socializing withpeople who are neuro-typical. We know psychosis and other mental health challenges are unique to the individual as is treatment and coping options. However, the need for human connection is universal. Rather than isolate from the general community, this presentation proposes integrating people with mental health differences into the community with an intentional housing model that facilitates understanding, kindness and friendship.
