Curative factors also could be called healing factors or factors responsible for therapeutic change. Yalom (1975) discussed eleven categories of curative factors in therapy groups: instillation of hope, universality, imparting of information, altruism, the corrective recapitulation of the primary family group, development of socialising techniques, imitative behaviour, interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, catharsis, and existential factors. We could add closeness or intimacy and some others. These factors are interdependent. They represent "different parts of the change process, some refer to actual mechanisms of change, whereas others may be more accurately described as conditions for change"
@ The Show Gallery 978 Queen, st. w.
Local artist Lavarius launches his new collection of works entitled "Remedial"
at The Show Gallery (978 Queen Street West) on thurs oct.30. He typically works in a larger format with bold, bright acrylics and broad energetic strokes. Somehow he manages to bring that same energy to his new miniature triptychs. Lava strongly believes that art can ease the malaise of the modern world. Come and be healed.
Kept in the Shadow
By
Navarre Bailey
You are driving, sitting on your sofa, or sitting at a café and you hear a commentator say,
“Britney Spears and her mental health problems, let’s take a look at her past.”, but what if
the commentator said, “Lavarius and his mental health problems, let’s take a look at his
past.”
Most likely, you have never heard of Lavarius. He is not sick and famous. “Fruity tooty”
are the words he uses to describe the portrayal of the mental health crisis in North
America. He claims the media portrayal of the mental health crisis in North America does
not show the individuals who are really suffering from it, but rather shows the glamorous
side of it.
In 2001, a psychiatrist diagnosed Lavarius with a mental health disorder. He was a tri-
athlete cycling down a stretch of road when a car struck him. Shortly after his accident,
his job let him go. Depression, a mental health disorder, infiltrated him. He became part
of a community whose members carried labels that described their mental health
problem.
Labels create a stigma, he says. An article written on CNN’s website states,
“Stigmatizing mental illnesses begins with a label.” He explains that labels help take
away one’s power, since a label leads to being ostracized. Along with labels the citizens
carried within the community, they had to deal with receiving treatment not through
therapy and rehab, but through pharmaceutical drugs.
His experience with pharmaceutical drugs comes from his stay at the Center for
Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) where he was given them to treat his depression.
His interaction with the CAMH leads him into another area and topic, the history of the
center where its brick wall enslaved its patients.
He has so many thoughts, explanations, concepts, and stories to share when discussing
the mental health crisis and its portrayal that he filmed a documentary. His documentary
is featured on The Mad Pride Bed Push’s website. Lavarius is only one voice that you
have listened to today, but there are others who have not voiced their voice and it is only
through their voice that the mental health crisis will begin to be portrayed in another
shade of light. The Mad Pride Bed Push gives way to a new portrayal.
About The Mad Pride Bed Push:
Last year David Miller proclaimed July 14 to be Mad Pride Day. The Mad Pride Bed
Push recognized globally for the past ten years has allowed individuals with mental
health problems to voice their voice. The Mad Pride Bed Push takes place in Toronto, is a
weeklong, starting July 14 and ending on the 20, and is comprised of different daily
events. The Mad Pride Bed Push’s website is madpridetoronto.com.
