When conducting Visual Connection Mapping sometimes I may or may not consider what is justice and what is not justice.
Three components of justice that I may / or may not consider when applying Visual Connection Mapping are from the principles of the Code of Hammurabi from 1772 BC, namely
Often while I was conducting Visual Connection Mapping I would question myself as to why I was doing it in order to keep my ethics in check.
On one note that I recently found from 2015 (now currently 2017) I wrote:
“I gave people a chance to talk to me in a non-authoritarian way. I am not trying to make money off of them. I do not have another agenda. The pictures are ways for me to show the client that I am listening. Homeless people are very isolated and I think it is important for them to have the feeling of being listened to. I am trying to lessen the gaps in the health care system.
My own self create star. 2015.
“
Some of Visual Connection Mappings’ results consist of assumptions, judgements and conclusions based on more then a couple of years worth of observing the marginalized in Victoria City in three organizations. Five key points –
*Note: based on specific details, components, and real-life examples 2012 to 2017 Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
0.01% of the General Population
This Communication Model is a model of care that is intended to help an individual who is experiencing mental distress. It is model that does not cost anything, does not offer advice and does not promise anything. It is a model of acceptance and non-judgment, and intended for the 0.01% of the general population with treatment resistant psychosis.
Method: When an individual with mental distress communicates his/her feelings in a confidential manner what often happens is that the acceptance of the individual leads to an empowerment. This empowerment leads an individual to want to take responsibility for his/her own destiny. The Communication Model works in a very contradictory and paradoxical way & at the same time in a very positive way.
The Communication Model is intended to pick-up where Sigmund Freud left off. For example, in the past Sigmund Freud believed that a person with schizophrenia could not be counseled. This concept lead to individuals with schizophrenia currently being medicated through the hospital + general practitioners and sometimes receiving psycho-social care in the community.
The current psychiatric system is built on Sigmund Freud’s concept and I want to add to that and focus more on the individuals emotions. I believe that it is through communicating with an individual with refractory schizophrenia that drives individual self-mental-change.
Throughout my volunteer work and internship work at the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society in Victoria, I noticed that individuals with serious mental illness, who were medicated often said two important statements: [1] that they wished that they could feel again – because the medications were making them feel numb and [2] that even though they were taking medications they were still experiencing distress inside of themselves. These two statements made me realize that there is a need to focus on the emotions underlining the symptoms. It was the wish of individuals with serious mental illness – out of their own testimonies – and it is these testimonies – that is one of the main reasons why the Communication Model was born. Furthermore, even though it is mentioned through the Medical Model that medications for schizophrenia are effective – the opposite side of the same coin is that it is a known fact that the medications do not work for a very select group of treatment resistant individuals despite proper compliance and the adherence of strict and regimented instructions and the following of medications schemas. It is called Treatment Resistant Psychosis / Refactory Schizophrenia and the Communication Model is intended to try to help these very select specific individuals. During my Interprofessional Mental Health and Addictions post degree program diploma at Camosun College in Victoria British Columbia Canada, I conducted a literature review into Schizophrenia and the Canadian Justice System – and with more than 400 peer academic research references indicated that many seriously mentally ill (SMI) individuals were DSM diagnosed and in jail. To me, that means that the Medical Model did not work well for them – seeing that the individuals were now behind bars.
Treatment Resistance Psychosis is something that is not the fault of an individual. Instead it is the opposite. Treatment Resistant Psychosis means that these marginalized individuals often get stigmatized by psychiatrists and medical doctors because the psychiatrists and medical doctors do not know how to deal with this very specific group of people. Because the medication and the Medical Model seems to be working for most people with schizophrenia (estimation of 0.99% of the general population), often what occurs, is that psychiatrists and medical doctors will turn a blind-eye to this group of people, (estimation of 0.01% of the general population) because the majority of individuals seem to be receiving treatment that works. The estimated 0.01% general population will have schizophrenia symptoms, for example paranoia, however they will be labeled behavioral versus symptom-related. This leads individuals to fall through the cracks and hence often become homeless or in the Canadian jail system.
Would it not be logical if the Medical Model started to focus on the 0.01% of the general population treatment resistant psychosis individuals (this percentage is an estimation) versus the 0.99 % treatment successful psychosis individuals – or is that not feasible nor effective according to the Medical Model? Is the brain so vast that it is impossible, with any exact precision to pin-pointing an exact area to be targeted? The psychiatrist often needs to adjust the medications of any individual with serious mental illness many times before being able to access if they work.
The Communication Model is a tool that is intended to help the individuals, the hypothesized 0.01 % of the general population, with treatment resistant psychosis, through a unique way of communication. This unique form of communication is the symbiosis between the practitioner (myself as chief operator of the Communication Model) and an individual (experiencing treatment resistant psychosis symptoms, which in the realm of the Communication Model are referred to as emotions versus medical symptoms).
The aim of the Communication Model is to relieve pain by drawing and talking and linking into each others psyche in a humanity approach. There is no financial gain, no promises with be made and no advice will be given. At the same time, it must be mentioned that a trained Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner should conduct the Communication Model. As the Communication Model is intended for Refractory Schizophrenia solely. There is a unique communication symbiosis that develops and this is a very specialized skill – gained though lived-experience – combined with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Arts Policy, Management and Education, specialization Art Education combined with a post degree diploma in Interprofessional Mental Health and Addictions. There is a hyper-focus on treatment resistant psychosis intermingled with Existentialism, Individualism and Personalism. The Communication Model is to be conducted with safety in mind.
©TCM
Written by Annuska van der Pol, BA, PDD-IMHA
Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner
Victoria, BC Canada
Note: the number 0.01% treatment resistant psychosis of the general population is a number referenced in peer-academic material
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[B]
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[C]
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© TCM
Ten (10) * key components of the Communication Model:
1. It is not therapy
2. It is not research
3. It is private & confidential
4. It does not offer any advice; does not promise anything
5. An individual partakes in the Communication Model out of free-will
6. An individual gives his/her consent to participate
7. It is free of charge
8. Zero monetary gain
9. It is done on a voluntarily basis
10. It is a humanistic model versus a medical model
The Chief Operator of the Communication Model is Ms. Annuska van der Pol, BA, PDD-IMHA Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner.
To-date, Ms. Annuska van der Pol is the sole resource of the Communication Model.
At this time – it is only her who can conduct the Communication Model.
If you are interested in learning more about the Communication Model, please contact her directly at 2005como@gmail.com or write TCM PO Box 8825, Victoria British Columbia, V8W 3S3 Canada.
ACHTUNG VALUED READERS – PLEASE READ ALL OF THE MULTIPLES ENTRIES BY HITTING ON HOME AT THE TOP
[A]
This blog contains multiple pages. Just go to the top of this page and hit (click) on *HOME* and all the multiple pages will flow freely. It starts with Lady Justice with her scales and her sword.
[B]
If you want to read the work chronologically please scroll down to the start (with me in front of the painting) and concluding with Lady Justice, and scroll backwards through the work.
[C]
Also if you hit (click) the ABOUT button (icon) at the top of the page you can learn more about me and see an updated picture taken in 2014.
[D] Furthermore, it is also possible to view additional entries by clicking on Next post or Previous post.
In Canada the Mental Health System is based on two components, one is the DSM diagnosis and the other is the non-DSM diagnosis. DSM stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. If an individual comes into contact with the Canadian Police Department and he/she has an official DSM diagnosis, then, depending on the severity of the crime, the police officers will make a decision. The decisions will be one of three options. First, if the crime is a violent and/or a sex crime – the individual with SMI (Serious Mental Illness) will go to jail, second is a middle of the road crime, in this case an individual with SMI will either go to jail or get taken to the Medical Emergency unit, third if the crime is a mild to low-level crime, then if the individual with SMI has family, friends and loved-ones to support him/her then the police officer may opt for psycho-social rehabilitation in the community, community services, referral to see his/her medical doctor to evaluate his/her current psychological state and/ or a full-release back into the community. A current day police officer in Canada has the ability to use his/her own sound judgements in deciding the fate of an individual with serious mental illness – to an extent. It is based on Police Judgement. A strong and very powerful tool in the Justice System in Canada today. It seems that within this ability to judge situations, the police officer would be rendered powerless over situations if he/she did not have this tool, and a police officer’s duty is to up-hold peace and public safety – hence to be in control versus being helpless.
In contrast to the official DSM diagnosed mentally ill individual is the non-diagnosed Mentally Ill individual. These are individuals would often fall through the cracks in Western society. If an individual has symptoms of Mental Illness, such as hallucinations, delusions and a loss of contact with reality – but who has never gone to see a psychiatrist, for whatever reason, this type of individual often finds him/herself without options. The police may recognize the symptoms of serious mental illness within the individual and the police may or may not opt to take the individual with serious mental illness, non-DSM diagnosed to see a medical doctor, however with a non-DSM diagnosis there is no guarantee that a doctor will see him or her. The Medical Model, like any system, is a pretty water-tight system, however the ideal nature of any system falls short when there are cut-backs, limited financial resources, not enough well-trained Mental Health specialists on staff and a vast demand and not enough Mental Health trained staff to help all the individuals (DSM diagnosed and non DSM diagnosed). As a result the most promising individuals, the individuals who are already DSM diagnosed seem to be receiving priority treatment. The current Canadian Mental Health system and the current Canadian Police Forces are both water-tight systems which I believe to be very congruent, transparent and very positive systems. On paper both systems seem to be the best method of care. It is in my opinion that even though both the Justice System and the Medical system seem to be good on paper, that there is some human components within these system flow-charts that render the idealism of both systems to be a false positive.
Written by Annuska van der Pol, BA, PDD-IMHA
Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner
TCM, P.O. Box 8825, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
2005como@gmail.com
Photo,”Foggy Afternoon in Oak Bay,” Sept. 6th, 2013, Oak Bay Avenue / Monterey Avenue, Canada
ACHTUNG VALUED READERS – PLEASE READ ALL OF THE MULTIPLES ENTRIES BY HITTING ON HOME AT THE TOP
[A]
This blog contains multiple pages. Just go to the top of this page and hit (click) on *HOME* and all the multiple pages will flow freely. It starts with Lady Justice with her scales and her sword.
[B]
If you want to read the work chronologically please scroll down to the start (with me in front of the painting) and concluding with Lady Justice, and scroll backwards through the work.
[C]
Also if you hit (click) the ABOUT button (icon) at the top of the page you can learn more about me and see an updated picture taken in 2014.
[D] Furthermore, it is also possible to view additional entries by clicking on Next post or Previous post.
anuvdp 