CONSUMER AFFAIRS BULLETIN
Volume 4, No. 2 Spring 2000

Dialogue - Speak, Listen, Understand

The Center for Mental Health Services continues to support consumer/survivor and mental health professional dialogues. These dialogue meetings provide a level playing field in which to improve communication and rapport. Through the concept of dialogues, people can come together for a mutual exchange of ideas, observations and experiences. Dialogues go beyond the usual professional interactions between practitioners and recipients of mental health services. They provide a safe environment in which participants may speak freely to create better understanding and mutual trust and respect.

The four dialogue sessions held during the past three years with psychiatrists, psychologists, and most recently psychiatric nurses and social workers, respectively, were inspiring and informative. Participants at the July 1999 psychiatric nurse/consumer/survivor dialogue encouraged the group to focus on their power to effect change. It was pointed out that there are 26 million nurses, which is the largest group of health professionals in the country. Another participant added, “Nurses and consumer are natural allies.”

The idea of dialogues appears to be echoing all over the country at this time. Another participant from the CMHS dialogues, shared, “I have started a dialogue here in Philadelphia. We sponsored a first ever cross- system training for case managers in four systems. The planning committee meets monthly to share information, dialogue about issues, and plan for future collaboration events and trainings.”

The CMHS dialogues have been modeled after methods outlined in a forthcoming publication, Participatory Dialogues developed for SAMHSA by mental health consumers/survivors. The manual offers a blueprint for action. It describes the benefits of dialogue meetings and provides easy-to-follow detailed action steps on how states, local communities, providers, managed care organizations, advocates, family members and consumers can organize meetings to develop working partnerships to improve mental health service delivery. This manual will soon be available through the National Mental Health Information Center (See Where to Turn for more information.)

Consumer Affairs Bulletin
Volume 4, No. 2 Spring 2000