🎙️ As July Disability Pride Month comes to an end, Ishaa converses with Leah Georgini, Executive Director of ISPS-US- International Society of Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis- US Chapter, to explore mental health, psychosis, advocacy, and healing from both clinical and lived experience perspectives. Dive into topics like stigma, psychiatric trauma, community care, and reclaiming purpose! 🔗 Learn more about ISPS-US: https://www.isps-us.org #MentalHealth #Psychosis #LivedExperience #ISPSUS #Stigma #MadStudies #HealingJourney 01:30 Chapter 1: Leah’s Journey & ISPS US MissionLeah Georgini introduces herself as Executive Director of the U.S. chapter of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS US). 02:00 Chapter 3: Occupational Therapy in Psychosis SupportLeah outlines the role of occupational therapy (OT) in mental health, emphasizing the “doing, being, becoming, belonging” framework. 00:06 Chapter 4: Purpose & Meaning: Finding Your IkigaiDrawing on the Japanese concept of Ikigai, Ishaa and Leah explore how identifying purposeful roles and routines can anchor recovery. They connect this to real-world examples—bridging educational gaps, managing medication side-effects—and stress that healing extends beyond clinical interventions to encompass purpose and meaning.00:07 Chapter 5: Building Daily Structure & Community RolesLeah challenges capitalist views of productivity, arguing that meaningful occupation isn’t solely about paid work. She advocates beginning with basic self-care—nutrition, sleep rhythms—and exploring volunteer or caregiving roles that align with personal values, thereby restoring structure, predictability, and social connectedness.00:11 Chapter 6: Confronting Coercion & Trauma in Psychiatric CareIshaa raises the issue of forced isolation and restraints in psychiatric settings. Leah labels these practices as grave human rights violations and discusses her master’s research on self-stigma.00:24 Chapter 7: Bridging Advocacy & Clinical PracticeThey turn to strategies for uniting advocates and clinicians. Leah remains optimistic that most practitioners want to help but are hampered by systemic constraints—contrasting the U.S. and U.K. models. Together, they underscore how small acts of compassion (preferred foods, therapeutic foot-baths) can rebuild trust and humanize care pathways.00:33 Chapter 8: Language, Labels & Self-IdentificationThe conversation shifts to the power of terminology—psychosis, schizophrenia, spiritual awakening—and the inescapable link between any chosen label and stigma. Leah argues for honouring each person’s right to self-identify and construct existential meaning, rather than imposing externally defined medicalized labels.00:35 Chapter 9: Embracing Mad Studies & Historical MemoryIshaa reflects on her engagement with Mad Studies and recounts visiting an exhibition commemorating long-term institutionalized patients buried on campus grounds. She discusses reclaiming “mad” identity, confronting the dark history of involuntary confinement, and leveraging historical awareness to rights-based advocacy.43:00 Chapter 10: Normalizing Psychosis vs OverpathologizationLeah draws parallels within neurodiverse experiences and advocates rare instances of hearing voices or transient paranoia should not be deemed pathological. She critiques pharmaceutical influences that medicalize everyday cognitive lapses, cautioning against defaulting to medications and the biomedical model as a sole solution.