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Presented by Dr. China Mills, City University London.
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Learning Objectives

  1. Gain an understanding of how settler colonialism informed/s the mental health system we have today.
  2. Review theories and definitions of what decolonizing mental health means and how this topic relates to multiple aspects of mental health i.e. academic field, clinical practice, policy creation, etc.
  3. Understand how the demographics of mental health educators and practitioners, as well as the lack of culturally competent education, contribute exclusionary and harmful practices and experiences in mental health fields.
  4. Evaluate your roles and experiences within the discussion of harmful mental health practices and decolonization of mental health.
  5. Understand, through personal anecdote and statistical research, how individuals, groups, and communities have been negatively affected and harmed by the institution of mental health and its practices.
  6. Explore the multi-layer and intersectionality of the decolonization of mental health and other aspects of society and culture i.e. capitalism, public service systems, legislations, etc.
  7. Review the history and evolution of social justice scholars and mental health education.
  8. Review the context of mental health and the decolonization of mental health on a global scale.
  9. Understand the disconnect between mental health theories of support, clinical practice, boundaries, standards, etc. and the real world experiences of clients and clinicians, and the impact that this disconnect has on treatment.
  10. Understand that despite the importance of these discussions, there is no single checklist of goals to achieve decolonization of mental health but instead a multi-layered, long-term process of work to transform our current systems.
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Dr. China Mills

City University London
Dr. China Mill's (she/her) research traces different facets of the global mental health assemblage. She explores the ways diagnoses travel and circulate around the world, and what happens when issues such as distress, suicide, or terrorism get framed as global public health challenges. Her work looks into how the psy-disciplines and psychotropic drugs function in local and global contexts of entrenched inequality, chronic poverty, (neo)colonial oppression, border imperialism, and increasingly under the politics of austerity. China also carries out critical research into suicides linked to welfare reform, economic reform, immigration detention, and corporate practices, and is a member of the Critical Suicide Studies Network.

China is the Principal Investigator on a British Academy grant looking at the 'social life' (production, circulation, use, and resistance) of global mental health technologies designed to be used all over the world. She was also Principal Investigator on a previous British Academy grant researching the use of behavior change technologies in India, South Africa, and Australia. China's funding enables her to work alongside Dr. Eva Hilberg, a postdoctoral researcher, also based at City.

In 2014, China published the book 'Decolonizing Global Mental Health: the Psychiatrization of of the Majority World' (Routledge), which draws on research with NGOs and user-surviving organizations in India, and analyzes global mental health policies as forms of colonial discourse. Since her book, she has published widely in leading journals, including: Critical Public Health; Globalization and Health; Critical Sociology Policy; and Sociology of Health and Illness. China's research has been featured in the Indian Express, Discover Society, the Conversation, Mad in Asia, and the Weeks Centre for Social Policy.
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