Brown University Pilot: Impact Report

Project LETS: Brown University Impact Report

Mission: Project LETS aims to create an inclusive community and network for individuals with mental illness through peer support services, advocacy efforts, and political change.

Spring 2013

Project LETS was incorporated as a non-profit organization on Long Island, New York.

Spring 2014

Students at Brown University set up a chapter and began meeting with administration to identify and correct ableist policies and practices.

Spring 2015

Launch of the PMHA program at Brown University.

History of Project LETS

The Problem ○ ○

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Rates of mental illness among college students are at a record high 64% of students who drop out of college leave school due to complications with their mental illness) Individuals with mental illness face societal stigma, discrimination, and oppression (ableism) Many barriers exist within the current model of mental health care that prevent people from accessing care, and from attempting to access care

The Solution Services delivered by peers with lived experience, for peers

The University: Conflicting Interests and Motivations

Responsibility to provide confidential healthcare services

Responsibility to keep students and community safe

Responsibility to protect the university and maintain its image

During our time at Brown, many of our peers were afraid to use university mental health resources because they didn’t know what the explicit policies were for issues like self-harm, suicidal ideation, psychosis, and eating disorders. Ambiguous policies-and stories about students who experienced forced hospitalization, constant surveillance, and mandated leaves from school-- made students hesitant to disclose their concerns to the administration or university mental health centers.

Oftentimes, students who did try to seek help were unable to see a therapist because on-campus centers were booked for months at a time, and off-campus providers were too expensive. Other friends of ours did not find traditional forms of mental health care to be especially culturally relevant to them, and struggled to connect with therapists who doesn’t understand critical parts of their identities.

Stefanie Kaufman and Molly Hawes

What have we done at Brown?

Support Social and Holistic Healing

Build the PMHA Program

Educational workshops and panels

Engage in creative, art therapy projects and holistic therapies, such as yoga and meditation; Nighty Room

We train students with mental illness to provide counseling, advocacy, and support services to their peers.

Ranging from depression, to abusive family issues, to eating disorders, etc.

Administrative policy reform

LETS Spaces

Crisis Support

Groups that function as a collective, similar to support groups; led by PMHAs with lived experience. Focus on skill-building and mutual-aid & accountability.

Provide safe spaces for students with mental illness to seek support following an unexpected crisis on campus.

CAPS (7-session limit), SEAS (ESA policy), medical leave policy, creation of Mental Health Task Force (inactive), QPR Suicide Prevention Training

Events Facilitated

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Life with Depression Mental Health Orientation Week Ugly Illnesses Panel Life with OCD NEDA Week ◦ Culture, Identity, and Eating Disorders ◦ Eating Disorder Recovery ◦ Navigating Your Relationship with Food at Brown Supporting Suicidal Friends and Peers Mental Health and Activism Week Failure Confessional Project PETS: Animal Therapy The Secret Life of Eating at Brown Psychiatric Emergencies Models of Disability

National Suicide Prevention Memorial 2015 & 2016

The Nightly Room

Life with Depression Panel

It’s not us vs. the university It’s us vs. the problem

Students have difficulty advocating for themselves and receiving proper care when ableist policies exist.

Changing the Narrative: PMHAs

PMHA Training Feedback ““Overall, this training has made me realize the lack of an effective support system I had when I was at my lower points of my mental health, and it has prompted me to journal more in order to reflect on the topics discussed in training in relation to my own life. PMHA training helped me reframe and concretize my own recovery narrative and my relationship to self-care, and has reminded me of the power of warmth and non-judgement in all my interactions, with friends, family and strangers.”

PMHA, trained in 2015

PMHA Training Feedback “I learned that my relapses are part of me... a part of me that I must embrace and take responsibility for. I learned that when recounting my own experience I often tell my story from a second-person perspective, in an attempt to disentangle myself from the pain. This is something I have been able to catch and change, and in doing so I have experienced much less cognitive dissonance. I also learned that I had a substance use disorder, and I still experience cravings, intrusive thoughts, and drastic mood swings. Acknowledging these aspects of my psyche has allowed for more personal growth.�

PMHA, trained in 2016

PMHA Training Feedback

“I learned new ways to consider my own "recovery story", how to interact with myself when dealing with my own symptoms (be more forgiving), and about ways to seek help/maintain a more positive attitude & approach (be less helpless). I also feel drastically more prepared to deal with a crisis situation should I find myself one- something that I know from personal experience is of the utmost importance.�

PMHA, trained in 2017

77

40

75

Brown University students using the PMHA program

Students using the program for over 6 months

Peer Mental Health Advocates trained

3 LETS & PMHAs are first response to university crisis

40%

25%

Seeking support for anxiety disorders

Seeking support for mood disorders

12% Seeking support for eating disorders

12% Gender Non-Conforming

61%

Women

27% Men

Support most marginalized students

How do we know it’s working?

Connection a resourceful support system Developing help-seeking behaviors Connection to quality and accessible services Fighting internalized stigma and ableism Tangible university policy changes

“ 50% of the students who use the PMHA program are people of color.

“I was so consumed by my eating disorder for my entire freshman year that I feel like I am adjusting to Brown all over again this year. My friends are really supportive, but it is hard being away from my family who have helped me through every step of recovery so far. Last year, I never reached out for help and I hope that having the extra support of a PMHA will help keep me on track in recovery.�

- Peer living with an ED

“What are your goals?”

“Help finding a therapist, ongoing support, managing academics, and help with accommodations.”

“A peer resource who can help me learn to cope and heal without replacing professional help.”

I hope to understand my mental health condition by working with a PMHA.” “CAPS has been okay but I prefer talking to my friends and other peers about this because it feels more personal and less judgmental.”

“I hope to find someone who I can relate to. At home, I had my sister and a friend who were both mentally ill. I could talk to them honestly and have someone "get it." I would also like some help in finding applicable resources and having someone remind me to get stuff done because I tend to forget.”

“I don’t have insurance and can’t access professional help. I am looking for coping skill, and someone who asks a lot of questions.”

“The knowledge that I am not alone and that I can get control over my trauma. The belief that suicide is not my only option to escape my anxiety or depression. I picked PMHA #1 because of her experience with sexual assault and #2 because of her experience as a queer POC, living with depression and an ED.”

“I was skeptical that anything could help, but I finally resorted to applying for a PMHA through Project LETS. From our first meeting, Lacy [my Peer Mental Health Advocate] has cared for me with such kindness and an understanding that I have yet to find in anyone else. She genuinely affirms my feelings because she, too, lives through similar challenges. We fuel each other to carry on despite our struggles, and I now know that I never have to struggle alone.�

Dana, peer in the PMHA program

“It is difficult to explain exactly how powerful my experience working with Dana has been. There have been times when I’ve struggled to leave my room, to feed myself, to begin my day, but if Dana needed to meet with me, there was almost a reserve that I could tap into that can only be described as the strength of community care. Dana has cared for me every bit as much as I have cared for her; I don’t think I’ve left a meeting with her without feeling more restored, hopeful, and better prepared to care for myself.”

Lacy, Dana’s peer

PMHA’s like Lacy can provide skills to help their peers more easily navigate the mental health care system, and offer consistent social support where they can be honest about their experiences. The partnership and bond developed helps to break down internalized stigma for both individuals, highlighting the immense power in that “me, too,” moment, especially when you’re dealing with a topic that so often makes people feel very vulnerable. It attributes value to the peer counselor’s experiences with mental illness, and allows them to use the experiential knowledge they’ve gained to make a positive change in somebody else’s life.

This is really unique because so often, we’re told that our mental illnesses are only something to overcome, and aren’t anything to be proud of.