In the episode, "Journeys Beyond the Frontier: On Treating and Interacting with Psychosis, A Conversation with Psychiatrist Mark Ragins (S5, E17)" I connect with Mark at the ISPS Conference at the University of Delaware where he was giving a talk, on the subject of psychosis and how those who suffer with it are treated by the medical field. Mark has a humanistic and compassionate approach when dealing with those who are sometimes the most feared and avoided characters in the area of mental illness, those with severe mental illness (SMI), and particularly psychosis. He invites in a new paradigm of relating to these patients, and views them as people, not diagnoses. In his embracing of using personal narrative to tell one's own story, he unveils a certain path to get to the healing: making meaning of own's own life in their own words.   

 Learn more about Mark at:  markragins.com

Mark Ragins, MD was the Medical Director for 27 years at the Mental Health America Village in Long Beach, California, an award-winning model of recovery based mental health services, before leaving in 2017 to become the only campus psychiatrist at CSULB and in 2022 joined the Department of Health Services mobile clinics and street medicine teams working with homeless people on the streets throughout LA county.

 His recent book, Journeys Beyond the Frontier: A Rebellious Guide to Psychosis and Other Extraordinary Experiences, is based on the true stories of more than 30 years of clinical work with some of the most underserved and difficult to engage people in our community. A true pioneer and leader of person-centered, recovery-based psychiatry, Mark has also won a number of awards in his field, including the American Psychiatric Association’s Arnold Van Amerigan Award in Psychiatric Rehabilitation, the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association’s John Beard award for his outstanding lifetime contribution to psychiatric rehabilitation, and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) California’s recovery practitioner of the year.

#mentalhealth #mentalillness #psychosis #livedexperience #psychsurvivor #unhoused #homelessness #substanceabuse

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