Call to join The A Project's third Politics of Mental Health Reading Retreat is now open!

The A Project invites you to break your daily routine and take some time to revisit and rethink the concept of mental health during a weekend retreat with lovely people in a lovely place away from the city!

Our objective through this retreat is to provide a more nuanced view of mental illness and reclaim the narrative from an invalidating society on the one hand and the reductionist trend of medicalization on the other. We will explore difficult questions regarding the objectivity and reliability of the definition, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and the implications of each on the autonomy and agency of concerned individuals.

Each participant will receive a booklet containing book excerpts, academic articles, opinion pieces and personal stories before the retreat. Participants are invited to read the entire booklet and delve into one or two pieces in more depth, present them to the group and lead the discussion that follows.

Due to limited availability of resources in Arabic, most of the reading material will be in English. We will simplify the language as much as possible during discussions and will try to assign texts you are comfortable with.

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Who can apply? Anyone except practicing psychologists and psychiatrists, as some participants may be people who have sought treatment from you at one point or another.

Application deadline: Monday 17 February, 2020.

Dates: We leave Beirut on Friday 13 March around 7 PM and return on Sunday 15 March around 7 PM.

Location: TBA.

Costs: Free of charge - The A Project will cover your stay and meals.

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