GMH Human Rights and Policy Institute
Program Description:
There is an imperative for a new ecology of global mental health and disability that positions the individual and society as inextricably linked within a human rights framework. This new approach espouses mental health and disability not merely on the grounds of impairment and pathology based on the biology, physiology and psychology of the individual, but also about the environments in which they function and interact, and the systems with which they intersect. Thus, a new conceptual, methodological, programmatic, policy and legislative rights-based framework is required to:
- Transform systems to adopt more equitable, accessible and inclusive laws, policies and programs by assessing, adopting and improving respect for human rights and dignities;
- Identify and remove systemic, attitudinal and environmental barriers and mainstream disability and mental health at all levels of the health, education, employment, social, legal and protective systems and services;
- Position biopsychosocial factors as major health and social determinants for the onset, expression, course, and outcome of disability and mental health conditions.
The overarching goal of the Global Mental Health Human Rights & Policy Institute is to offer a training in evidence-based policy and program development in global mental health, disability, and human rights. The institute will present knowledge and guidance across disciplines and practices to collectively work towards a rights model of disability and mental health, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the global health and the development agendas, and in emergency humanitarian contexts.
The policy institute will:
- Deliver a series of complementary and interrelated modules that are designed to address the wide variety of needs and priorities in disability and global mental health advocacy and policy development through a human rights lens.
- Explore the conceptual, theoretical and practical transformational policy and programmatic interventions to develop Integrated Systems of Care for Disability, Mental Health Disorders with evolving applications of the human rights frameworks to evidence-based services, policies and legislation in health/mental health, disability/rehabilitation, education, employment, social, protective and emergency services.
- Demonstrate and guide critical skills in policy formulation, implementation and evaluation needed to design Disability and Mental Health Advocacy and Policy to both combat stigma, discrimination, and ableism and to promote rights, recovery and inclusion of persons with disabilities and mental health disorders, informed by evidence and aligned with international treaties and conventions.
Dates: Jan 13 - 17, 2025
Times: 9:00am - 5:00pm ET each day
Format: Online Modules with Live Zoom Sessions (See dates and times above)
Price: $1,000
- 25% discount will specifically be offered to all students (Teachers College/Columbia University and non-Teachers College/Columbia University)
- 25% discount will specifically be offered to all Teachers College/Columbia University alum
- 25% discount will be offered on the registration cost to groups of 3 or more participating from the same institution.
- 50% discount will be offered to participants from Low- and Middle-Income Countries. To see if you qualify, click here.
Discounts cannot be combined and registrants will receive the best discounted price.
For more information, questions, discounts or to register: Email tcacademy@tc.columbia.edu
Please Note: This course is offered on a non-credit basis or for 3 credit. Registration for this course through TC Academy is for the non-credit offering and Academic Credits will not be awarded. For instructions on how to register for the credit offering see below.
This course can be taken for credit in accordance with TC's enrollment policies. If you are not a current student and would like to take this course for credit, please review the Non-Degree Application Instructions page on our website and proceed accordingly. Also, please note that if you plan to take this on a for-credit basis, college tuition and fees will apply. If you are a continuing student in a degree program and have approval from your advisor, you can register for this course beginning on December 4th. Winter session courses will follow spring registration and payment deadlines.
Faculty
Sandra Willis, Ph.D.
Director of Policy & Advocacy
Global Mental Health Lab, Teachers College, Columbia University
Director for Learning & Knowledge Development World Enabled, Berkeley, California
Dr. Willis is a psychologist by profession with 20 years of experience in academic, government and non- government organizations engaging in teaching, mentoring, research, social policy and social development activities leading to leadership roles that emphasize turnaround social development strategies. Dr. Willis received her doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in intellectual & developmental disabilities and has worked in academia as an Assistant Professor at the California State University in Fullerton, Michigan State University Dubai and the Founder and Head of the Psychology Program in Zayed University. For the past 12 years, Dr. Willis was responsible for providing strategic advice on integrated social, health, and economic development in Dubai via policy, legislative and programmatic recommendations, including a Dubai-wide master plan for service delivery, human resources, partnership development and capital investment. The adopted approach included applied research tools, rigorous analysis, monitoring and evaluation, to ensure that all strategies and policies are contextually appropriate, fiscally responsible, are evidence-based. She developed macro-level social development strategies to drive policy development and impact assessment that include the Dubai Disability, Mental Health, Early Childhood Development and Parenting Strategies.
Lena Verdeli, Ph.D., M.Sc.,
Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology,
Director of the Global Mental Health Lab,
Teachers College, Columbia University
Lena Verdeli has been teaching graduate psychology students, psychiatry residents and fellows on research and practice of empirically-supported treatments at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Verdeli’s research focuses on prevention and treatment of mood disorders in adolescents and adults and has received numerous federal and foundation grants for her work. She played a key role in the adaptation, training, and evaluation of psychotherapy protocols used by non-specialists in low-resource areas and has collaborated with academic and humanitarian groups in the US and abroad in treatment studies with depressed adults in southern Uganda and war-affected adolescents in IDP camps in northern Uganda; distressed primary care patients in Goa, India; depressed and anxious persons in Haiti; and traumatized internally displaced women in Bogota, Colombia. She has served as a Technical Advisor for the WHO, Division of Mental Health and Substance Use; Chair of the Research Working group for the Family Committee at the UN; Advisory Board member of the American Foundation for Suicide Research and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance; and Member of the Mental Health Advisory Board of the Millennium Villages Project of the Earth Institute.
Guest Speakers
Rabih El Chammay, M.D., M.Sc.
Head of the National Mental Health Programme,
Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon
Dr. Rabih El Chammay is a psychiatrist and currently the head of the National Mental Health Programme at the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon. After founding the program, he led the development of the first National Mental Health and Substance Use Strategy 2015-2020 aiming at reforming the Mental Health System in Lebanon towards community-based mental health services in line with Human rights and latest evidence that is currently under implementation. He is a member of the Department of Psychiatry at the faculty of Medicine at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. He has been working in Public mental health, Refugee mental health and health system strengthening for more than 10 years. He has been working on these topics in the MENA region as well as on the international level with various agencies such as WHO, UNHCR, UNICEF, IMC and many other NGOs.
Serida L. Catalano, Ph.D.
Program Director
World ENABLED
Serida L. Catalano, Ph.D. is Program Director at World Enabled. Her background includes a wide array of managerial and research competencies. In addition to undertaking managerial responsibility of programs in the non-profit and academic context for over ten years, she is a public policy analysis and inclusion and accessibility expert. Dr. Catalano was a Research Fellow at the Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management at the Bocconi University and led global interdisciplinary research projects. She holds a strong publication record in leading academic journals. Dr. Catalano has also assisted the government in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a Project Manager in education at the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and the Abu Dhabi’s Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK). The program developed and promoted cutting-edge approaches in early childhood education. She also consulted various civil society groups and governmental bodies in the UAE on harmonizing the country’s legislation with the United Nation’s Convention for the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).
Learning Objectives
The objectives of the institute are to guide the participants in the:
- Development of a conceptual framework on human rights, diversity, and equity in mental health and disability that combats ableism, stigma, discrimination, exclusion, and human rights violations of persons with disabilities and mental health conditions.
- Orientation towards disability and mental health treaties, conventions, legislations, and global policies/goals/instruments that promote, assess, and improve the human rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities and mental health conditions.
- Application of a Theory of Change model to mental health and disability legislative, programmatic, and policy development while recognizing the validity of the lived experience and promoting participatory governance and representation.
- Implementation of evidence-based practices in equitable, and rights-based system of care, with recovery-oriented and inclusive strategies that minimize discrimination, exclusion, forced admission, seclusion, and restraint, in line with obligations/guidelines in international normative frameworks (UNCRPD & OHCHR), and WHO-guided standards and recommendations, most notably the Quality Rights toolkit.
- Demonstration of international best practices in (1) Global Advocacy and Policy in disability justice and inclusion with World Enabled, (2) the implementation of a rights-based comprehensive National Mental Health Strategy in Lebanon by the Ministry of Public Health, (3) the leadership of disability-inclusive humanitarian action.
Who Should Attend
This course is designed for students, faculty, advisors, policymakers, and I/NGO staff with an interest in global mental health infrastructure, policy and paradigms.
Upon Completion
Participants who successfully complete this course will receive a Certificate of Participation.