As someone new to the mental health consumer movement, Mary’s concept of “Relational Advocacy” gave words to a longing I’ve had for a while: a desire to connect with psychiatric survivors not just through a shared pain, but a shared purpose born from that pain. The shared purpose is the difference between lived experience and lived expertise - the powerful knowing that our movement is a fight, so others won’t have to endure what we did. And that power is fueled by one thing: our relationships with each other. I felt that power everywhere last week. It was in the countless hugs. It was in the spark of new connections forged. And it was in the choir of voices demanding change. It felt like home. It felt like hope.
This became profoundly personal halfway through last week, speaking at a civil law conference in Parramatta on the topic of Inclusive Justice. For those who know me well, my time at law school was a deeply traumatic time. Despite speaking publicly countless times, old wounds re-opened on stage, as I fought not to dissociate. I remained present but I hadn’t felt this close to dissociation in two years, and I felt so much shame and anger. It really shook me.
But then, Relational Advocacy showed up. A good friend of mine from law school that I hadn’t seen in years, appeared with a familiar voice and a hug that immediately began melting the shame away. That night, back at the TheMHS conference having dinner with a group of mostly strangers, I felt it again. People offered a healing sense of community, simply by understanding. The connection and validation from a community that understands is what powers our consumer movement, and we should never forget that.
This is what Relational Advocacy means. It’s knowing that every single one of us knows what it feels like to be made to feel “less than”. We are united, not just by our past, but by our commitment to each other and to the change we want to make together. This deep, human connection is the engine of our movement. It’s the mutual support that fuels our movement’s push for systemic change.
Feeling this deep connection to community last week made it an incredible honour to launch BEING’s position statement on mental health and human rights at the end of the TheMHS conference. Our movement’s greatest strength is the relationships that bind us, heal us and fuel our fight for a better future. This document identifies the change we want to fight for together, powered by the community that makes it possible.