People suffering from mental illness (PSMI) are the most exposed and at the same time the most vulnerable, in regard to demonstrations of social rejection expressed verbally such as disrespectful comments, insults and mockery. The victims of abuse think often adopt a passive attitude given that they don’t know how to stop the abuse.
Therefore, there is a latent need for professional tools to conduct effective interventions regarding the clients of mental health services to (a) empower them to act upon situations of social and community violence, (b) mitigate the effects that continuous rejection, disrespect, and mockery.
This is why the ACTitude project (full title: “ACTitude: Improvisation techniques training program for mental health professionals to empower patients with psychiatric diagnose to act against emotional and verbal violence”), aims at developing an innovative methodology based on improvisation techniques (Improv) for professional use, that will help to capacitate individuals suffering from mental disorders to confront demonstrations of social rejection in the form of verbal abuse and mockery to which they are being exposed so often in their day-to-day lives.
In contrast to traditional theatre, Improv is a method based on natural actions that surge during the performance. In Improv, there are no scripts- the latter are being created on the go through the interaction between the persons involved in the performance.
Six organizations participate in the project, coming from four different countries. Specifically:
From Spain:
- FUNDACION INTRAS (coordinator)
- ASOCIACION CULTURAL ARTISTICO EDUCATIVA TEATRO DE IMPROVISACION – IMPROVA
From Ireland:
- Smashing Times
From Greece:
4. K.S.D.E.O EDRA
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
From Slovenia:
6. UNIVERZA V MARIBORU
Website: https://actitude-project.eu/
Τhe project is implemented with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and has a duration of 24 months (1/11/2019 – 31/10/2021).
The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
