Community Education

The education program of The Mental Health Association in Tompkins County educates consumers, family members and the public concerning all aspects of mental health and mental illness. The community educator arranges and/or provides workshops, forums, presentations, symposia, and opportunities for dialogue in order to accomplish this end.

Additionally, the Community Education program supervises the production of a newsletter, States of Mind, three times yearly, to provide ongoing notice of current issues and trends in mental health. The newsletter also serves a second and equally-important function, which is to allow an avenue, to those people who have historically been disempowered, for self-expression in a public format. The power and value of recipients' perspectives have traditionally been marginalized and under-valued.

States of Mind is also unique in providing a vehicle for the expression of perspectives of all parties involved in the experience of mental illness and the achievement of mental health: individuals, family members, and professional providers of service.