Local Champions

This post is for physicians looking to bring Ontario Medical Association psychotherapy and mental health care teaching to communities outside Toronto.


This topic remains a huge challenge, and I'm told continues to draw a fair amount of attention and terse communications.


I'm sorry to say that - three years into my tenure as education chairman - I still have not found, or heard a good solution to this problem.


Here's the rub.


It's been a great challenge and very time-consuming just to run the program in Toronto.  And the kind of program I have in mind is as much about people getting together and sharing as it is about anything else.  The practice of psychotherapy is challenging in that it is relatively isolating, something that makes it more dangerous for both clinicians and the patients they treat.  So the emphasis of this series has been on allowing us to be seen and heard by our colleagues, and to find a geographical place where we can mutually support one another.


There is lots of great teaching on the web.  So, although I do imagine one day that we will be videotaping our talks, what I imagine this will add of most value will be a chance in interact by video-conferencing.  The technology is already available to film a talk in Toronto, have an audience in place in St. Catherine's or Timmins (for example) and have the audience ask questions at the end of the talk to the Toronto speaker.


This is what I know I don't want.  The talks that are easiest to transport out of Toronto are often the same old topics we've been hearing over and over again.  I took on this role as education chairman because of my concerns about the way we're being taught already - too much emphasis on psychopharmacology and on the cognitive (although both are important, they lose a great deal when they purport to be the cornerstone of mental health treatments, which - in my view are much more centered on human relationship, mindfulness, an understanding and application of trauma and attachment theory and a view of the body, brain and mind as a larger whole).  So I don't want to start exporting the kind of talks that will just create a kind of two-tiered system where Toronto gets the best, most thought-provoking talks and Timmins and St. Catherine's get the tired old song.


I also don't want to promote our talks being videotaped, so that physicians watch them alone at home, although I admit that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.  I know colleagues claim to be busy, but psychotherapy is a field where there can be no good excuse for too much isolation. 


So, we're looking for local and regional champions to help with our endeavours.  This might include:


1.) Those willing to spend time investigating and arranging videotaping and video-conferencing of our education series.


2.) Those willing to engage in community building in areas outside of Toronto.  From there, these local champions can find local speakers who offer the same exciting new ideas we are exploring in this blog, or who can find ways to bring local physicians and other mental health care providers to lead and facilitate discussion groups.


3.) Those willing to engage in creating conferences that combine regional experts with out of town speakers.  For instance, I know that an Ottawa group is working with some Toronto colleagues to create a state of the art PTSD conference, focussing on primary care treatment for military veterans.


4.) Those willing to create funding and grant proposals to expand the scope of our teaching series.


Anyway, let me know your ideas.  At the same time, please be aware that your ideas will only come to fruition when they come with a willingness to play a role in the huge efforts involved in running a unique stand-alone education series.


I look forward to hearing from colleagues.  I thank you for your patience.