NSU’s Student Organization for the Advocacy of Psychology (SOAP) will host a mental health advocacy training program in the Maltz Psychology Building on Oct. 6 and Oct. 9.
SOAP President, Jenna Lyons, doctoral student in the clinical psychology program, said, “If you’re interested in advocacy at all, the event will give you a background of what advocacy looks like, no matter what you’re advocating for.”
According to the Orlando Sentinel, one of the biggest issues in Florida is that the state ranks 49th in the nation for mental health funding. The monetary allocations for basic mental health services have been cut by $15.2 million since 2012.
SOAP Vice President Sydney Webster, doctoral student in the clinical psychology program, said that SOAP is primarily focused on advocating issues for mental health policy because the funding that mental health services currently receives is insufficient for the number of people in the state who require their help.
She said that advocating for the mental health field is important because psychologists generally view advocating as someone else’s role. As a result, not many people advocate for mental health and that is what leads to insufficient funds and policies that mental health professionals are not happy with.
Webster said that the training is something that everyone can benefit from.
“At the end of the day, we want students to understand that they have a very important voice and they should share it because [not sharing] is almost a disadvantage to everyone else who may have that same opinion but doesn’t know how to share it,” she said.
The program is two-part process that includes an informational training and a question and answer seminar with Republican Congressional Candidate Joe Kaufman, where students can apply the skills they have learned about advocacy to a real-life situation.
Students can attend the first part of the training in the Maltz Psychology Building on Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. in room 2061 or Oct. 9 at noon in room 2045. They will view presentations regarding the background of public policy and how the process of putting a policy into effect works. If students are not able to attend the informational, they can send Lyons an email and ask for copies of the presentations.
Lyons said that the first day of training is primarily to help students get more educated on mental health policy so they feel more comfortable and confident asking Kaufman questions.
The question and answer session with Kaufman will be on Oct. 9 at 4 p.m. in room 1053 in DeSantis. This session acts as the second part of the training and allows students to apply what they have learned about advocacy at the informational to a real-life situation.
“Because it is an election year, everyone has a voice to vote. We want to encourage students who may not have considered voting or who vote blindly to hear about the policies Kaufman will discuss with students,” Lyons said.
Kaufman will begin the question and answer session with an explanation of his views on Florida’s mental health policies. According to Kaufman’s candidate website, his plan for health care is to establish state-run risk pools to help individuals with serious pre-existing medical conditions acquire health insurance, allow insurance companies to compete over state lines and to requiring hospitals and physicians to advertise their prices.
“With becoming an expert, we have the opportunity to influence more than just our clients, but to make their situations better through policy,” Lyons said. “Policy affects everyone. You can’t get away from legislation no matter what you’re doing.”
For more information, contact Lyons at js3373@nova.edu. To learn more about Kaufman, visit kaufmanforcongress.com.
