This document summarizes an online event on mental health hosted by Art with Impact. The event featured short films about mental health issues, group discussions about the films, and a panel discussion with mental health professionals. Participants engaged in breathing and grounding exercises. Films shown addressed topics like anxiety, substance use, racism, intergenerational trauma, and the impacts of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions focused on understanding stigma, supporting oneself and others, and appreciating community structures that promote mental wellness.

1. @artwithimpact
#Movies4MentalHealth
HOSTED BY:
Sign-in here

2. Alondra Umaña, (they/she)
Alondra is a Queer youth of Salvadoran
decent whose values of intersectionality and
trauma-informed care drive their interest in
mental health and interpersonal violence
response. They are currently completing their
BA in Criminology from the University of
Alberta, with the ultimate goal of applying
systems knowledge to future work as a
therapist supporting racialized and
gender-marginalized communities.

3. ● Campus workshops
● Monthly short film competition
● Short film production grants
● Global community

4. ● Setting the scene together
● Watch and discuss films, connect our minds
and bodies
● Panel of students and resources
● Evaluation (and a chance to enter to
win $25!)
● Mingle / Q&A
#Movies4MentalHealth

5. ● Mental health is personal – YOU are the expert on
your own experience
● This is a public, shared space
● Some photos will be taken from the back and during
the panel - please let us know if you are not
comfortable with that
● Please take care of yourself and others
however you need, including asking for help
#Movies4MentalHealth

6. In Just a Few Words...
What has self-care been
looking like for you these days?
#Movies4MentalHealth
● Tea and warm drinks
● Getting to sleep on time
● Leave work at work
● Winter :(---> Cozyness :)

7. MENTAL HEALTH

8. Mental illness
Mental wellness
MENTAL HEALTH

9. Some movies and TV shows that
show mental illness…
#Movies4MentalHealth
● Revolutionary Girl Utena
● Inside Out :)))))
● Homeland (complex depiction)
● The Shining, Kubrick
● Shameless

10. #Movies4MentalHealth
Characters with mental illness are
portrayed as…
● Dependant on medication
-Medication is a Magic bullet
-Medication as sole treatment
-Medication as dramatic plot device
-Outcasts
-Unpredictable/ Dangerous
-One dimensional
=Unreliable / Childish

11. MH Across Cultures
Across different cultures and languages, people talk about
and explore mental health in multiple ways.
In just a few words, please share:
How have you experienced the concept of "mental
health" within your own cultural communities?
● -Unproductive / Don’t want to work
● -Weak
● -Lazy
● =Victim (people need to do things for you)
● -Untrustworthy
● Dependence

12. What is Stigma?
A judgment or stereotype that is:
● Always negative
● Always untrue
● Can be internalized

13. A Short Film About Anxiety
By Lily Rose Thomas and Stephen Isaac-Wilson
AWI Winner, July 2018
CONTENT HEADS UP
descriptions of anxiety, intense sounds, flashing lights

14. IN PAIRS...
What did you think?
How did you feel?
#Movies4MentalHealth

15. SHARE WITH US:
What did you think?
How did you feel?
#Movies4MentalHealth
● Relatable
● Cycle of silence: expecting people to have
answers about own condition before
asking for help
● Feeling less able to deal with stress-
● Minimizing or dismissing experience
(“you’re just being dramatic”/ “you’re too
much”).

16. How does stigma feel?
#Movies4MentalHealth
● Unfair
● Powerless
● Isolating
● Cripling

17. What makes it difficult to reach out
for help?
#Movies4MentalHealth
● Ainticipating Shame
● Feeling isolated
● Feeling “stuck”
● The stigma is an obstacle
● Not Knowing how to ask for help

18. Breathing
Exercise

19. Self Reflection
How was this breathing
exercise for you?
#Movies4MentalHealth

20. The Opioid of Genocide
By Georgina Lightning
Voices With Impact 2019
CONTENT HEADS UP
discussion of suicide, substance use, racism, interngenerational trauma

21. #Movies4MentalHealth
IN PAIRS...
What did you think?
How did you feel?

22. #Movies4MentalHealth
SHARE WITH US:
What did you think?
How did you feel?
● Feeling Moved (Hearing from people who
were close to the person)
● Unfair
● Anger, considering cost of lost culture
● Long legacies of colonialism

23. Let’s go deeper…
#Movies4MentalHealth
● Consider role of “ordinary people” in
supporting mental health
● Connection to spirituality, appreciation of
people, structures, norms to make
connections

24. Grounding Moment

25. Self Reflection
How was this grounding
exercise for you?
#Movies4MentalHealth

26. Shift
By Chen Sing Yap
AWI Winner, August 2022
Content heads up:
depiction of isolation, living in car,
separation from family due to covid-19

27. #Movies4MentalHealth
Self Reflection
Where did you experience this
in your body?

28. #Movies4MentalHealth
What are your impressions?
● Relatable
● Timelessness (being brought back to
that time, recognizing ongoing situation)
● Strong representation of people’s
experiences of crisis.

29. #Movies4MentalHealth
How can we support ourselves
and others?
● Stigma Bad
● Slow Down, notice assumptions.
● Be present in own experience
● Breathe
● Communicate better
● Seek out connections
○ Seek Out community

30. Round of applause for our panel!
#Movies4MentalHealth

31. bit.ly/awi-cc
Exclusive community events and spaces
Arts-based discussion trainings
Interview and discussion opportunities
Weekly art + wellness prompts
Scan the QR code to learn more!

32. Teddy Lands (she/they)
Red River College Polytechnic Student
Brenda Eames (she/her)
Counsellor, Student Counselling Services, Red River College
Polytechnic
Jaymie-Lou Sorro
Counsellor & Coordinator, Klinic Community Health Centre

33. #Movies4MentalHealth
Please fill out the evaluation!
You can enter for a chance to win a $25 gift!
If you are receiving credit for attending this workshop,
at the end of the evaluation, you’ll be prompted to add
your information to a sign-in sheet.
Evaluation responses will remain separate and anonymous.
@artwithimpact | info@artwithimpact.org
bi.ly/RCC-eval-16

34. #Movies4MentalHealth
Ask a question or share a thought!

35. #Movies4MentalHealth
Stay in touch!
Get it touch with us to:
● Sign up for Continued Connections
● Submit a film about mental health to our monthly competition
● Volunteer to share at a “My Mental Health Story” event
@artwithimpact
info@artwithimpact.org
Evaluation
bi.ly/RCC-eval-16