Look Beyond is a photovoice research exhibition created by 16 people with lived experience of mental health difficulties. The exhibition is currently on a national tour.

‘Look Beyond’ gives people who experience mental health difficulties a space to speak for themselves and by doing so, helps others to gain insight into what living with mental health difficulties feels like, and how relief, recovery and resilience can be found and nurtured.
‘Look Beyond’ is an output of a photovoice research project commissioned by See Change and conducted by Dr. Maria Quinlan and Dr. Etáin Quigley from University College Dublin and Maynooth University.

The aim of ‘Look Beyond’ is to challenge people’s perceptions of mental health difficulties and to encourage positive conversation.

See Change, the National Stigma Reduction Partnership for Mental Health will hold a special screening of the IFTA nominated Schizophrenia: the Voices in My Head followed by a panel discussion as part of its 6th annual Green Ribbon campaign. Green Ribbon aims to end mental health stigma by encouraging conversation and education around mental health.

The documentary tracks the daily lives, struggles and triumphs of some young Irish people living with schizophrenia.

Even though Irish people are becoming much more willing to talk about mental health, so far those conversations have been around depression and anxiety. Other conditions are still pretty much taboo, and in particular, schizophrenia. In ‘Schizophrenia: The Voices in My Head’ we step inside the worlds of young people who are living with the condition.

Panel discussion

Panel: Producer of ‘Schizophrenia: The Voices in My Head’, Aoife Kavanagh, See Change Ambassador Nicola Wall and Susan McFeely, Shine – supporting people affected by Mental Ill Health, Neill Moore, DCU Recovery College.

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As part of the See Change’s month long national Green Ribbon Campaign to encourage people in Ireland to End Mental Health Stigma this May 2018, Shine would like to invite you to a discussion group on Hearing Voices.

Shine has worked for many years with people who have experience of mental distress and their families and friends.  The particular experience of voices remains a much stigmatised area that is frequently misunderstood and often silenced.

Research shows that in fact hearing voices is far more common than we might expect.  Many people experience supportive voices and live in harmony with them, and others find their voices troublesome.

We would like to create a space for this discussion in an effort to learn from each person’s experience of hearing voices.

Whether you are a person who hears voices, a family member or friend of a person who hears voices, a professional who supports or someone who is interested in joining in the conversation, please do come along to the discussion group on

May 17th 2018, 7pm-8pm, in Mullingar Library.

The Shine Basement Resource Centre and See Change would like to invite you to Bloom in the Park, 31^st May -4^th June 2018, to see our Green Ribbon postcard garden. The Garden is the work of members at The Shine Basement Resource Centre in Cork in support of See Change’s Green Ribbon campaign to end mental health stigma which runs throughout May. It is hoped that the garden will start positive conversations about mental health throughout Bloom.

The Green Ribbon garden is based on a community garden designed by a group of members of the Shine Basement Resource Centre. The members took ownership of an urban space and turned a once unused site on Kyle Street in Cork into a beautiful green space which is enjoyed by the whole community. The garden has hosted many community-based events including barbecues and events in the Cork Food Harvest Festival.

Working in partnership with members is a key aspect of the recovery, placing the individual at the centre of their own recovery journey.

RSVP: Tickets to Bloom are available to purchase at http://bloominthepark.com/visit/ticket-information/

When it comes to mental health everyone has a story to share and we find comfort, empathy and compassion in shared experiences. Social contact is known to be one of the most effective ways of reducing mental health related stigma and discrimination so with this in mind, and to mark Green Ribbon month, the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland is holding a ‘Living Library’, a library come to life!

Here the ‘books’ are a little different, they are people; people with different experiences and stories to tell related to mental health including those who have experienced mental health issues and illness, their family members and carers, and the psychiatrists who help them towards the path of recovery. Mental health stigma too often creates discrimination and misunderstanding so we want to give members of the public the opportunity to connect and engage with psychiatrists and people they may not normally have the occasion to speak with.

The aim is to better understand the lived experiences of others who have experienced or facilitated recovery from mental illness and distress and to challenge their own assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes. We invite you to ‘read’ the human books through conversation and gain understanding of their experiences.

For Green Ribbon Month Let’s End the Stigma by not judging a book by its cover and develop a greater understanding of each other’s stories.

Date: Thursday 31st May 2018 Time: 12.30pm – 2.30pm Address: St Stephens Green, Dublin This is a

RSVP Free Event, but space is limited. Book your place here (https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/living-library-for-green-ribbon-month-tickets-45972923251)

Look Beyond – a photovoice research exhibition, will visit Farmleigh Cowshed Theatre from 19- 29 July 2018 where it will be open daily from 10am– 5pm.

Look Beyond is the work of 16 people with lived experience of mental health difficulties. The exhibition is currently on a national tour.

Look Beyond gives people who experience mental health difficulties a space to speak for themselves and by doing so, helps others to gain insight into what living with mental health difficulties feels like, and how relief, recovery and resilience can be found and nurtured.

The exhibition is an output of a photovoice research project commissioned by See Change, the national mental health stigma reduction partnership. The research was conducted by Dr. Maria Quinlan and Dr. Etáin Quigley from University College Dublin and Maynooth University.

See Change’s aim for ‘Look Beyond’ is to challenge people’s perceptions of mental health difficulties and to encourage positive conversation.

Entry to the exhibition is free of charge.

Look Beyond will visit South Tipperary Arts Centre as part of its nationwide tour from 13th- 26th August 2018. The photography exhibition is the work of 16 people with lived experience of mental health difficulties. The aim is to challenge people’s perceptions of mental health and to encourage positive conversation.

In Look Beyond, people with mental health difficulties were invited to speak for themselves, giving us deep insight into the often unseen reality of what it means to live with a mental health difficulty and revealing many different paths to recovery.

The exhibition is an output of a photovoice research project commissioned by See Change and conducted by Dr. Maria Quinlan and Dr. Etáin Quig
ley from University College Dublin and Maynooth University.

Photovoice is a research and advocacy methodology which uses photography as a way of giving voice to people who often feel unheard and unseen in society. It has been used internationally to both explore and raise awareness of the stigma associated with experiencing mental health problems.