"Being a team of five strong women… we had to make an impression:" The College Math Academy as an intervention into mathematics education

This paper, a first-person account, describes a community psychology-aligned intervention into a precalculus mathematics class at an Hispanic Serving Research Institution. The intervention was designed because the standard precalculus mathematics class had a high failure rate, especially for Latinx students, which was serving as a barrier for declaration of a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics major. The high failure rate indicates a structural problem that requires a structural intervention. The paper is coauthored with the teaching team, undergraduates who had taken the course, a graduate student who evaluated the class, and a community psychologist. We describe the ways that the new course, the College Math Academy, transformed the social environment through capacity building, providing access to valued resources for historically marginalized groups, facilitating opportunities to critique dominant power structures, prioritizing perspectives and experiences of people of color, and promoting understanding of how various social forces shape culture and values. The course also decentered white educational norms via adapting decoloniality and liberatory practices. In turn, each person describes their experience of the course. We draw on the first-person accounts to show how they illustrate a transformative, decolonial, and liberatory social environment. We end with implications for how community psychologists can work in their universities to support structural change.

A case report and first-person account of an individual at risk for psychosis who improved during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase stress and mental health symptoms. We present the case of a young man at risk for psychosis who has paradoxically shown symptomatic and functional improvement as a result of circumstances produced by COVID-19. These changes were unexpected given the client's persistent mental health struggles in the year leading up to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States and the expectation of an exacerbation of psychotic-like symptoms.

Methods

This report is based on clinical assessments and the client's first-person account during the height of the pandemic when stay at home orders were in place.

Results

During the pandemic, the client demonstrated increased agency by taking on more responsibility at home and obtaining part-time employment. He showed improvement in his mood and relationships with others, had less symptom-related distress, and significantly reduced his cannabis use. The client interpreted these improvements in terms of changing his mindset toward more adaptive thoughts and engaging in healthy coping skills such as praying, reading, and healthy eating.

Conclusions

This case highlights the importance of fostering agency in clients during a time of crisis and ensuring that clinicians be aware of potential biases about mental health symptom exacerbation.

A story of recovery from the dangers of drug use and psychosis

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: The effectiveness of Clozapine for some people suffering from schizophrenia. The use of street drugs as self-medication and a coping mechanism. WHAT DOES THE PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: The difficulties of treating someone with addiction problems and psychotic symptoms. Allowing them time in hospital only once they are off the drugs. Once I was in the recovery ward, I knew I wouldn't go back to drug use. Describing my own experience of drug use and suicidal thinking as an expression of frustration at not being able to make the changes I needed and wanted. To then finally make that change and to embrace a better life, when things started to move forward I made a commitment to do all I could to stay well. I knew what I wanted. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: This story describes a lack of action from the mental health services. The psychosis was considered to be caused by the drug use and nothing could be done until the drug use had stopped. I believe more could have been done to provide a safe space for rehabilitation and eventually recovery. The recovery ward that I was admitted to give me 16 months to turn my life around, services like these can be a lifesaver. Hospitals can be so quick to discharge patients that they end up coming straight back, and I was given the time and support I needed to make big changes. ABSTRACT: Introduction This is a story of a very difficult time in my life. A time when I got stuck into heavy drug use and a time when I was begging the mental health services for help. The suicide attempts show that I was unable to see a life for myself, but it includes the recovery, the commitment I made to myself to live a good life. I think it shows both the desperation of suffering with schizophrenia but also some optimism that people who suffer can find a meaningful occupation. Aim The aim is to offer hope, but also highlight some of the fears. There is more to be done to offer help and hope to those struggling with mental health and drug problems. Maybe with the correct care, people can be treated for both addiction and psychosis. I had to quit the drugs myself and only when I tried to kill myself did I receive any help. The drugs made me feel good about myself and the people around me, but living without them is a much better life. Narrative I wanted to give the first person account of being drawn into drug use and then wanting to quit. Many people feel a desire to quit but never get the will power or the help. I realised the drugs weren't giving me the high I wanted and decided to remove myself from the group and leave town. More people can be helped to believe in a life without drugs. Discussion and implications for practice Addiction is something that may never have a solution, but for many people with mental health problems it offers a way out of suffering. I actually felt much better about myself and life with the use of drugs. It gave me some control over my psychosis and lifted my mood, but in my story I had to realise myself I could do better without. More can be done to support people away from drugs and into work, I replaced the drugs with work and it has been a huge achievement. People need to know there is better for them.

Naturalizing Phenomenology: A Must Have?

Quite a few cognitive scientists are working toward a naturalization of phenomenology. Looking more closely at the relevant literature, however, the ‘naturalizing phenomenology’ proposals show the presence of different conceptions, assumptions, and formalisms, further differentiated by different philosophical and/or scientific concerns. This paper shows that the original Husserlian stance is deeper, clearer and more advanced than most supposed contemporary improvements. The recent achievements of experimental phenomenology show how to ‘naturalize’ phenomenology without destroying the guiding assumptions of phenomenology. The requirements grounding the scientific explanation of subjective experience are discussed, such as the nature of the stimuli, their variables, and their manipulation by properly phenomenological methods.