2×2 Sessions

2×2 sessions are small group sessions which involve two facilitators and two participants. Typically there will be one local client activist and one outside client activist, with two managers/stakeholders. The outside activist is put in a social relation which serves to reinforce the effect of the local person. Other facilitator pairs are to be people who know one another well or have a good connection.

Plenary sessions are too distant, ‘breakout groups’ too superficial for the effect sought. We seek intense personal discussion in regards to the topic presented. We want people to open up their hearts and discuss civilly and seriously the client-driven service paradigm. We hope people’s moral dilemmas can be teased to the surface and rendered as respectful dialogue.

Phil Cushman describes a three-person psychology intended to subvert the dominant paradigm for dialogue. This ‘three-ness’ means the individual, the dialogic partner, and the historical-cultural context are inextricably intertwined. Moral understandings are the foundational aspect of mental health culture that must be examined. The facilitators as ‘dialogic engineers’ should advocate the values of the client culture and simultaneously work to bridge the cultural gap between providers and clients.

The criterion of a ‘successful’ session is that the value of client-driven policy has been meaningfully discussed, in the frame of the module under discussion. The historical moral tension has been identified and personal attitudes and feelings have been aired. The facilitators will have transcended a stereotypical presentation of the client culture and made a sound case. The participants will have transcended the mentality of the provider culture and presented themselves forthrightly.