Comedian Alfie Brown at Keele Counselling Conference
Comedian and stand up performer, Alfie Brown, is appearing at the 9th Annual Keele Counselling Conference at Keele University on Saturday, 21 March.
Alfie, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, will deliver a one hour spot, entitled "We're all Bipolar Now", at the conference.
In his talk, Alfie considers issues such as; mental illness is famously prevalent amongst comedians but is the diagnosis part of the malady itself? Can the classification of and rhetoric surrounding mental illness perpetuate it? Alfie Brown speaks about his own experience with diagnosis, medication and how ideology and environment can affect our mental state; perhaps more so than us being "chemically imbalanced".
The 9th Annual Keele Counselling Conference, 21-22 March 2015, concerns the theme "Redefining Mental Illness" and gathers together a dynamic, creative and interdisciplinary range of opinion and experience on the central issue of how we see and treat "mental illness" and how this can be redefined as a "complex individual response" to life experience; including loss, trauma, social alienation and conflict. Other keynote speakers include Dr Rufus May, as seen in the C4 documentary, "The doctor who hears voices".
The conference is open to non-Keele Psychology students/staff for a small fee. A wider external audience of interested parties, such as counsellors, clinical psychologists, psychotherapists and other mental health professionals, have been invited and can book a place for a Day Delegate rate of £70 per day, or £120 for both days.
For booking information and enquiries, please contact:
Beverley Davies – b.davies@keele.ac.uk – 01782 733538
Jo Gravano – g.gravano@keele.ac.uk – 01782 733578